I have just checked my bank statements, only to discover, I have been charged twice for what is now this year's travel insurance, once to travel worldwide, second time just to travel in europe. Interestingly the latter is only 20 cheaper. But I dont think I can afford to travel as much as I did in 2025. 2025 was special ...the final stage of my trip was to Malaysia. I had learned through Michael Portillo's TV programme how easy it was to travel there overland from Singapore.
 |
| The British introduced rubber monoculture, but this now replaced by palm oil trees! |
I caught the earliest coach I could in case of problems at passport controlbut luckily all went smoothly. An hours jouney took me to the sort of coach turn round point, we all had to disembark with all our bags. If I hadnt filled in my paperwork correctly I could just be left there, andhope another coach would come along but within minutes our coach had profressed to Malaysia. I thought it would feel like a continuation of Singapore -- lush but it didnt. Verges were cut horribly short and in place of jungle, mile after mile of palm oil trees. it was devastating. Modern housing estates, equally brutal punctuated the green briefly, until the outreaches of Melaka, which is a delight, once in the old central part.
 |
| The heart of colonial Melaka. |
Melaka has a river, pretty buildings, good food, museums more than enough for a couple of days. It was hot, and the first problem was finding my hostel, once that was achieved, I was all set. However, and frustratingly, I seemed to have lost some of my oomph, I had a lovely time in Melaka, but did not have the confidence to find my way to the beach which on paper was very close. I just could not find the bus stop to get there and was not confident enough to use Grab cars, and given that in the end I used grab to get back to the central bus station, that was a bit stupid. They are ridiculously cheap, and well organised, but as I have not successfully even book Uber myself, I just did not have the confidence to use them until I almost had to to move on to KL
 |
| Fresh coconut, almost a meal in itself. |
Luckily Melaka is a really charming place and best of all the night market was on three of the nights I was there, literally on my door step. So that was a happy way to spend the evenings, I sometimes went out early in the morning and walked by the river, I had a tiny room, where I could rest in the afternoons and too much of the time I was happily esconsced in either the Geographer's cafe or I think the butter cafe eating, either excellent European food or Malay delicacies or drinking tea, coffee or coconut juice. In between I pottered up to the now shell of a Christian cathedral where dead colonisers are buried, and from where the sea can just about be seen, to the stadthuis or palace recreation, where the varied history of the area is presented in tableau form. Melaka was once a huge, port, until the British came and we wanted it diminished, to favour other colonial outposts!
 |
| My favourite museum |
My favourite museum was the Baba Nyonya Museum which features the Perkanakan culture. Malaysia is very mixed, but the cultures also have separate identities and this is from the Straits Chinese community. It also has a lovely shop, Melaka is full of tempting trinkets. And just within my street, I had easily access to a couple of buddhist temples and a muslim Mosque, just part of the Melaka, melange.
