Our sail to Melaka was a mixed bag, currents ran against us for the most part but not significantly and the winds gave us some great sailing as well as some motor sailing. All in all it was great to be out on the water once more and anchored up in new bays each night. And surprisingly, with the sea breeze at night, sleep was possible.
With us still travelling with only the one motor it was still nerve wracking getting safely tied up in the marina. Luck was with us, with the winds and currents not being too strong, we were in without needing any assistance (or without hitting anything).
Cool Bananas and Three Ships in Melaka Marina at sunset
Already in the marina was a cruising couple Jon and Sue Hacking on ‘Ocalet’. It was great to meet them as we had extensively used information from their website to cruise in Indonesia last year. Nice to be able to personally thank a couple that so generously shares information.
In short –we love Melaka –it’s our kind of town –as far as cities go anyway. Nice size and seeping with history. The marina is close enough to town that we could walk most places. I happened upon a stall at the Chinatown night market selling coins. For not a lot I bought a few local coins that date in the 1500’s. He threw in a Chinese coin that he reckons is from the 160bc but I very much doubt its authenticity. Fun anyway to think I am taking away a piece of history as a reminder of Melaka.
Arrrrrrrrrh there maties.......Melaka Maritime Museum
Getting up close and personal with the Sultan's guard at tha Sultan's Palace Museum
So in between hiding aboard to avoid the interminable heat we further explored Melaka. It has something like 24 museums so we chose a few to visit, including the Maritime Museum, of course. And what visit would be complete without a twilight river cruise. Isn’t it funny how cruising people are so attracted to water!! Actually the guide was very informative and we saw and learnt alot about the place. He even tried to talk into making Melaka our 'second home'. So afterwards…… we dined at a riverside restaurant. This particular meal cost us probably about NZ$2 -$3 a head. If you are a beer drinker, however, your bill soon mounts up, as alcohol is not much cheaper than NZ and being so hot it is easy to knock back the liquids. Beer seems to be the predominant alcoholic beverage available in Malaysian restaurants, if they serve alcohol at all. So with Daryl and me not really being big beer drinkers, our dining bills are usually fairly light.
Our favourite tandoori restaurant
Choosing our food from the hawkers in Chinatown.........Dinner 'Melaka style'
Malaysia's famous fried oysters cooked fresh for Daryl
Sue, Chris, Fi and Liz on the Twilight River Cruise
We are still undecided about where to haul out even though it has been the most prominent topic of discussion. Chris and Fi on ‘Three Ships’, who are cruising with us, are also looking for somewhere and have come up with similar conclusions. We thought Malaysia had a reputation for being a cheap place to haul out but if fact, with the prices we have been quoted, makes it probably the most expensive place we’ve looked at hauling out in. So at the moment we have extended our search to include Thailand.
Next stop Penang.
