Welsh Davids Travel Blog: 20 and 21 September

Leaving the hotel at midday and travelling by monorail and bus we finally arrived at the Hollitel Hotel, Melaka at 15.45 hours. Leaving our bags Derrick and I went straight out to see what was around as according to the guide book there was a lot of things to see and do in the town and we only had another day to see round the town. This was a crafty thing to do as we were able to see what was there and plan what to do the following day. As it was we saw Chinatown in lights, at least the dragon, and a bride and groom having their wedding photographs taken. The following day we walked round the town and found that most of the tourist sights were in the centre of the town. What was strange was to find that there were so many museums there, Maritime having three, a Customs museum, Arts, Chinese, Portuguese, Youth to name a few. When visiting many of them one had to take off ones shoes to enter the building. Parts of the town still had very old buildings and it looked as though the Authorities had decided to make the town a tourist attraction especially as it has an UNESCO World Heritage Site notification. Here, as in other places seen in Malaysia, there were national flags hung on buildings, houses and business premises.

Because of its location Melaka was an important port on the Malay coast from earliest times. In the 15th century the Malays and Chinese lived together in peace. From late in the century the Thais tried to conquer the town due to its importance as a port and for the goods that were travelling through the straits and were repulsed. From then on the town was fought over by the Portuguese, Dutch and British. While the Portuguese and Dutch kept the town and port in order and welcomed passing ships, even though they had to pay a tax on cargo, the British allowed the narrows at the river mouth to silt up so that the port became unusable, just a sleepy little backwater as it was called. For quite a small place it was certainly fought over many times.