Entering Malaysia was a breeze; no paperwork required, we hopped on a ready-to-pull-out VIP bus at Larkin Terminal and we were in Melaka 3 hours later.
I had read that Malaysia was a leading exporter of palm oil but was not expecting to pass through endless palm plantations for the whole three hour ride. Wow! Do they have any natural forest left?
We spent all of our time in Melaka in the old city which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Malaysian Sultans, Portugese, Dutch, and British have all ruled Melaka at some time; and the local population is a mix of Chinese, Malay, South Indians.
We spent just two nights in Melaka but could have easily spent another as we had a great hotel, good vegetarian eats, and the old city is lively day and night due to a good number of local and foreign visitors, young and old.
Note that there is no photo below of the cruise ship we saw anchored off the Melakan coast, nor the Water Monitor lizard we saw swimming in the Melaka River.
Palm plantations seen through the bus window.
Our "big" hotel room. Quite nice after the smallish room in Singapore.
And a balcony.
The cutesy pedicab tours of Old Melaka always seemed full of happy riders.
Dutch Square - the center of the old city.
St Paul's Church + lighthouse.
The Chinese cemetery on shady Bukit China (China Hill).
Various scenes along the Melaka River.
Dinner at Yeti Restaurant. That's fried okra (they call okra lady-fingers) at bottom.
Mosque with native, not Islamic, architectural features.
At the fish market in Liitle India.
Traditional Melakan houses dwarfed by new high-rises right on the edge of the World Heritage district.
More vegetarian food.
Old school selfie.
Shaving ice for our cendol - a traditional shaved ice dessert.
>Chinatown shophouses.
"Veggie Meal" in Little India.
Could not resist the cendol-to-go for less than a dollar at the Hard Rock Cafe.
And finished off on our hotel room balcony.
Loved the old-fashioned selfie!
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