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So I left kuala lumpar on my mini mission to get to singapore before my bank cards arrived. As I didnt fancy doing a 6hr coach trip in one go and confident the cards won't get to the hostel too quickly, I decided to stay in a little town on the coast called Malaka for one night (also known as Malacca or Melaka to add confusion). As I left the hostel in kuala lumpar a dutch guy was leaving exactly the same time and heading to exactly the same hostel. Turns out the kind hostel owners in KL had a friend in Malaka who had recently opened a new and very cheap hostel and they were recommended it to everyone who was heading in that direction. So Meiko and I headed off and paid for our bus ticket to Malaka. He was a simple guy who's English wasn't the best so conversation was a bit more difficult than I had hoped bit it was still nice to have company.
Two hours later we landed in Malaka town centre which was buzzing with the chinese Market and tourists taking photos of everything that moved. The hostel was easy to find and the owner was as friendly as the one in KL. The hostel was clean modern and best of all I had my own room which is a relief after being crammed into a room with 16beds and a number or synchronised snorers. The only downside was that most of the other customers were indians travelling in a group and weren't interested in socialising.
So that evening mumbling Meiko and I set off to see the famous china market that took over malakas streets every Friday. I had no intention of buying anything, just 'window shopping', but that quickly change when I saw the amount of marvellous stuff they were selling for next to nothing. It was another pleasant change from the high prices of KL. It was packed and the buzzing, excited atmosphere was contagious. We even came across a 70year old man who demonstrated the power of his magical healing lotion by putting his finger through a coconut. Yep, I didnt get it either. In the end I managed to limit myself to buying a purse, a ring, and a durian pancake which was surprisingly nice but unsurprisingly stank to high heaven. About 6 beers later with mumbling Meikos English getting better with alcohol influence, we found ourselves back in the hostel drinking mint gin with the hostel owner. Got to bed around 3am after promising an early night. The next morning I set off to Singapore. Most of the morning I was toying with the idea of staying in Malaka another night. It was a simple town that was big enough to be interesting but small enough not to be overwhelming. It reminded me a lot of Penang with the mix of cultures and Europes obvious influence, however it was cleaner and more open. Like Penang, it was also famous for the variety and quality of food, so in hindsight it was best not to stay there as I would not be able to fit into half my clothes by now.
So that was Malaka! A short and sweet blog but there was only so much to see in one night. Plus the photos tell a better story.
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