We are traveling to Malaysia 🇲🇾 Malacca/Melaka (our 2nd stop on our world trip)

We took a bus on 17.12. from Singapore to Malaysia. Prior to that, Chris booked us a so-called 'Onward Ticket' via an agency. This ticket is shown upon entry when a country requires proof that you intend to leave or continue flying after a certain period of time. Without this, entry can be denied. In our case, we were able to show a 'Further Journey Ticket', which automatically expires after 72 hours. Therefore, we now have the full 90 days to explore Malaysia until our visa expires.

After a 4-hour bus ride, we arrived in the coastal city of Malacca. (German spelling, Melaka is the Malay spelling and Malacca is the English spelling 😊). It was already evening. We gained access to our hostel and went to eat something. Conveniently, there were a lot of restaurants right around the corner.

Our hostel was the Homestay4U, nothing special, but the location was great. A supermarket (7Eleven) was only a few minutes' walk away, as well as the Malacca River, which flows through the city. The next day, we strolled along the promenade and admired the architecture and the colorful painted house facades. The old town has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008 - a cultural mix, as over time, Portuguese, Dutch, and English influences have shaped the buildings and architecture. And you can see that. However, we were quite surprised by the poor condition of many houses and buildings in some places. We didn't expect Malacca to be as run down as we found it.

We visited the 'red square', which consists of the following buildings: the Stadthuys, the Christ Church, and the Clock Tower. A tourist magnet. The atmosphere there is slightly spoiled by the countless (tacky-decorated) bicycle rickshaws that transport tourists through the city while blasting their music boxes. After that, we went to Jonker Street. The old town can also be explored from a boat, the Melaka River Cruise conveniently transports tourists across the river. In the evenings, the boats and the riverbanks are also brightly lit, which is very impressive. However, we prefer to explore on foot as the sights are only a few kilometers apart.

We stayed in Malacca until the 20.12.22 (which was enough) and then took the bus to Lumut.

One event in Malacca still remains in our memory: we went to our favorite restaurant in the evening, sat down at a table, and were approached by our neighbors, a local couple and their acquaintance, a man from Pakistan, whose name we don't even know. We had a very nice conversation with them, ate the same food as they did, and it was also the couple who recommended the island of Pangkor to us. After we finished eating, the conversation continued briefly, and in the middle of it, the man from Pakistan disappeared and then returned. He said goodbye first and suddenly announced that he had paid the entire bill, including ours! 😳 We were simply speechless and couldn't believe it at first. How could someone who barely knows us do something incredibly kind like this for us without a reason?! We were in awe... we thanked him a thousand times! 🙏🏻 We had to let that sink in first.