Malaka -26-3-13

  Malaka is situated on the Malaka Straits and is important in the history of Malaysia as it was the place where independence was declared. It was chosen as it is steeped in history and has always been seen as an essential trading place and has been fought over for centuries. Its' location meant that the trade winds from November blew ships east and the other  winds blew ships west therefore making it an ideal spot to trade.(spice, silks etc)

It is said that the original discoverer was Chinese and one day went hunting with two dogs. His dogs encountered a mousedeer which stood its' ground and the man decided that this was a good place to settle.

Our great guide (Georgina who takes her year group there for a residential visit) drove us and planned our action packed day.

At one time the Dutch ruled Malaka and there is a clear influence in architecture.

The first place we visited was the palace which, now a museum, is quite spectacular as it has no nails holding it together! It is based on the Chinese influence and is really worth a visit if you come this way.

Royal Palace

We then struggled to the top of the hill where you have a splendid view of the city and the Straits of Malaka as well as the church of St Francis of Xavier. This saint is buried in Goa and his body hasn't supposedly decayed!

Malaka Strait in background

View of church

 After a trek down the other side of the hill we entered Dutch Square.(No prizes for why it may be called Dutch Square!)

Our next stop was a tour aboard a replica merchant ship. This was interesting but not as good as the Victory.


Church on Dutch Square

Fountain in Square
 

 











We then embarked on a voyage of discovery up the river. Most of the houses had painted murals depicting the history of Malaka. In addition we passed Pirate World which was built for 3.3 million ringits - but does not appear to have been used!

The afternoon followed a well earned break at The Geographer and  visits to a Chinese house and to a cobbler who still makes replica shoes for the well heeled Chinese who had bound feet - a despicable practice!


19th century waterwheel

Riverside mural

Interestingly, the port of Malaka went downhill during British rule!

It is a great place to visit but allow a couple of days!

Little Venice, The Mines Resort, KL

Golden Horses from water taxi

Leaving the hotel lake



The large business park

Banana plant with flower



One of the lake dwellers!

Offices with a view! 

 For the princely sum of £1.50 a water taxi takes you from the hotel to the Mines Resort.
The whole resort is based around two former tin mines and G tells me that she goes body boarding there, however the huge monitor lizards would put me off!!!! (the one above is quite small compared to the one in the middle of the lake!).
The whole complex was the idea of a Chinese man who clearly had vision.
The shopping complex was great and I even managed to buy an excellent uplifting bra which the manager said fitted fat ladies!!!!! (Well the average cup in the shop was A or B!!) Great for the ego!

After shopping we had a cheap ferry journey back to our hotel (cheap as we weren't charged as I said thank you in Nepalese!) The boat man was lovely and took our photo and showed us all the wild life, including us!!

 



Palace of the Golden Horses (wow!)

Following a weekend with George we took a taxi to this resort - the driver was delighted that Southampton beat Liverpool and was also impressed that we were coming here. Apparently the king's daughter was married here and it is the place where most dignitaries stay. We were gobsmacked by the size and quality of the whole resort (from water taxi to spa to ballroom and fountains!). Fortunately we were not the only ones to check-in in flip-flops, t-shirts and shorts! The theme of golden horses is continued in numerous statues, horseshoes in marble tiles and carpets, paintings, room toiletries and even the feet of the furniture are fashioned as golden hooves.

 

our palatial room

Grand Salon fresco ceiling

View over grounds to water taxi

two golden horses



the busy swimming pool !!!



fountain



Grand Salon fresco ceiling



The race is on!
 

The lift is controlled by our room key card and the room controls are on a key pad next to the massive double bed. Ray's had great fun without his glasses!

The Key Pad

This resort was built in the 1980's around two lakes which were previously open-cast tin mines, hence the name Mines Resort. The water taxi takes you to other hotels, the shopping mall, business park and golf course.



Cherating - East Coast Malaysia

Having left Borneo we arrived in KL and spent a night with George before travelling by car (4 hours) to Cherating and  the Legend Resort which sits next to a long, white sandy beach. This resort is massive but was virtually empty as it was the beginning of the season. We felt somewhat sorry for an English couple who had booked for two weeks without any scheduled activities! The upside was a large deserted swimming pool but the downside was the astronomic beer price (£6 for a small bottle of Heineken)!  Ray and I resorted to having an almond Magnum everyday ( £1 each)!

 

view from pool to beach

the beach





main hotel area

Using George's car, we scoured all the supermarkets (LOL) to find beer. We finally located one just around the corner from the resort but needed to ask at the counter as it can't be displayed. The Chinese owner had 9 cans (wow!) which he proceeded to put in black bags so they couldn't be seen! Fortunately we had a fridge to store the beer and tonic!

During the week we discovered that on certain nights, beer was half price and ladies drinks were free - yes spirits included - and  so we took full advantage of this generous offer. Added to this pleasure was a trio called Mischief which lived up to it's name. One of the singers must have been an erotic dancer in a previous life as Ray's eyes stood out on stalks and he had a big smile but he never saw their faces! Actually they were great musicians as well and did requests and we danced together -ah!

 

Having filled the car with petrol (£10), Ray drove back to KL via a Lorina detour, only an extra 20 minutes! As we neared KL we successfully missed a speed trap on the E8 - Ray had spotted a policeman sitting on the top of a shady bank. A few miles down the road, all cars were being flagged  down to check the car numbers radioed to them. Interestingly one of the cars pulled over did the same at the next speed trap! Finally reached George's although her directions and the roads disagreed.

Tawau - the one night town

Tawau has many shops, hotels and an airport, it evens boasts running rats at the restaurants near the harbour but little else!

Evening



Daytime

                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Our hotel is comfortable and friendly and with a room on floor 5 you would think that it would be quiet, however appearances can be deceptive! The 2 uninspiring photos taken from our window show a run down area with little outside and then tables in the evening!

The road to Tawau (from Semporna)

Finally made our escape from Semporna in a taxi -smaller, faster target than a full bus.

Passed first machine gun emplacement and checkpoint just outside Semporna city limits (no resemblance to Nutbush for the oldies amongst you!).

To the left and right all you can see are palm oil plantations where a solitary tree or bush is the only remaining evidence of the jungle at very infrequent intervals

The endless palm trees are occasionally broken up by a moonscape 2 or 3 miles long by a mile deep. The palm trees have been harvested (cut down) for shipment to the mills and the plantation will eventually plant new saplings (?).

What a sad sight as the chances are the jungle and it's creatures will never return.

Passed a second machine gun emplacement and checkpoint just outside Tawau.

We are both delighted to be in a nice hotel in Tawau for a couple of days before flying back to KL for an overnight stop before moving on to Cherating.

Semporna in a Siege!

At KK airport, surprise, surprise, we once again met Alena ,our new Russian friend ,who was off  to Sandakan but planned to go to Semporna. It's just great swapping information.

Once in Tawau we shared a minibus to Semporna with a Czech, Australian, Swede, and Swiss national -a truly international experience and they all spoke English!

After an hour and half we arrived at our hotel, Seafest, and were given a spacious room overlooking the harbour.  In this hotel you could get a beer if you were outside or in the swimming pool but not in the restaurant or lobby, certainly bizarre and a trifle frustrating to say the least.



Alena

Our room



view from our room

The following day, after a hearty breakfast we set off to get the best price for snorkelling / transport to Mabul Island. The prices ranged from 450 ringits (£90) to 240 ringits (£60) including tax & meal. We decided to go with Scuba Junkie, the cheapest and by far the most professional. The rest of Semporna is a hold your nose job, however they do have a comprehensive supermarket!

On the following day we met at Scuba Junkie and with life jackets set off for a 50 minute boat ride to Mabul. On the way out we were pulled over to a Malaysian coastguard armed with guns and with prisoners aboard! This didn't alarm us too much as we were told that this often happened and there had been some unrest.

The first snorkel was uneventful and the camera I had hired didn't work, so sadly I took it back and made the wrong decision not to replace it! Apologies for no pictures of the wonderful fish and magnificent turtles.

On our return to Semporna we were once again stopped by the maritime police and once we were back on dry land and on our way to our hotel we were stopped by police who told us to take care! It was quite amusing as one of the police had a gun with magazines held together with cellotape. We should have twigged then that something was up but really only realised when we noticed that the restaurants were closed.

The following morning at breakfast our table was surrounded by journalists with laptops and huge cameras. As the day wore on troops arrived at the hotel and we were advised not to go out! So up to the swimming pool in search of peace and quiet, only to find a very unfriendly tv crew filming! Well armed with limited information, we opened an email from our friend Alena who told us that 6 police had been shot and villagers next to our hotel taken hostage!

The hotel was still buzzing with journalists, armed soldiers dressed in a variety of odd clothing, all wearing bullet proof vests and a few residents.

That night we packed, got up early and went to breakfast - only us there!

The taxi came and we were away. When we got to Tawau we again met the Swede and Australian we had shared a taxi with and they told us that the Seafest hotel we were staying in belonged to the Sabah Tourism boss - which meant it would be targeted by the militants.

The moral of this adventure is check the foreign office website before you visit a country!!!!