Day 27 - Malaka

November 26, 2025

Today we went on a tour to Melaka (or Malacca), a coastal town south of KL. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has been occupied by the British, Dutch and Portuguese over the years. It was originally created as a trading town where ships from China would dock alongside ships from southern countries and they were allowed to trade for free but piracy became a big problem.

The coach left at 8.15 for the 2 hour drive. It was very hot and mostly sunny with no rain.

We first went to see St Peters Church, the oldest Roman Catholic Church in Malaysia, built in 1710 by the Dutch as a protestant church but converted to a catholic church for the Portuguese.

St Peters Church

St Peters Church Garden, pond and clock tower

We then made a short photo stop to see a replica of the wooden boat that first landed here with Portuguese explorers.

Next was a walk to A Famosa, which was a Portuguese Fortress built in 1512. Parts of the fortress were destroyed by the Dutch when they took occupation in 1641 and most of the remaining parts were destroyed by the British in 1811. We walked up the hill to see the remaining part of the fortress and near the top I saw some monkeys and told Paul. Our guide, Johnson, heard me and told the group they were Dusky Leaf monkeys and it was rare to see these and we should take photos.

Dusky Leaf Monkey with very long tail

Dusky Leaf Monkey

At the top of of the hill we had a good view over the Melaka Staits, a narrow strip of sea between Malaysia and Indonesia which is an important shipping route.

We walked around the only remains of the fort which was the church built in 1521. This has many gravestones of Dutch men, many of whom were killed by Malaria.

Modern statue of St Paul

Church of St Paul with gravestones around the walls

Gravestones of Dutch

Remaining gate to A Formosa

A Formosa gate with St Pauls church at top of hill

Independance Memorial Building

Former palace of the Sultan

On the side of the hill there were a couple of open structures with a roof. For some reason they were housing old cars. Paul wondered how they got the car up the hill in the first place.

Car housing

To get from the coach to the hill we had to walk through a shopping centre. What was unusual about this was the foyer was a piano shop with loads of shiny pianos, both grand and upright. There was what looked like a salesman walking around. It just seemed a strange place to have a piano shop but I suppose there was no risk of theft as it would be impossible to get them through the doors.

About 10 years ago, funds were granted to build a Dubai style resort on reclaimed land. The Mosque was the only building completed before the onset of Covid and funding was then withdrawn. Now there is a beautiful Mosque with partially build hotels and shopping centre and unmade roads and pavements.

Abandoned buildings of holiday resort

We had a chinese style lunch in a local restaurant.

After lunch Johnson took us on a walk along Jonker Street in the heart of the historic centre. There were old and new shops alongside temples and restaurants. We were introduced to a man who holds the Guinness Book of Records title for making the biggest ever kite and another who was a Chinese Herbal Medicine doctor.

Tamil Methodist Church

Gate to Jonker Walk

Guiness Book of Records holder

Chinese Medicine street doctor

Temple

Spikey plant with egg shells

At the end of Jonker Street was Red Square where most of the buildings were built by the Dutch. The exception was Victoria Fountain, the only thing remaining from the British ruling times.