From Kuala Lumpur, we had one more day left in Malaysia and were off to Melaka, 2 hours south of KL. As I said in my last post, our departure time was 8:00, and we didn't get to bed until after 4am from our night out the night before. My roommate Jodie and I were struggling to move from the bed, and with 20 minutes to spare, forced ourselves up, and packed the tornado of a mess we had created back into our backpacks, and headed down to meet the group. Living out of a backpack is all good and fine, but when you're on the the move every other day like we are, it gets old pretty quick having to unpack and repack so often. However, we have become professionals!
When we arrived downstairs, it was easy to see many of the others were struggling as well. Needless to say, Willie was about to have his hands full with us that day. Our transportation was a bus to another bus and after arriving in Melaka, a taxi to our hotel. The bus wasn't very comfortable so none of us were able to sleep that well, so the exhaustion was still heavy upon arriving.
Our accommodation here also included free wifi and air conditioning, which was much needed because of the heat. After settling the rooms, I was back with Rachel again, we all headed to lunch again at another food court. The temptation to order western food at this point is pretty strong because my desire to eat rice and noodles is very low, but I figured I could suck it up for another day and eat local cuisine.
After lunch, we went on a walking tour with Willie. Basically we were all walking Zombies. Melaka is a quiet city, night and day different from KL with not a lot to see, but is probably included in the tour to break up the journey from KL to Singapore. Here, we wandered the streets, took in the sites and local culture, and after Willie's tour had ended, those of us who could still keep our eyes open took a canal boat tour. By the end of the tour, which circled the quiet river and quiet city, most of us went back to the hotel to rest before dinner. This is the first time I've allowed myself to take a nap the entire trip. In the end, I didn't end up napping, but rest was good enough.
I made the mistake of taking my malaria pill on an empty stomach, and as we were leaving for dinner I started to feel really nauseous. I was concerned it was from the heat or not enough sleep, but realized I simply needed to eat and settle the medication. I allowed myself to order a local pasta dish (basically making myself feel like I was eating western food) and surely enough, I felt better right away. I seriously hate taking those pills every day, but it's probably better than getting malaria.
The group decided to grab a drink along the river before heading to bed. We found a cool place across from the river and enjoyed a laid back night conversing with each other. This is perhaps my favorite part of traveling, learning about other traveler's life styles and where they come from. At the bar, one of the owners entertained us with her baby, Mary, who apparently can do the gangnam style dance. Although she never did it for us, that's pretty rad.
When the beer tower was finished that some of us were sharing, we went back to the hotel, Rachel and I chatted for a bit, and we dozed off to sleep. I went to bed with a heavy heart realizing it was my last full night with the group and that I would be leaving the next day :( But not before a full on day in Singapore!