Hello again folks! Here's our 2nd blog.

We arrived in Melaka after an early start and a 5 hour journey that included scenery of road - palm tree - rubber tree - road - palm tre etc. Used the time wisely for a quick nap.

Wow! Now we know we're in Asia and a bit more of a culture shock than in Singapore. Melaka is a great little place with narrow streets, rickety houses and shacks. In traditional Asian style, the streets are an ammalgamation of street sellers, trishaws, road side food stalls and wierd and wonderful smells. Most of this town looks like time has stopped and hasn't changed for a hundred years. It in fact contains a lot of history as this busy port town has been conquered and has been handed over many times over the years to the Portugese, the Dutch, Britain in 1795 and then handed back to malaysia. This has brought many different customs, traditions and religions into the town, many of which are still obvious throughout the town in the forms of churches, forts, monuments and temples. It all makes for a great day of exploring.

We stayed in Baba House. A well known hotel in the region that is simple and clean but slightly run down. We had brown water coming from the taps (luckily only for part of the day), water running down the walls and a shower and toilet room combined where you shower stood next to the toilet.

We headed to the 'famosa chicken bowl for lunch'. Friendly staff and plastic seats welcomed us. Lunch was basic but nice; some sliced chicken (with parts of carcass attached and pretty much cold of course) with stodgy balls of rice, like dough balls. It may not sound good, but it really was tasty.

After lunch we explored the town. It didn't take long for the rain to come down and this was some serious rain. Now i know why the gutters at the side of the roads are 2 ft deep and 1 ft wide! We took shelter in a nearby teashop, drunk various types of tea such as peppermint and rose tea and played jenga...was great fun.

This entry will be continued. Must dash to catch a bus further up north to our 2 day home stay. Keep watching for the rest of this blog and for Kuala Lumpur. Promise I'll catch up soon.

 OK, back again folks. Sorry for the delay, been busy eating food with our hands (right hand only) and trekking through a jungle on an island, close to Kuala Kangsar that doesn't exist on a map. More of that soon though. Only a short bit to finish this blog then we promise the Kuala Lumpur will be on very soon. Anyway back to the blog of Melaka....

Later that afternoon, our group had a tour around the back streets and narrow alleyways of Melaka on a convoy of trishaws. This included a magnificent Chinese temple built in the 1600's and a tasting session of the local flora! Many of the plants, (few of which I can actually remember the names of) are said to be maedicinal and beneficial to many ailments such as high blood presure, alzheimers, arthritis, even sore throats and are being studied for their qualities for use against more serious disease.

We ended the day at a very nice Chinese run restaurant. Although the food was great (common theme here) they were quite small portions so Me and Rachel oredered an extra meal to share. My Rum Punch cocktail and Rachel's Singapore Sling washed it down nicely!

On return to the hotel, I realised the room was keeping up it's leaky reputation. Water was dripping through the ceiling and onto the bed. A quick rearrangement of the furniture and a few strategically placed bowls soon fixed that!

See ya on the next blog about Kuala Lumpur.

Darryl and Rachel x