Melaka: Sight seeing

July 10, 2017

Once again we awoke to the sound of a thunderstorm and the rain falling. I had a bit of work to do so it suited me to be stuck inside for a few hours.

Once the rain had almost abated we wandered out to look for some breakfast which we found just outside our hotel. A lovely plate of nasi goreng was enough to set us on our way on the standard loop of tourist sites in Melaka.

We started off at #2 on the list - the old Dutch Cemetary (although it has more British graves than Dutch).

Then it was up to #3, the ruins of St Paul's Church on the hill above the cemetery. St Paul's started out as a Catholic Church built by the Portuguese when they invaded Melaka in the 16th century (and aside, later in the day I saw this lovely understatement in the museum: "the arrival of the Portuguese was not the best thing to happen to Melaka"). Once the Dutch took over from the Portuguese in the 17th century, the church became a Dutch Reformed Church and was the center of Dutch worship until Christ Church was built at the base of the hill.

View of the old town from St Paul's - sandwiched between high rise buildings and telecomms towers

From St Paul's we carried on to Christ Church (#5), which is still active as an Anglican Church. This was originally a Dutch Reformed Church and was consecrated as an Anglican Church once the British took over in the 19th century.

Christ Church - painted red after the British arrived.

From Christ Church we took a cycle around Heeren Street and Jonkers Street to look at #7 (a typical house from the Dutch era) and #8 (a restaurant). The first was locked up and the second was a tourist trap, so it was back to #4, the Stadshuys (literally townhouse but more accurately governor's residence) which has been converted into a museum. By the time we left it was after three o'clock - somehow we get stuck in museums. It was interesting to be reminded that the third Dutch governor of Melaka was Jan van Riebeeck who was the first commander of Dutch settlement in Cape Town, South Africa.

Today's ride: 7 km (4 miles)
Total: 2,745 km (1,705 miles)

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