Malaysia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 464

Sungai Malacca from the colonial district.
his is one of the most lively, compact
areas in Malacca, popular for wandering
around during the day and enjoying a
few drinks come evening. he tra c-
clogged narrow streets are full of quaint
and unexpected cafés and trinket shops at
every corner, all housed within the
elegant townhouses that were the
ancestral homes of the Baba-Nyonya
community. he wealthiest and most
successful built long, narrow-fronted
houses, and minimized the “window tax”
by incorporating several internal
courtyards. Chinatown's central street,
Jalan Hang Jebat , known as Jonker Walk ,
famous for its antique shops and weekend
night market, looks particularly striking
lit up with red lanterns in the evening.
he Baba-Nyonya Heritage Museum at
48-50 Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock
(Mon-hurs 10am-1pm & 2-4.30pm;
Fri-Sun 9.45am-4.30pm; RM12) is an
amalgam of three adjacent houses
belonging to one family, and an excellent,
atmospheric example of the Chinese
Palladian style. Typically connected by a
common covered footway, decorated with
hand-painted tiles, each front entrance
has an outer swing door of elaborately
carved teak, with two red lanterns
hanging either side of the doorway and
a canopy of Chinese tiles around the
shuttered windows. Inside, the homes are
filled with gold-leaf fittings, splendid
blackwood furniture inlaid with
mother-of-pearl (look for the opium bed)
and delicately carved lacquer screens.
A few doors down at 108 Jalan Tun Tan
Cheng Lock is the Straits Chinese
Jewellery Museum (daily 10am-5pm;
RM15), which displays a wonderful
collection of skilfully crafted Peranakan
jewellery embracing Chinese, Malay and
Indo-European designs and motifs.
Among the elaborate pieces on display are
gold ankle bangles, gold, silver and
diamond hairpins, embroidered velvet
slippers and tobacco boxes.
At 25 Jalan Tokong you'll find the
Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (daily
7am-7pm), the oldest Chinese temple in
Malaysia dedicated to Kuan Yin, the
goddess of mercy. Busy with worshippers

during the day and awash with incense
smoke, its roofs are intricately decorated
with mythological figures and creatures,
made of broken porcelain pieces from
ceramics originally brought over from
Chinese traders.

Kampong Chitty
Northwest of Chinatown, around
1.5km along Jalan Gajah Berang, is
the traditional Straits-born Indian
community, Kampung Chitty . he
Chitties pre-date the Baba-Nyonya
community, their ancestors having
arrived in Malaysia in the 1400s, and the
neighbourhood is fun to wander around;
look for the archway decorated with
elephant sculptures.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
The compact city centre is best explored on foot.
By bus The Malacca Sentral bus station is located a
15min bus ride out of town at Meleka Sentral. Bus #17
connects the station to Dutch Square (30min; RM1.50);
taxis cost RM20.
Destinations

6

Butterworth (5 daily; 6hr 30min); Ipoh (6 daily;
4hr); Hat Yai (Thailand; 2 daily; 10hr); Johor Bahru (8 daily;
3hr); Kota Bharu (daily; 9hr); Kuala Lumpur (8 daily; 2hr);
Kuala Perlis (for Langkawi; 2 daily; 8hr); Kuala Terengganu
(2 daily; 8hr); Kuantan (7 daily; 5hr); Mersing (3 daily; 5hr);
Penang (3 daily; 7hr); Singapore (6 daily; 4hr).
By ferry The Tunas Rupat ferry ( T 06 283 2506) to Dumai
in Sumatra docks at the ICQX Complex, close to the
historical centre (daily 10am; 2hr 30min; RM130).

INFORMATION AND GETTING AROUND
Tourist information centre On Jln Kota (daily
9am-6pm; T 06 283 6220, W melaka.gov.my), just across
the roundabout from the Stadthuys. Staff are helpful and
there are plenty of brochures on the town's attractions.
Free historical walking tours on Tues, Thurs & Sat (9.30am;
2hr 30min) leave from the tourist o ce.
Trishaws There are trishaws at Padang Pahlawan Square
and outside the Mahkota Parade Shopping Centre. A
sightseeing tour costs RM40 for one hour.

ACCOMMODATION
Fern Loft 24 Jln Tun Tan Cheng Lock T 011 1288 3334,
W fernloft.com. Sister hostel to Fern Loft in KL, this new
little addition to Malacca has just three rooms, all with
shared bath - a large 16-bed dorm with lockers and
clothes racks, a little twin and a family room. Ther e's wi-fi
throu ghout and a/c in the rooms 7pm-9am. Dorm RM25 ,
twin RM70