Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Museum merits a visit. Clamber up for a detailed examination of Melaka's history, picked
out by rather faded and dated props. The museum continues in the building next door with
more absorbing exhibits featuring local vessels, including the striking
Kepala Burung
(a
boat carved like a feathered bird), plus an assortment of nautical devices.
WORTH A DETOUR
KAMPUNG MORTEN & SUNGAI MELAKA
Dubbed a 'living museum', Kampung Morten is a picturesque village of 85 homes, including 52 in the traditional
Malaccan style, filling a bend in the Melaka River. Very much a functioning
kampung
(village), it is named after
JF Morten, the Commissioner of Lands in the 1920s. As long as you don't get there at the same time as a tour
bus, a stroll around the village is a relaxing and interesting experience. You'll meet plenty of welcoming people
and there are small home cafes and stalls at which to pause and grab refreshments.
pung Morten; entry by donation; flexible but around 9am-6pm). A member of the family living here will
show you around their 1920s traditional wooden home and its collection of objects, including Ming-dynasty
ceramics and a 100-year-old copy of the Quran.
A pleasant way to reach Kampung Morten from Chinatown is to walk alongside the
Sungai Melaka
. Some ef-
fort has been made by the local authorities to create a pleasant walkway, along which you'll see many colourful
murals painted on the backs of the buildings; images include those of Parameswara, Melaka's founder; Admiral
Zheng He; and Princess Hang Li Po of the Ming Dyansty, who married Sultan Mansur Shah. You'll also pass
mangroves and the wooden stilt houses of
Kampung Jawa
, a still functioning fishing village.
Sadly, construction of The Shore, an utterly out-of-scale development of apartments and commercial buildings
on the bend before Kampung Mortem, means you must detour briefly away from the river. Alternatively, if you
take the Melaka River Cruise (
Click here
), you can ask to be dropped off near Kampung Mortem.
Chinatown
Chinatown is the heart of Melaka and is by far the most interesting area to wander around.
Stroll along
Jln Tun Tan Cheng Lock
, formerly called Heeren St, which was the preferred ad-
dress for wealthy Baba (Straits-born Chinese) traders who were most active during the
short-lived rubber boom of the early 20th century. The centre street of Chinatown is
Jln
Hang Jebat
, formerly known as Jonker St (or Junk St Melaka), which was once famed for its
antique shops but is now more of a collection of clothing and crafts outlets and restaur-
ants. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, the street is transformed into the Jonker's
known as Harmony St) houses a mosque, Chinese temple and a handful of authentic
Chinese shops.
