Flor De La Mar
Trip Start
Mar 17, 2007
1
246
401
Trip End
Ongoing
Melaka,
Malaysia
Saturday, March 15, 2008
We leave the hotel at 8h30 and walk to the train. Get off at the main bus station and Dr T finds his way through all the booths to buy a ticket for the government bus to Melaka.
The girl sends us to platform 10. With still 15 minutes before departure, there are no busses for Melaka waiting. Dr T goes back to the 'station'. I say station because the bus station has 25 platforms, like a train station. Luckily he does, because the bus left from ... the street. It could not leave from any platform, since it was a Double Decker, too high to fit in a platform.
The bus is packed. For the 2,5 Euro/person one way we paid for the trip it is very comfortable. It is served by the government. This is the company:
http://www.nadi.com.my/transportation_services_express.asp
Why did we go to Melaka? Well: it is a picturesque city and the Dutch kicked out the Portuguese and now it is a mixture of many cultures. Most of the tourist attractions are concentrated in its small city centre, and one can walk down Jonker's Walk which is a row of shophouses of Peranakan architecture. A lot of legend exist and little or big stories are written. It seemed to us like a city with a long row of history on its shoulders.
After a bit more than 2 hours, we arrive there and take a taxi to the city center, which costs us 3 Euro, fixed price. We go to the tourist info to pick up the Jerak Warisan Heritage Trail walk, our guide book recommends. By now it is 11h30, time for a beer and a pub is NOT easy to find. When we finally find one, Dr T tells me about all the legends and stories. Wanna hear some?
The 19the century, the Chinese moved in and brought the Peranakan culture. To name one thing: marriages were arranged and the couple did not see each other before the wedding. Even during the ceremony, the bride was veiled. When the couple finally went to bed, the bride took of her veil and the broom had to say: 'Lady, I have to be rude with you', whether he liked what he saw or not, for the marriage had to be consummated immediately.
Or maybe you want to know about their table manners? Food should be treated with respect. If not: it will bring bad luck. It should not be squashed or dropped. Meals have to be eaten at a circular table, corners have to be avoided. Acts of sway are farting or crying at the dinner table. If a woman drinks too much soup, it will rain on her wedding day. If she sings: she will merry an old husband, if she leaves food on her plate, he will be ugly.
Enjoying our beer, Hubby talks about 'The Flor De La Mar' a ship with Alphonso d'Albuquerque as captain, which sunk in 1511 after stolen a lot of the treasures from Melaka: gold, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, ... . Sotheby's valued the content of the ship US$9 billion. It only sunk in 37 meter of water! By now, it is believed to be covered by 15 meters of mud. The map Alphonso d'Albuquerque drew had been lost for almost 500 years. Robert Marx went to look for the ship, with the found map.
When Tony got to that part of the story our neighbor asked; 'where are you from?'
He happened to KNOW Robert Marx and is a professional diver, hunting for treasures, even wrote books about it. He called Robert Marx 'a fool' and told us many more stories. If he would not have given his business card, I would not have believed him. His name is Sten Sjostrand and his website is impressive:
http://www.mingwrecks.com/about.html
What a coincidence to meet him. It was interesting but I also thought the man was full of himself (did not even ask about us, I could be the granddaughter of Cousteau) and his Thai wife was almost rude (ignored us).
We walked for one more hour, had a meal (did not fart, cry or sing) and took a taxi back to the bus station, expecting to take the 15h o'clock bus back to KL. The first available bus was at 17h. What the f... do you do in a bus station for 2 hours? Have a beer? In a Muslim country? We find a company, which leaves at 16h30 for KL and book it. Experienced and smart travelers. NOT. We did not ask: 'is it a straight ride?' or 'at what time does it arrive in KL?' No, it left half an hour earlier than the company we came with and we booked it, for a higher price than the first trip.
You can see it coming: it was a disaster! Ten minutes after we paid, the government all of a sudden HAD a bus at 16h30 to KL but we were too cheap to pay a new ticket. The bus did not leave at 16h30. Not 17h. We finally left at 17h20. And stopped many times. The trip took 3,5 hours and was from hell. Not enough place for your knees. HORRIBLE Arabic music. No suspension. The driver never drove a bus before: accelerated and pushed his brakes the whole time. Hurray for my Hubby: he does not get nervous or irritated. It is almost 21h, when the (cranky!!!!!) driver drops us off, 10 minutes from the train. How Dr T finds his way I will never understand but we are in our favorite restaurant at 21h30, me sipping my Tom Yam. Well, we learned lessons again today. And this in one of the reasons we travel. If we can give you one advise: taking the bus in Malaysia, do not go for : Melor interline express. I could not find their website. If I would give the service THEY give, I would not have a website either.
I like Melaka but for Dr T it was a disappointment. If you have a week or two in Malaysia, I would not spend a day there either but if you pass by, I thought it was charming.
It was a bit shocking to find the door of our hotel room OPEN. The housekeeping did not pull it, so it was not locked, a whole day!
Alarm clock at 9h with no plans.
Comments
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Hi! I have a question: did you say that Sten Sjostrand have a Thai wife or something? ^_^