Port Dickson to Malacca: Malacca, as in straights thereof

Four Noble Truths
Statistics for today
Distance 81.70 kms 50.95 miles
Ride time (hours) 4.55 -
Avg speed 17.9 kph -
Statistics for trip to date
Distance 1,925.90 kms 1,196.76 miles
Ride time (hours) 98.88 -
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Thursday, December 22nd, 2016

Coastal ride, or more like just-out-of-site-of-the-coast ride, ending in the suprisingly funky city of Malacca. Slightly surreal to show up on a bicycle in one of those places I learned about as a kid in school.

The day does start out with an actual ride along the coast, but that doesn't last long. I enjoy breakfast and coffee on a beach before the road leaves the water for the rest of the 70 or so kilometers into Malacca. Not much to report on this ride... a bit ugly to be honest.

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Oops, there appears to have been an accident at the local taco truck.
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Beach near Port Dickson where I have my morning coffee.
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Borrowing a phrase from Texas. This one doesn't quite roll off the tongue though...

I arrive in Malacca mid-afternoon. The city is quite different from anywhere I've seen in Asia: it has that mix of colonial architecture with street chaos that is so typical of Latin America. The place I booked is in the center so I have to navigate the one-way streets through the old city hopping with tourists. I get lost a couple of times in spite of the modern wonders of GPS.

Malacca is one of those places I read about in school, an important trade city for centuries, alternately a Portuguese, Dutch, and British colony; and here I am rolling up on a bicycle. Surreal. I had the same feeling riding into places like Cartagena, Colombia or Santiago, Chile.

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Jonker Street is Chinatown, full of restaurants and shops and tourists.
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Bicycle taxi. Judging by the number of these riding around, it must be a popular tourist thing to do in Malacca. Many have boomboxes attached.
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The river running through the city center. Funky area, kind of reminds me of the Kreuzberg canal in Berlin.
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Colonial architecture.
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Ruins of a Catholic church dating from the 16th century, built by Portuguese colonists.
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Right-hand drive '57 Chevy formerly uses to chauffeur dignitaries visiting Malaysia.
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The river at dusk.
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Murals on the houses lining the river.

I go for dinner at an Indian restaurant the guesthouse owner recommends. It's good but after walking around the historic area for a couple of hours I need a second dinner of Malaysian food at an outdoor cafe, complete with vanilla milkshake. After that I'm not really hungry but I could probably put away a third dinner. I consider it but I'd better just go back to the guesthouse and get some rest.