Melaka

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Melaka was our last stop in Malaysia. The old town is another UNESCO world heritage site, with pristine Chinese shophouses, red Dutch colonial buildings and crumbling Portuguese ruins and a river running through the middle.

Chinese shophouses

Christ Church

Melaka river

Colin and the sunset

Portugese ruins

Temple

Bodybuilder statue in Jonker St square

At odds with the beautifully restored buildings are the decorated trishaws around every corner, covered in flowers, tinsel and Hello Kitty toys. Melaka is one of the last places in Malaysia where trishaw drivers can still make a decent wage, and so they go all out to attract tourists.

Trishaw decorated with Batman figures

Trishaw driver

Trishaw decorated with flowers

At night the trishaws are lit up in bright lights and blare out loud music.

Trishaws lit up at night

Jonker Street night market is the main event in Melaka (it's on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings and so the city is much quieter during the week). There's plenty of food on offer, as well as clothes, toys and souvenirs.

Jonker St night market

Colin at the night market in his Germany shirt

Switching allegiances ahead of the World Cup final later that night.

Musical performance in Jonker St

People eating at the market

Plates of clams

Street food stall

Banana leaf bundles

Dim sum for sale at the market

Although it's a beautiful city with interesting architecture and great food, for some reason we didn't warm to Melaka as much as George Town. It all felt a little too polished for us. Still, we had a fun week here and it's a good stopping off point if you're headed to Singapore (which is a 4 hour drive).

To find out all about the regional specialities in this part of Malaysia, read my guide to Melaka's must eats.