I awoke pretty early this morning. I must admit I was irritated at the prospect of waking up so early at the start of a long vacation. But I had a bus to catch and tomorrow I plan on sleeping in a long time. Matter of fact, I took an absolutely wicked nap (in the best sense) this afternoon during the heat of the day--and it is Ramadan here so nothing much goes on during the day--that lasted about two and a half glorious hours. The bus trip from Singapore to Melaka (I prefer Malacca) took about three and a half hours. It was a damned interesting drive. Rolling hills, palm plantations as far as the eye can see, verdant green lush jungles peppered with orange flowers and from time to time cell towers jutting straight up from the jungle. (You can find today's photos here.)

It rained the first hour of the trip but then the skies cleared, after all, the Monsoons have passed. Blue skies spread out all around and then the heat rose up from the land and wilted everything. I arrived in Malacca about 1pm, found a hotel and immediately set about seeing the old town. And no, ES, I wasn't blogging on the freaking bus, you ninny!

More after the jump

What's so special about Malacca? Well, for centuries it played the role of Singapore. It wasn't until an accident of British Imperial history that Singapore was literally invented. But that's by the by. The city is much like Singapore in the range of cosmopolitanism here: Chinese, Malays, Indians (mostly form Tamil), Sri Lankans and even a small community of mixed Sino-Portuguese Christians inhabit a small slice of the city.

I climbed St. Paul's Hill, where a Portuguese church was built in 1523 (subsequently destroyed by the Dutch and then taken over by the British). After wandering around the old Western Colonial areas I wandered around the original colonial areas: Chinatown. Having been to China I must say it wasn't very impressive, aside from the few odd pieces of architecture. The highlight of the day was certainly looking out on the Straits of Malacca from Saint Paul's Hill and seeing a collection of container ships and oil tankers unlike any place I've ever seen.

And now, I'm getting ready to dive in to a dish of fresh sting-ray and white rice. So excuse me while I eat and enjoy the photos.

Update: In case you are wondering, yes, the sting-ray was delicious. As a side note, I've met three separate pairs of Russian travelers today, two Czechs, three from France and several Aussies. Damn.