to melaka

i got up early this morning to get the ferry to the bus station in butterworth and catch a bus to melaka, a colonial city. not knowing when such a bus left, i planned to be on the mainland for 9. it would have worked had i 1. not taken the lazy way (wonderfully charming) and got a trishaw to the ferry terminal, and 2. had they not shut the gate in my face at te terminal (it seems that it always happens to me!). anyhow, it was all good because the bus only left at 10:30. i mean, 11. they're always late!

as soon as we started going, i realised that they were not taking the highway. it soon became apparent that there was no way that we would reach melaka by 4 or 5 pm as i had been told. i figured that at the rate we where going, we'd be there by 6:30. unfortunately, i hadn't planned on my bus going to KL to drop-off and pick-up passengers. we arrived in KL at 5 and left 30 minutes later, and thus i arrived in melaka at 7:40pm, after nearly a 9h bus ride. sweet! on the upside, i got to see beautiful landscapes, mountains, fields of palms and old wooden houses on stilts.

on the downside, i felt quite sick during the entire trip and actually had time to fight a mild fever while on the bus. i will thus get to bed early tonight to get a proper rest and hopefully fill-up on energy for tomorrow.

melaka though is not very impressing as of yet. although i have only seen it in the dark, the area where i am staying is not so great and pretty dead actually. my guesthouse is also crap, but i managed to reserve a room in a much nicer one for tomorrow. the good hting though is that this isn't a big city, and i am quite close to the sights and historical spots. it's just that right where i am, it quite lacks anything charming or quaint.