Melaka, a City Full of History and Character

We had a hole in our schedule to fill before heading to Singapore so we decided on a whim to visit the city of Melaka. We honestly did not know much about the city before going there except that it had UNESCO World Heritage City status and that it was between Penang and Singapore. We ended up thoroughly enjoying our time there and it was a pleasant and relaxing place to spend our last three nights in Malaysia. 

Melaka has a beautiful riverfront that runs through the center of the historic district. There is an hour long river cruise tour that runs every half hour which we took and enjoyed. Some of the walls of buildings along the riverfront are covered in interesting street art.

We stayed in a small hotel within walking distance of the historic district and our room had a giant window in it with a view overlooking the gardens of the Melaka Sultanate Palace, which was next door. The hotel staff also made special breakfasts for us each day when they found out we were vegan; they were so sweet to us.

One evening we attended the Encore Melaka Impression Series show, which is an impressive cultural performance focused on Melaka’s history and culture. The theater where the performance takes place is a newer facility that features a unique 360-degree rotating audience platform facing a huge concave stage set up with multiple built-in hydraulic stages and projection screens. The lighting, sound, and production of this show were just amazing. One scene included performers dancing in a big pool of water on stage while rain showers fell from above onto them. There were seven acts total that followed a storyline of Melaka’s history and told the personal stories from different generations over time. Some acts featured fantastic drumming and dancing. Below are a few photos of the performance but it was rather difficult to capture how incredible the lighting and special effects truly were.  

There are many museums in Melaka and we visited the Baba and Nyonya Heritage Museum, the Melaka History and Ethnography Museum, and the Flora de la Mar Maritime Museum, which is inside a replica of a large wood ship and highlights Melaka’s maritime history from the 15th century through the present. Through our museum visits and the Encore Melaka show we became well acquainted with Melaka’s history of being ruled first by the Melaka sultans, then the Portuguese, then the Dutch, then the British, then the Japanese, then the British again, and finally gaining independence in 1957. We also visited the Melaka Sultanate Palace, which is a like a museum about the era when the native sultans ruled Melaka inside a building constructed to be a replica of an ancient sultan palace.  

Jonker Street is the most lively section of town lined with restaurants, shops, guesthouses, and coffee shops. On the weekends they close the street to vehicular traffic and the street turns into a lively night market. Melaka had been dealing with a water shortage and air quality issues before we arrived but the city thankfully received some much needed rain while we were there which both washed away the haze in the air and helped with their water supply. 

We also visited some historical sites while in Melaka, including St. Paul’s Church, which is one of the oldest churches in Southeast Asia, and Kota A’Famosa, the only remaining portion of a former Portuguese fortress that was built in 1511.  

Melaka is a charming city that does an exceptional job of giving visitors the opportunity to learn all about its rich history. It was an ideal place to spend our last few days in Malaysia before heading to Singapore.