Malacca
Or more properly Melaka. The name itself has a romantic cadence; history has been made here many many times. It has been a port for half a millennium, standing as a staging post between India and China; traders used it as refueling point and rest station when travelling between the two major cultures of Asia. When the colonial powers arrived, chasing the spices that were essential to preserve their food, they quickly grasped the strategic advantage of this port and it changed hands many times, the Portuguese were here, then the Dutch and finally the English. It was here that Tunku Abdul Rehman declared independence in 1957, incidentally the year of my birth. The building from where this event took place stands as a monument to those stirring times. We arrived at the Melaka Sentral bus station at about 11 AM after a comfortable and airconditioned journey from Kuala Lumpur. A short bus ride later we were at the heart of historical Melaka. The heritage area has been declared a Unesco Wor...