Kuala Tahan back to Kuala Lumpur, to Melaka, Malaysia

8/5 – Back to KL by bus today. Thank goodness we don’t have to go back by slow boat! Had lunch in the little town of Jerantut while waiting for the next bus.

Magazine rack in Jerantut. Is this the Malaysian equivalent of Cosmo?

We were unable to book the nice hotel with the pool that we stayed in before our trek, but booked a very nice older hotel in Chinatown, the Mandarin Pacific, and the bus dropped us right at the door!

When we were in KL a week ago, we ordered new glasses – both of ours were scratched, broken and superglued after fourteen months on the road. We each got progressive bifocals, and a second pair of sunglasses for about a third of what we would pay back home. Today we went to pick up our new glasses – what do you think?

We’re singing, “I can see clearly now…”

8/8 – Time to bid farewell to KL.

They’ve got one of the nicest bus stations we’ve seen – sparkly clean and modern, and everyone queues politely.

When we were on our way to Georgetown several weeks ago, I sat next to a young man on Bus 101 who suggested that we stop in Melaka (Malay spelling = Melaka, English spelling = Malacca) on our way to Singapore. We’d never heard of Melaka, but it looked to be about halfway between KL and Singapore on the map, and the young man said there was lots to do there. So, as we have been doing throughout this trip, we modified our itinerary to spend four days in Melaka. Jim had a hard time finding a hotel room, but we didn’t stop to wonder why. Turns out that August 9th is the 50th anniversary celebration of Singapore’s independence from Malaysia, and this was a four day weekend where Singapore folks come to holiday in Melaka. We picked the busiest weekend of the summer to visit! Here is Dutch Square, at the center of town:

How do you get around Melaka? Lots of tricycle cabs decorated with Frozen characters, blaring out Let It Go as they roll down the street!

Or maybe a horse-drawn buggy?

There are lots of photo opportunities for tourists. Here’s a Malaysian Blue Man:

This guy said he was Captain Malaysia:

Jim is bullish on America.

The main area is Jonker Street, where there are lots of things to buy, and lots of things to eat. Below is the Malaysian equivalent of a Trader Joe’s, with folks lined up to purchase authentic Chinese (we think) delicacies.