Sunday 10 August

A Dutch colonial house in Melaka

Up very early to finish packing and check out of our Singapore hotel before breakfast. I enjoyed muesli with fruit, orange juice and eggs and bacon. While waiting for our driver we realised we didn't have our passports handy. After turning the cases upside down, we found them in the travel folder.

Our RMG driver was late again and didn't have the train tickets, so he had to stop off for them. We drove to Woodland Station which turned out to be on the border with Malaysia. After passing through two sets of immigration checks and having our fingerprints taken, we found our seats on the train to Tampin.

The journey through South Malaysia led through greenery and palm trees and took 5 hours. Many people got on at intervening stations. We alighted at Tampin and found William, our driver and guide, waiting.

There was a celebration at the Chinese temple

We drove for about 40 minutes to Melaka where we stopped for some photos and then for an Indian lunch, served on a banana leaf. No beer sadly. Then as it was too hot to stroll, we drove around the Dutch and Chinese quarters before arriving at the Equitorial Hotel.

Nasi goreng on our first night in Malaysia

After a rest we went downstairs and tried to walk around Melaka, but there were no pavements or street signs. So we went back to the hotel bar for beer and a try at darts. There was football on TV. We then adjourned to the bistro for nasi goreng and hokkien mie with lime juice. Malaysia is predominantly a Muslim country. They don't seem to have any wine.

I had trouble sleeping due to a very annoying cough.