Exploring Melaka on Foot as the City Recovers
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I visited Melaka for the first time since the pandemic wreaked havoc on its tourism industry.
When I last visited it in 2017, six years earlier, I was left with memories of a city bustling with foreign and domestic visitors. A city celebrating its vibrant cultural mix and layered colonial past.
Tourism was booming back then. The historic part of the city, with its centuries-old buildings, was jam-packed. I sometimes wished it were a little quieter. The boom continued for the next two years, with the city receiving 18.7 million tourists in 2019.
Then the pandemic and lockdowns took hold in 2020. The tourism industry came crashing down and the local economy suffered badly. Many shops closed permanently, both in the popular Jonker Street tourist belt and in other parts of town.
Colourful wall murals along a quiet riverside walk.
Returning now, to see in the new year 2023, it’s a pleasure to note the recovery taking place in Melaka – or Malacca, as many still call it. The city is not yet back to what it was but it’s getting there.
While international tourism hasn’t returned to its pre-pandemic levels, there’s now a steady stream of travellers from Singapore as well as domestic visitors from other parts of Malaysia. Visitors from Indonesia are increasing too.
A local man with a good knowledge of the city and its tourism industry told me things have returned to around 60 percent of what they were before the pandemic.
It’s a huge jump forward from the first two years of Covid and a sign of promise for the future.
A trishaw driver pedals past a street mural.
A turning point will be the return of Chinese visitors to Melaka in large numbers. This is expected to start happening early in 2023 as China eases restrictions on its citizens travelling.
Apart from boosting hotel occupancy rates and keeping restaurants happy, they have a reputation for doing lots of shopping in Melaka, pumping money into the city’s economy.
In 2019, travellers from China made up more than 45 percent of all foreign visitors to the city. Next came tourists from Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
There are inevitably risks of further Covid outbreaks when this kind of mass tourism from China resumes. Asian countries are adopting different ways to handle it. Malaysia announced in January it would set up special lanes for Chinese travellers at its international entry points with on-arrival testing.
The Jonker Street market is already very busy.
People in Melaka’s tourism industry will be hoping visitors from elsewhere soon start returning in numbers too – from Europe, Australia and other Asian countries.
Most visitors spend one or two days in Melaka. Many make a day trip of it without spending the night. It’s long enough to get a reasonable feel for the place.
This time I wanted longer. Travelling by road from my home in Kuala Lumpur, I chose to spend four nights there, staying at a comfortable boutique hotel in the old town. After three years of not travelling much, it was just what the doctor ordered. Call it revenge travel.
It gave me an opportunity to get to know the historic old city better than on previous visits. And with more time to spend and no fixed itinerary, I enjoyed exploring the city on foot.
A picturesque little lane in the old town.
If your hotel is in or near the old part of the city, all the main attractions for visitors are within easy strolling distance. They include the old Dutch Square, St Paul’s Hill, the 500-year-old ruins of A Famosa Portuguese fortress, many fascinating old temples, churches and mosques, the lure of Jonker Street and the city’s heartbeat, the captivating Melaka River.
The best times to go walking are early morning and late afternoon or evening. It’s just too hot and muggy to attempt a long walk during the rest of the day.
Since Jonker Street and some of the most interesting places of worship are west of the river, and the Dutch Square and St Paul’s Hill east, you’ll find yourself gravitating to the river and enjoying its sights.
You may decide to set out without a particular destination in mind and see where your footsteps take you. If you do want to plan a rough route, a good first destination is the Dutch Graveyard, tucked away on a side road in the heart of the old city, at the foot of St Paul’s Hill.
The Dutch Graveyard with its old shady trees.
The cemetery has existed since the late 17th century when the Dutch ruled Melaka. Despite the name, 33 of the 38 graves are British not Dutch. The British took control of Melaka from the Dutch in 1824 and continued the practice of burying their dead there – including, sadly, children and young women.
The cemetery is a good introduction to the city’s colonial history and is a genuinely peaceful place, surrounded by attractive trees.
To the side of the cemetery is the back path to the top of St Paul’s Hill. It’s a much easier climb than the main path from the Dutch Square, which is steeper and more challenging, not least for older visitors or anyone with dodgy knees.
After exploring the ruins of St Paul’s Church, first built by the Portuguese in 1521, you can walk down – carefully – to the Dutch Square, with its centuries-old terracotta red buildings. They include Christ Church and the Dutch Stadthuys or town hall.
Dutch Square before the morning crowds arrive.
If you’re doing a morning walk and reach the square before 8am, you’re likely to have the place almost to yourself. It’s a real treat, especially if you want to take photos before the first of the day’s tour groups start arriving.
It also means you’re spared noise of the unnecessarily loud pop music blaring from gaudy trishaws as they ferry tourists this way and that.
From here you can continue your walk along the river or head for other sites such as A Famosa. Keep an eye out for the street art as you go. You’re likely to see many colourful murals.
An advantage of a walk like this is that it gives you a kind of overview of the old city. You can head back later and spend more time exploring the places that interest you most.
The annual Ratha Yatra chariot procession.
Do keep a watch out for any religious festivals taking place during your visit. I was lucky enough to catch the annual Ratha Yatra chariot procession on New Year’s Day, starting from the Sri Poyyatha Vinayaga Moorthy Temple, Malaysia’s oldest Hindu temple.
And then there’s Jonker Street, also known as Jonker Walk. Even without the Chinese tourists it’s packed at night, especially at weekends when its famous night market kicks in. Malaysia is renowned for its night markets and this is one of the best.
Anyone still wanting to avoid crowds after the pandemic may wish to give it a miss. There’s no social distancing and many people don’t wear masks.
But if you do decide to join the throng, it’s hard not to resist the market’s noisy charms; the street stalls, the many restaurants, the open-air food court and the shops offering popular traditional delicacies. Spicy salted egg fish skin, anyone?
Header image: © Dan Hanscom. All other images: © Alan Williams
