The opening of the gates of Hell

As we had a few days before our flight to Laos and we couldn't get a visa to Singapore, we thought that Malacca might be a place worth visiting. We gathered our bags and headed for KL sentral, the biggest transit hub in Kuala Lumpur. When we got there, we were surprised to find out that we couldn't get to Malacca from KL sentral at all. Instead we had to take a long monorail journey to another bus station, Bukit Jalil.

From Bukit Jalil it was easy to get to Malacca and the air conditioned bus offered a pleasant ride with its comfortable recliner-like seats. Two hours later we found ourselves under the scorching sun in Malacca, closer to the Equator than I've ever been. As usual, we had no idea where we were and where to go so an Internet café was the first place to go. Soon we found our way to the center of the city and the search for the best guest house in town started.

A quick nap and Hell had broken loose!

After visiting a few fully packed guest houses we found a small hotel with a receptionist who looked and sounded like an Amazon. The price was right and we had a nice double room for ourselves.

A short rest prepared us for the evening. And the rest was needed indeed because we heard that the gates of Hell had opened! A Chinese man was kind enough to enlighten us about the matter by telling that the day was Ghost Day and the dead would be visiting us. I saw fires and long staffs burning along the streets and suddenly I realized that I shouldn't have left the rocket launcher at home. Sure, it's kind of cumbersome and heavy but you never know when it'll come handy.

The Malaysian version of Hell

Just when I was about to fall in despair I saw people celebrating, eating and watching a show with local girls in tiny outfits. This wasn't the Hell I was waiting for! I had been fooled but maybe it was better this way...

We enjoyed the festivities for a while before leaving to find something to eat. We searched for food for quite a while and it felt like we saw the whole city before finally finding something. I ate a burger and Inna ordered a huge plate of oysters with fried eggs. For dessert we bought pomelo, pineapple, bananas, a red dragon fruit and Australian tomatoes, all fresh :).