Malaysia and the creepy doctor

Melaka, Malaysia

I am in Melaka at the moment. I don't know how much longer I will stay here and I am not sure where I will go next but that doesn't really worry me, everything will fall into place at the right time - as always.
Melaka is a small town located on the west coast of Malaysia, about half way between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Being an Unesco World Heritage city, Melaka has quite a lot to offer - from Mosques, Temples and Churches over Chinatown and Little India to the Dutch Square and the Portugiese Porta de Santiago. Not to forget all the food places and the night market during the weekends.

The original idea was to hitchhike from Johor Bahru (the first town in Malaysia)  to Melaka and then further to Kuala Lumpur and the Cameron Highlands. I took a bus to Malaysia ($2,50 from Singapore) because it is not allowed to walk across the border.

The border crossing was easy, everybody had to jump out of the bus, walk through the border, get the stamp and jump back in.
“Why you travel alone?” the officer on the border asked me in broken english, he literally couldn’t believe that a girl would travel by herself. He checked twice behind me if there really was nobody with me. “Why don’t bring friend, you don’t have friend?” he joked. I am already used to these questions so I just smiled and got my stamps.

The border to Malaysia

When we arrived in Johor Bahru I couldn't find a good hitchhiking spot so I decided to take the bus to Melaka. The buses are quite comfortable and not crowded at all, they are just slow and noisy ;)

There was a foodcourt where I had some rice and curry which sadly made me feel a little sick afterwards. Of course everybody was surprised that I was by myself and the guy I bought the curry from insisted on taking a selfie with me.

First meal in Malaysia

Selfie time 

Three hours later I was sitting at the bus stop outside of Melaka and I had no idea where to stay and how to get into the city centre. I tried to arrange a couchsurfing spot but I got kicked out of the WiFi all the time so I gave up and tried to find the bus into the city centre.

Suddenly this man came to me holding a flyer of his guest house in his hand and offered me a lift to the city. Usually I would have said no, but I don’t know why, I didn’t have a bad feeling in my gut so I went with him.
He introduced himself as doctor Sunil, he spoke good English but with a strong indian accent and he had lived in London for quite a while. He talked a lot. Nott a bad thing because he explained all the buildings and places in Melaka to me and so I had my first tour through the city.
The guesthouse was a very Malaysian style place, where the toilet and shower is sort of one thing and everything is very basic and a little bit run down. The doctor took me for another ride to the floating mosque and showed me around until his car suddenly broke down. Actually, the car was fine, just no lights and the horn wasn’t working. I didn’t want to be mean and just leave so I waited for him when he tried to fix the car.

The doctor tried to fix the car

I just wanted to be nice since he was driving me around but he thought now I would like him.

He started buying me beers and wanted to show me his “favourite spots” in the city.  We went to the river and sat down right on the opposite site of the Dutch square. He kept talking and talking about his life, how much I would remind him on his German friend, Simone, and he thanked me all the time for keeping him company and what a positive spirit I apparently am. It started to get very annoying and I just wanted to get away from him.

I excused myself to go to the bathroom where I found a beautiful reggae bar. When I told him that I want to sit there and have some beers with the guys, he was really disappointed but tried to hide it. I tried to be as nice as possible because all my stuff was in his guest house and I didn't want to get in trouble.

The reggae bar was amazing, I met five locals and one Dutch guy and we just had a good time together. I was really happy that I took the opportunity to get away from the Indian doctor.

When I came back to the guest house at three in the night, the doctor and another friend were sitting in the kitchen and disscusing life. Malcom, from New Zealand, has been traveling more than a decade and he had met the doctor the night before. I was glad that I wasn't the only one in the guesthouse and so I ended up sitting with them and we had some Indian food and some more beers together.

Everything was fine until I decided to go to sleep. It was already half past five in the morning so Malcom left as well. I had just laid down when someone suddenly knocked on my door.

Knock knock knock "Maria!". Knock knock knock "Maria!" and so on. He wouldn't stop knocking on my door and calling my name. Obviously, it was Sunil, the doctor. I have nerver been more afraid in my life before. With my heart pounding like crazy I was laying in the bed, not able to move and pretending to be asleep. Luckily I had locked my room from the inside so that he could not enter. I was the only person in the guesthouse and I didnt know what to do. After a while, at least five minutes, he gave up. I could still hear him walking around until it was quiet in the house. Still, I was too afraid to fall asleep and so I tried very hard to stay awake. The beers I had didn't make it easier to stay awake.

Suddenly a really loud noise made me sit upright in my bed. After the first shock I realized that it sounded like a waterpump or something similar. And there was it again. The knocking on the door. Annoyed I stood up and opened.

"What do you want?" I tried to hide my fear behind my anger.

"I don't want anything, I just want to apologize" Sunil tried to apologize for something I didn't even realize. Apparently he had ignored me when we were sitting in the kitchen together and now he felt bad.
I made a big mistake when I waited for him as the car broke down. He actually thought he could expect more from me.

Because he wouldn't stop annoying me and tried to discuss with me why he felt sorry, I got really angry and told him he should keep his private life more to himself. Then I locked the door and he left. I still didn't know if he would come back, break the door open or whatever but I guess the fact that I told him I would be a professional muay thai fighter am definitely him stay away from me for the night.
On the next morning I left the guest house and found another hostel where I could stay.

I have learned my lesson now. It was just the cultural diversity and nothing really bad happend. But I will be more careful now and go into official hostels instead of some dodgy private guesthouses...

#itsallpartoftheexperience

The nightmarket

Things to do in Melaka:

The Dutch Square in Melaka - influenced by the Dutch this place in the heart of Melaka is a famous tourist attraction. Every house is coloured in the same red as the Christ Church and the place is always full of people, hawkers and buskers.

Don't miss out on the nightmarket! Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening from 6pm the streets in Chinatown fill up with people, and you can get anything you want - from jewelery over shower heads to clothes and of course loads of street food! 

There are loads of bars and cafes n the Riverside, my favourite is Reggae by the River.

There is a Mosque which is half floating on the sea, sunsets at this place are stunning.

How to get around: hire a bike or walking. 

Where to stay: I recommend Victors Guest House for cheap accommodation