I was more than surprised when I arrived in the old town of Malacca, what a beautiful place this is. The old center of town is roughly divided in three parts: the Portuguese area with an old church and remains of a fortress. The Dutch part is at the east side of Malacca river, an old townhall, a church and a handful of redbrick buildings around a square. And at the west bank of the river the large Jonker street area, a labyrinth of small colonial streets filled with local shops, galleries and restaurants.
I went there without any expectations, and so the effect on me was great, such great architecture and so much to explore and discover. It reminded me of just a few cities, none of them comparable on how it looks, but they can describe the kind of mood that flows through the alleys: Cartagena des Indes, Cusco, Ubud, Glastonbury and Florence. I mean, the feeling that after each corner something wonderful will show up, and then it actually happens. Got it?
If you also know of such a surprising town or city, let me know in a comment below because I would definitely put it on my bucketlist and visit it!
As from the start I already understood this would be a Mission Impossible. The park measures one (1) square kilometer and contains countless traditional and religious houses, museums, parks, and an enormous map of the sea nation in a central lake over which cable cars ride.
My original plan was at least to vist each of the 16 museums. But that was just a plan. Once I walked around I got easily lost and missed several attractions. Secondly I underestimated the heat. A cloudless day in Jakarta gives the sun full opportunity to burn you down including all your plans. All you want is to escape the heat and run somewhere inside. Somehow there were not a lot of visitors in the park and so not a lot of people to interact with.
Voetnoten 
Let me know that…