On Tuesday afternoon, December 29th, we tried to rest our weary feet by continuing our seated touring. We took the 2 PM boat tour on the muddy Sungei Melaka (Melaka River), accompanied by a handsome elderly Portugese man with a full head of white hair, who informed us he was 83 years old. At times interesting and amusing, at times just annoying, he talked us up and down the river for 45 minutes, and most of the information comes from his remarks, though, wherever possible, I've tried to confirm it from our Rough Guide.
The following three pictures come from our earlier walks and were taken from bridges over the water rather than from a boat.
(Click on the pictures to obtain larger images, which take longer to download.)
(Left) Timber yards and Sumatran-style boat visible from the Jalan Hang Jebat (or Jonkers Street) bridge, which is close by St. Peter's, the Tourist Infomation Office, and the departure point for the boat tour. (Middle and Right) These two pictures were taken from the bridge near the Express Bus Station (see last picture on the previous screen), where we had gone on Monday to get reserved tickets to Singapore for our departure on Wednesday. Here, looking toward the city's modern commercial center, one can see several traditional fishing boats.
(Left) Immediately after leaving the dock, we passed buildings on the left or Chinatown side that housed businesses formerly dependant on the river for transportation; now that trucks, rather than boats, deliver goods, the river-access doors are unused and often sealed. More buildings, portions of which extend on stilts into the river. I missed the opportunity to photograph the giant minitor lizards that swim around in this part of the river or sun themselves on gaps in the foundation stones of the buildings. (Right) A particularly delapidated building still in use, though apparently about to slip beneath the water.
Three views of squatters' houses built on stilts. Someday these will disappear when the government realizes its plans to house the occupants in state housing. [Click here to continue our river tour.]
