This was the point in the trip that I’ve only realized that we are not actually touring a duck farm of some sort… I present to you, Melaka’s Duck Tours. Billed as Malaysia’s only Land & Sea Adventure, this is a great way to showcase Melaka’s importance historically, in terms of it’s strategic importance as a port of call along the Straits of Melaka.
A bit of history on these Ducks: These amphibious vehicles, which were codenamed DUKW, were developed by the US during WWII to transport supplies and troops, and sometimes were used during amphibious assaults as well. More info on the history of the Ducks here: http://melakaducktours.com/history.html.
As we drove down Jalan Merdeka, between Dataran Pahlawan and it’s adjoining Megamall, and Mahkota Parade, we were treated to an explanation by the… ConDuckTours… of the recent developments of downtown Melaka, how the land reclamation process borrowed from Dutch technology has expanded the areas of the city. As I noticed traffic whizzing nearby, I wondered how a slow moving vehicle such as the Duck would be received by the rush hour traffic, but surprisingly, people were well behaved, no honking whatsoever. Maybe these Ducks are part of the daily traffic landscape, or the fact that there aren’t that many cars around, or the fact that Malaccan drivers are much more polite than their KL counterparts. Who knows, but we sure had a great drive around the city for a bit.
We made a right to Jalan Said Abd. Aziz, passed by rows of shops, our tour guide mentioned that the row of shops had cheap, budget family hotels. As I’m more of a solo traveller, I made a mental note to check out the place later on in the day.
As we approached the bridge connecting the mainland and Pulau Melaka, I saw this fish pond right by the sea where people can go fishing and take home what they catch. I thought this might interest my fishing fiends friends.
Masjid Selat or the Floating Mosque.
As we transitioned from four wheels mode to propeller mode, the duck slowly enters the water right next to Masjid Selat, or the Floatng Mosque, because it’s appearance from afar looks like the mosque is floating. Note the life preservers clipped to the railings. I bet this would look lovely at night. Pity we didn’t get the chance. From afar, we could see Pulau Besar to our left, which looks like a person lying down, spawning countless legends, and Pulau Upeh to our right, favourite hangout of the Hawksbill Turtles.
We went through this area before splashing in, a construction project funded by the Arabs. Notice the Arabic influence in the architecture. It will be called Arab City, and the estimated completion of the project is by the end of the year.
Everyone’s enjoying the sea breeze, some enjoyed it so much, they took a quick nap. I probably did as well.
The mouth of Melaka River, once known as Bertam River. The usual route of the tour would be going up the ramp next to the Eye on Malaysia (the Ferris wheel), but as there’s a construction going on around the area, and the Eye on Malaysia itself is undergoing upgrades to increase its size, the tour made a U turn and goes back up where we splashed in. Pulau Upeh is now towards my left. You can see the layout more clearly in the next article.
The building in the foreground is The Jetty, a collection of cafes and entertainment establishments. Quite a lively place on Wednesday nights.
A shot to establish where the Masjid Selat really is.
Tried to get a head-on, symmetrical shot of the mosque from the front.
Their website again is www.melakaducktours.com. A lull in the tour as the Duck is getting cleaned by some workers, and have its undercarriage checked for debris.
I miss fishing…
Melaka is actually really, really close to Indonesia. At its narrowest point, there’s only 37 miles of Straits of Melaka separating Melaka and Sumatra, with 300 ships passing through the Straits every single day.
The current ferry terminal serving passengers from Dumai and Bengkalis in Indonesia. Just behind, the new CIQ Complex is being built to handle the increasing numbers of passengers coming over from Indonesia. CIQ stands for Customs, Immigration and Quarantine if I’m not mistaken.
Just found another route to try for my Trippin’… Next plan, go through Java, over to Sumatra, then hop on over a ferry to Melaka, down to JB, and back to Brunei. The cost for an average ferry trip is RM120 by the way.
And we ended back up where we started. Coincidentally, this will be in the next post! Stay tuned!
You must be logged in to post a comment.