Nilai to Hanoi (again)

We made it into Hanoi after a cosy stopover in a funky hotel, New Wave 2, in Nilai - a very nondescript Malaysian town 12 kms from the KL airport. The taxi driver seemed unable to find it but it proved a much easier stopover than going into KL which is an overblown city we have seen before.

The room was a green concrete box but clean and utterly silent after our late arrival after mindight and we slept for ten hours solid.

The flight into Hanoi was straightforward and the visa on arrival process worked fine for us although some people didn't have the right exact US $45 and one couple claimed to have had all their money stolen between the plane and the immigration point.

We managed to change $20 into some Viet dong and had a very elegant meal at the Black Duck Cafe just around the corner from the Hanoi Old Town Hotel. The night markets were pulsating with life.

Today we have wandered around in the sweltering heat photographing the insane motorbike traffic, visiting the markets and finding a few things to tide us over on the train to Sapa tonight. We have already blogged Hanoi on our last visit, so this was just another easy day hanging out in air-conditioned comfort with sorties out to see the old town.

Hanoi is always a fascinating place people living and eating on the streets, shades of the French colonial past, both stiflingly hot and delightfully shady. Full of inexpensive and extremely obliging restaurants, as long as you avoid the scams and ripoffs that sometimes appear without warning.

Kampung Chitty

Gateway to the kampung

0. Last Minuet in Melacca
1. Melacca Temples on Harmony Street
2. Kampung Chitti

Kampung Chitty is an enclave on the outskirts of Old Melacca where there is an Indian community and a ri Mariamman temple. The houses are colourful and original little cottages that originally may have been built autonomously as an informal 'ghetto' outside local regulations.

The Chittys are a distinctive group of Tamil people found mainly in Malacca and Singapore , who are also known as the Indian Peranakans. As of today, their population stands at 2,000. Like the Peranakans, the Chitty speak a Malay patois, which is mixed with many Tamil loan words. Many of the Chitty are unable to communicate in Tamil fluently.

Historical records stated that the Tamil traders from Panai in Tamil Nadu settled down in Malacca during the sovereignty of the Sultanate of Malacca. Like the Peranakans, they later settled down and freely intermingled with the local Malays and Chinese settlers. However, with the fall of the Malacca Sultanate after 1511, the Chitty eventually lost touch with their native land. Under the administration of the Portuguese, Dutch and British colonizers, the Chitty eventually began simplifying their culture and customs by adopting local customs.

Chinese cultural influence among the Chitty people is evident, especially in the case of ancestral worship. Religious objects used for conducting rituals aren similar to those used by the Chinese. Hints of Taoist and Islamic influences are also evident in their religious rituals.

Sri Mariamman temple

Melacca Temples on Harmony Street

Sri Poyatha Moorthi temple

0. Last Minuet in Melacca
1. Melacca Temples on Harmony Street
2. Kampung Chitti

Sri Poyatha Moorthi Temple is the oldest Hindu temple in Malaysia as well as the oldest functioning Hindu temple in the Malay archipelago.[1] Located in the state of Malacca, the temple is also unique for being one of the few existing Chitty temples in Malaysia. The temple was built by Thavinayagar Chitty, the leader of the Chitty people, in 1781 after the Dutch colonial government of Malacca gave him a plot of land. The temple is dedicated to Vinayagar or Ganesha, the elephant deity. In the back room is a sculpture of the deity with the head of an elephant and the body of a man with four hands. There is another altar dedicated to Lord Muruga, the younger brother of Lord Vinayagar. For a history of the Chitty's see also Kampung Chitti.

The priest blessed Christine put a red dot on her forehead and gave her an offering of banana

Kampung Kling Mosque (Malay: Masjid Kampung Kling) (sometimes also spelt Kampung Keling Mosque) is an old mosque in Malacca, Malaysia. The original structure built by Indian Muslim traders in 1748 was a wooden building and in 1872, it was rebuilt in brick. The mosque is one of the traditional mosques in Melaka, which still retains its original design. The architectural design of the mosque is a cross between Sumatran, Chinese, Hindu, and the Melaka Malay.





The Cheng Hoon Teng Temple at Jalan Tokong, Malacca, is the oldest and surely one of the grandest Chinese temples in Malaysia. The temple, with its curved roof ridge, cut-and-paste chien nien decoration, and gable design, reflects the architectural style of South China, of craftsmen from Fujian and Guangdong. 25 Jalan Tokong, 75200 Melaka, Malaysia +60 6-282 9343




















Xian Lin Si Temple A Buddhist temple opposite Cheng Hoon Teng







The Eng Choon Association, at 122 Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (Heeren Street) is a Hokkien clan association for the Chinese immigrants who originated from the Eng Choon District of Fujian Province in China. Among the members of this association is the family of Tan Beng Swee and Tan Kim Seng, prominent members of the Malacca elite. The clock tower in the Malacca Town Hall was erected by Tan Jiak Kim in memory of his father Tan Beng Swee.















Hokien Huay Kuan clan house. Hokkien is the largest Chinese dialect spoken among Chinese groups in Malaysia. Originally, the Hokkien people were the descendants of the earliest Chinese settlers on the Peninsula who originated mainly from Fujian (also called Min) Province in China. Presently, the majority of Chinese in Malaysia, no matter their ethnic background, use Hokkien as a trade language to converse with other Chinese in particular regions.








Another temple opposite