MALAYSIAlonelyplanet.com PENINSULAR MALAYSIA – WEST COAST •• Port Dickson
enthusiastic traditional top-spinning lesson
by gasing extraordinaire Simpson Wong. You
aren’t expected to purchase anything although
you probably will if you get the hang of the
spin – a top is only RM2.
Getting There & Away
Melaka is 144km southeast of KL.
Melaka’s local bus station, express bus sta-
tion and taxi station are all combined into
the massive Melaka Sentral (Jln Panglima Awang),
roughly 5km north of Town Sq. Because
Melaka is a popular weekend destination,
make advance bus reservations for Singapore
and Kuala Lumpur.
You can get to nearly every major city in
Malaysia from Melaka. Some long-distance
destinations include: KL (RM12, two hours,
hourly departures), Jerantut (RM23, five
hours, one daily), Johor Bahru (RM19, three
hours, hourly departures), Kota Bharu (RM51,
10 hours, five daily), Kuala Terengganu
(RM43, nine hours, five daily), Mersing
(RM23, 4½ hours, two daily) and Singapore
(RM22, 4½ hours, hourly departures).
You can take the A-Bus Express (%281 7669;
RM36) to KL International Airport (two hours,
seven daily departures). Book tickets at the
tourist offices or your guest house.
Firefly (%03-7845 4543) flies to/from Singapore
three days a week. Melaka’s airport is at Batu
Berendam, 9km north of the town centre.
Getting Around
Bus 17 runs frequently from the Melaka Sentral
bus station to Town Sq, Mahkota Parade
Shopping Complex, Taman Melaka Raya
(RM1) and Medan Portugis (RM1.20).
Panorama Melaka tourist bus offers hop-
on, hop-off services (RM2 to RM5, h9am
to 8.30pm, every 30 to 45 minutes). Buy your
ticket (good all day) on the bus. Stops in-
clude the Hang Tua Mall, Melaka Sentral, Jln
Hang Jebat (Jonker Walk), the Stadthuys and
Kampung Portugis. Route maps and more
information are available at the Tourism
Malaysia office ( p452 ).
Melaka is a walking city. Bicycles can be
hired at some guest houses for around RM10
per day; there are also a few bike-hire outfits
around town.
A trishaw should cost around RM15 for any
one-way trip within town, but you’ll have to
bargain. Taxis charge around RM10 within a
5km radius.PORT DICKSON
%^06
The pretty strip of white sand at Port Dickson
lazily meanders for some 16km. Although
it’s a cheesy resort area and the water is
fairly polluted, it’s one of the few places on
this coast where you can have a real beach
holiday without going to an island. Beach
aside, the real highlight of this area is the 80-
hectare Cape Rachado Forest Reser ve (also called
the Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve), the only
patch of coastal forest left on the west coast
of Peninsular Malaysia. This lowland jungle
has secluded beaches and is also a stopover for
over 300,000 migratory birds every year.
The turn-off to the reserve is near the Km
16 marker (take the local bus); head down
the road for 2km to the Ilham Resort and
then through the forest reserve for another
kilometre to the Tanjung Tuan lighthouse, which
isn’t open to the public. From here the views
are stunning and on a clear day you can see
Sumatra, 38km away across Selat Melaka.
A network of trails leads into the forest and
to some beaches (bring lots of water – it’s a
steep climb).
Beachside food is limited to a few mediocre
food courts and restaurants selling crab by the
kilo. To stay at the beach, head to the Rotary
Sunshine Camp Holiday Hostel (%647 3798; Km 5 Jln
Pantai; dm/r RM7/25), a well-tended barracks-like
place. Shower and cooking facilities are shared
and it’s a short walk to a good beach and
cheap food. Near the forest reserve entrance is
the Caribbean-themed Casa Rachado (%662 5177;
[email protected]; Tanjung Biru, Km 16 Jln Pantai;
camp sites for 2/4 people RM30/50, r from RM99; as).GETTING TO INDONESIA: MELAKA
TO DUMAI, PEKANBARU & PULAU
BENGKALIS
High-speed ferries make the trip from
Melaka to Dumai, Indonesia, daily at around
10am (one way/return RM119/170, 1¾
hours), from Melaka to Pekanbaru (one way/
return RM159/269, six hours), Indonesia, at
9.30am on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday,
and to Pulau Bengkalis in Indonesia four
days per week. Tickets are available at of-
fices near the wharf.
See p320 for information on doing the
trip in reverse.455