Where Arabs Prefer to Visit Instead of Melaka

We learned about the patterns that bring different nationalities to Kuala Lumpur from our guide, Sara. Each country seems to prefer their own type of relaxation. Each comes at different times–July and August are Arab times, and February is when Iranian visitors come to KL.

The Indian visitors, she said, like to window shop. They also think they know everything, so it’s hard to try to advise them about where to go and what to see. She liked our inquisitiveness and willingness to be led around, open to her suggestions.

The wealthy gulf states visitors go to malls like this one, located just below the Twin Towers and sometimes bring along aides to carry all of the bags back to the hotel.

We are in Melaka where there is a Portuguese colony and a lot of history and museums. Sara said that few of her Indian, Iranian or Arab guests ever want to come here. They prefer to shop and to see the visit name stores like Hugo Boss, Cartier and Fendi.

The registration list at the Hotel Puri bears this out. It’s French, Australian, UK, these are the people who want to see the museums and the stories about Mereka, or independance from Britain. It’s a complicated story but ended with a shout of this word Mereka seven times in 1957.

SIC is another term we hadn’t heard of, it means ‘sit in coach.’ The guides spend a lot of time waiting around for their guests to do what they want, so the driver and the guide get to know each other well with all of that hanging around. They take catnaps to keep their energy up.