The Taming Sari Tower (Menara Taming Sari) takes its name from a mythological, magical dagger, following the Malaysian city of Malacca's aspiration to appropriate the best of Malay culture.

But the name is as far as the resemblance goes; instead of an offensive weapon, the Taming Sari Tower is an amusement ride, a gyro tower (Wikipedia) that takes about 60 visitors up to a height of 260 feet to provide scenic, panoramic views of this ancient city.

A Ride on the Taming Sari Tower

The Taming Sari Tower's location allows its riders to see practically everything worth seeing in Malacca, albeit from over 200 feet up in the air. A short, five-minute walk from the Dataran Pahlawan Megamall shopping center will take you right to the entrance of the Taming Sari Tower.

After paying your entrance fee (MYR 20 for adults, MYR 10 for children under 12; read about Money in Malaysia), you'll walk through a turnstile into the waiting area where you can enter the circular gondola.

The Taming Sari Tower gondola is air conditioned and seats a maximum of 66 passengers. The interior is high enough to stand in, although you'll be required to sit and wait as the gondola ascends to its maximum height. Once peak altitude is reached, the gondola will begin to turn very slowly, permitting guests to see Malacca's most famous landmarks.

Saint Paul's Hill can be very clearly seen, a tree-topped bulge ringed by a perimeter wall of museums; the ruins of Saint Paul's Church can only be barely visible behind the trees.

The Melaka Sultanate Palace cannot be seen at all, as both the Palace and the a'Famosa gate are hidden behind Saint Paul's Hill. The Merdeka Museum is quite visible, though.

As the gondola turns to the river, the view changes to the Flora del Mar boat replica and Chinatown across the bridge.

Seeing the Real Malacca

Is the view worth your MYR 20? I'd say, only just: it will occur to the observant Taming Sari rider that Malacca is hardly as historical as, say, its fellow UNESCO World Heritage Site honoree Penang, as most of the infrastructure visible in the seven-minute-long ride seems to have been constructed in the past 40 years.

The Dataran Pahlawan Megamall, for instance, is the biggest single sight, a modern rectangle completely out of step with the heritage that Malacca strives so hard to cultivate.

Consider the ride, then, as an overview: after all, the city really is meant to be seen at ground level, by travelers walking on foot (say, through this walking tour of historic Malacca) to check out Chinatown, the museums, and the food.

Taming Sari Tower Basics

The Taming Sari Tower has been in operation since April of 2008; its construction cost the Malaysian government about MYR 24 million (about USD 6.36 million). Its Swiss-created design allegedly enables the tower to withstand earthquakes up to 10 on the Richter scale.

The Tower stands about 360 feet in height (the gondola only goes as far up as 260 feet), with its gondola ascending from a base containing a ticketing office and several souvenir shops.

More information on the Tower can be found at their official site: www.menaratamingsari.com. For more on the rest of the country, read our Malaysia Travel Guide, or check out our list of Top Ten Reasons to Visit Malaysia.