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Published: July 28th 2009
After a 6 hour drive from the east coast of Malaysia we arrived in the bustling port city of Georgetown on Pulau Penang. We had decided in Kota Bharu that we would cross the Thai/Malay border in Penang as it seemed like a lovely place to see and a last bit of Malay culture before we started our time in Thailand. The border crossing is also much safer as there are still foreign office reports advising against crossing the border at Rantau Panjang.
Penang, like most of Malaysia is a cultural mix of Chinese, Indian and Malaysian. Strolling through the various streets and markets it is very easy to lose track of where one culture ends and the next begins. As you wonder the streets your senses are assaulted by a HUGE array of smells and sounds and sights, each step along the street brings you into a new set of sensations all of which make you look even harder to find out where each aroma is coming from. Penang is known as the culinary capital of Malaysia because of it’s diverse mix of foods available, there is such a choice from Indian, Malaysian, Chinese, Thai, Nonya and some pubs
even offering good old fashioned English pub grub all of which is a mouth watering prospect as you wander past food stalls on every corner all selling a different type of food.
There is a strong colonial heritage surrounding the port of Penang which can be seen in all aspects of life around the city from the rickshaws that cruise the streets showing tourists the sights to the architecture throughout Georgetown.
Our time in Penang was spent just relaxing and doing the odd bit of shopping and sight seeing here and there and getting ready for 15 hectic days on our whistle stop tour of South Thailand. In the evenings we mainly just went out to one of the many food markets to sample some local delicacies and then went to watch England take on the Aussies in the Ashes series which was really good as both of us have been missing watching sport on a regular basis. It was on one of these nights watching the 3rd day in the 2nd test that we met Ben. Ben is an Australian who is on a year out of being responsible, he used to work in financial recruitment and with
the current economic climate being as it just decided to have a year off from working and all the responsibilities he had at home. Throughout the night we chatted away about what he has planned for his year out, why he decided to do it and also about what has happened to the Australian batting line up as they just seem to be leaking wickets at a rate we all thought only the English were capable of!! Half way through the night he asked what are plans were for our time in Thailand and where we were heading, after a brief discussion about some places we could possibly go he turned around to us and just offered us the keys to his apartment on Koh Samui?!?! I mean who would do that? What sort of person would just give their keys to a couple he has known for all of 3 or so hours? After about an hour of arguing saying we couldn’t possibly just go to his apartment which he is renting and let ourselves in and stay there for a night or two until Ben gets back to Samui from his Visa Run, we finally agreed to take
his keys and stay there for a night until he gets back to show us around Samui.
After this random and very strange turn of events we finished off our drinks exchanged details with Ben and headed off to sleep, pondering why someone would give away his keys to a couple he has just met and also what happens if he gets back to Samui before us and we have his keys?!?
The next morning we set off for Thailand and the next stage in our adventure...............
Hope all is well at home
Take care
Andy and Lucy
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