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Published: March 2nd 2010
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So first of all, a Dutch guy I met while diving on Ko Tao sent me a few photos from one of the dives we did which I'll post up now.
Back to more current events, our border crossing to Malaysia took most of the day and consisted of three mini bus journeys, beginning at 7:20am from Ko Lanta to Trang, Trang to Hat Yai and Hat Yai to Penang in Malaysia. We had an hour to kill in Hat Yai before crossing the border so changed the remainder of our baht into Malaysian ringet at a very convenient rate of 10 Baht = 1R. The border crossing between the two countries seemed like a mere formality, requiring only a couple of passport stamps instead of the usual visa application forms. Heading down into Malaysia, it was easy to see that we had travelled into a richer country due to the well maintained dual carriage ways and western style motorway service stations.
We arrived in Georgetown on Penang island at about 9pm- again in the dark in a new country, but this time with some local currency. Most of the recommended accommodation was full so after wandering around for
a while, we resorted to staying in the Indian run 'Tourist Hotel' in a room just big enough for a double bed with a few feet at the end for our bags. The fan wasn't much help against the sweltering heat (and no window meant no breeze from there either) but at least there was wifi for a change.
Malaysia is made up mainly of the Malay people along with a large Chinese and Indian population who have retained most of their distinct cultures. This of course gives us a wide choice of cheap cuisine so of course that evening we opted for the delicious spices of Indian food with the added bonus that unlike being in India, we could eat meat without worrying about the repercussions.
For our first full day in Malaysia, we took a walking tour of Georgetown which was sometimes easier said that done as much of the old town looked like it was built by Indians and included the usual trends of lacking pavements and open sewers- an unpleasant combination. Georgetown was one of the first British colonies in Malaysia, set up by the East India Company for spice trading amongst other things.
Fort Cornwallis remains near the edge of the island as a reminder of the early British influence. The fort itself never saw and military conflict but was built complete with high walls, cannons and a moat which later had to be filled in due to a Malaria epidemic. There wasn't a lot of colonial architecture remaining aside from the town hall and a few old churches but it was interesting that many of the street name are very British such as 'Victoria street', 'Buckingham street' and even 'Downing street'.
A bit disappointed with the walking tour and needing to escape the heat of the city, we caught a bus out to the Kek Lok Si temple, set up in the hills. The bus was pricer than its Thai equivalent but had AC and was of a new design that you'd find in a big city back home. The temple was a huge complex climbing up into the hills with a giant standing Buddha at the top looking out over the city. It was noticeably different than the usual Thai temples in a more 'chinesey' design along with a big range of Buddha image instead of the sitting ones that
usually dominate. The colourful modern design of the place had an almost theme park feel rather than temple, which was a welcome change and worth it for the views alone over the city.
That evening we headed to the mall for some western comforts. We found a supermarket which sold things much below the price of the local 7/11s. In Thailand, 7/11s are generally the cheapest place to buy things like drinks and snacks, but in Malaysia the prices are considerably higher than you'd find else where. Stacey found a Malaysian equivalent of Claire's Accessories and stocked up on new hair bands & stuff and was very excited about how much cheaper they were than back home.
For our final day in Penang, we bought minibus tickets to the Cameron highlands the following day before catching the bus over to the botanical gardens. (Interestingly, the minibus for the highlands picks you up at your hotel and the tickets were significantly cheaper than for the big bus, which required you to get to the bus station so we were effectively paying less for greater convenience!)
The bus ride to the botanic gardens should have been really straight forward
as we had a tourist map with the bus numbers for attractions on the island. However, this didn't turn out to be the case. We searched around for a bus stop that was serviced by the number 102 but couldn't find it anywhere in the local vicinity. Having noticed that all buses seemed to start at the jetty, we waited for 20mins for the free CAT bus which would take us to the bus station at the jetty. We searched around for the bus we wanted, seeing just about every other numbered service before asking one of the drivers for help and being told that bus 102 didn't actually exist! Thanks alot Penang tourist information! After enquiring further, the number 10 apparently went to the gardens, but departs from the mall which was only a 5min walk from where we started!
So back on the CAT bus after waiting a while in the heat, we made it to the mall and found the bus we wanted and were on our way, having spent quite a while searching for the phantom bus. Thankfully it turned out to be worth the hassle as the place was a green, pretty and peaceful
with monkeys, big monitor lizards and some sort of wombats as well as the huge range of tropical plants. We read for a while in the shade before exploring the park and catching the nice AC bus back to Georgetown.
The following morning before heading off in the minibus, we tried to exchange two of our books at an Indian book shop for a paperback novel. Anywhere else in south-east Asia and this wouldn't have been an issue as two for one is a pretty good deal on the part of the retailer but this guy wanted an additional 30 ringets (about £6) which was probably as much as the book cost when it was new..... sigh.... Back to the fun of negotiating with Indian business owners and being treated like a walking ATM. In the end we just gave up as it wasn't worth the hassle and went to stock up on supplies for the long journey to the Cameron Highlands.
Overall, Penang island didn't turn out to be exceptional in any particular regards compared to some of the other places we've been (we've been spoilt!) but it did provide an easy introduction to Malaysia as well
as some interesting colonial history.
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valda
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hi
The photo of your underwater is very good. Weare all very jealous of you and I'm still waiting for you to send me some sunshine. Please hurry as very cold still over here, had to scrap the ice yet again of the car this am.