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Published: February 17th 2010
City Hall
There is a strong British influence in Penang, noted especially in the name of the city - Georgetown. The city has been named a UNESCO world heritage city for the diversity of cultures and buildings in the old section of town. A strong Chinatown, Indian section, English, Hindu, Muslim - many diverse cultures and lots of good food.Our south-east Asia adventure began with a very long day, leaving our apartment early morning on Monday, January 18. Dressed in our shorts and warm weather clothing we left the snow and cold of Jinshitan with Autumn, who drove us through a foggy start to the Dalian airport. We were very happy to be leaving Rick’s crutches at home, as he had started walking with only the help of a cane and air cast a few days before. A lot more freedom and not having to deal with carrying crutches was great.
From Dalian we flew to Hangzhou, where we met up with several Maple Leaf staff who were off to various points south as well. We arrived in Kuala Lumpur early evening that same evening, with still one more short flight to the Malaysian Island of Penang, arriving there about 11:00 p.m.
Landing in Georgetown, the main (only) city on the island, we were immediately struck by the heat, and glad to have dressed light. A cab ride with a rather surly driver took us to our hotel, where we had a goodnights sleep before setting out on foot (and cast/cane) to explore some of the sites
Relaxing at the Beach
Beaching was not as easy as we thought with Rick still in his cast. The sand was hard to walk in, so we tried to park ourselves someplace and enjoy the scenery and people watching.We quickly found the guest house region which was very laid back and spent some time drinking diet coke. in the historical section of the city. Georgetown is noted for its mix of cultures: strong British influence in the government buildings, large Indian and Chinese population, along with the native Malaysians and many other cultures. The city has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage city for the architecture representing such a wide variety of cultures. We took advantage of the free hop on/hop off bus to see the lay of the town before setting off to Little Indian and Chinatown to explore.
Enough of the culture, we now wanted some beaches! Having booked in town (partly to be close to the ferry terminal to catch an early train on our departure) we were not in the more expensive beach resort area, so set off on the 101 bus to the beach for the afternoon. The beaches of Penang were nice - not the white sand Thailand beaches, but hot and sandy. There are public beaches, but the best ones are of course in front of the large resorts, so we ‘adopted’ the Holiday Inn as our home away from home! We borrowed some time on their lawn chairs, used bathrooms and got maps from the tour desk
Beaches
The beach was nice, but no one swam in the water because of the jelly fish and the water wasn't very clear. as well as Gail having a dip in the pool- I’m sure that they thought we were guests by the end of three days - too funny.
We were really surprised by the number of Muslim people that we saw. Malaysia is over half Muslim. It must be a holiday destination for Arabs, (at least at the Holiday Inn) because we saw dozens of women wearing burkahs. Some of them, although traditional dressing on the outside, were not traditional in anything other sense. We watched them parasailing, horseback riding and riding on jet skis - too funny. They were having a great time.
Penang is a small island and has a great bus system, but we wanted to do a bit more exploring, so on Thursday, we rented a motorcycle for the day. No questions about Rick’s cast- just take your money and give you the keys. The trip to the beach that day was pretty quick with the exception of the flat tire. Luckily, Rick flagged down a fellow biker who looked like he lived there. Very kindly, he took us to his friend who operated a car/bike repair shop very close to where we were. Rick
Watching the parasailing
There was lots of action on the beach - parasailing, jet skis, horseback riding. It was easy to keep yourself amused watching people. had to push the bike there, but it only took about 15 minutes to repair. I know that we paid double the rate, but it was worth it to have it done with such minimal hassle.
On the road again, we headed to the National Park - beautiful area with hiking trails to remote white sand beaches. We really didn’t plan on hiking too far, but set off on the path to see what it would be like for Rick. The first part was great - especially seeing monkeys! It was kind of like being in the mountains and seeing deer or moose. The locals think you’re crazy to be excited about them. We also saw a huge lizard that must have been 3 feet long ambling along the beach. Soon, though, the trail got bumpy with tree roots and rocks so we had to regrettably turn back, but have a great place in mind if we ever go back.
From there we continued down the other side of the island which is not inhabited, - very hilly, lush vegetation, windy, roads. We stopped at a fruit farm where they offer tours, which would have been pretty interesting
On the Road
Sam the used book man rented us a motor bike for the day, so we toured the island for a few hours - it is a fairly small place that you could easily go around in a day. Driving on the opposite side of the road was bit confusing at first. to see all the tropical fruit trees, but it was another hike, so we opted for buying some fruit for lunch and enjoying the beautiful view.
By this time, we were hot and ready for the beach again, so we went back to the beach area and visited the Holiday inn for the last time (we really should send them a thank you note). We stopped at the big out door food court/restaurant to see our motorcyle buddy whose son ran a seafood stall there where we enjoyed a meal of freshly caught sea bass and prawns. It was a great day and nice for Rick to have the independence of riding a motorcycle again.
The next morning we set off at 6:00 to catch ferry back to the mainland, and then took a 6 hour train ride back to Kuala Lumpur. We could have flown much quicker and cheaper, but thought that by riding the train we would see some interesting scenery. Wrong - just a lot poor housing areas and lots of palm trees. It was relaxing though, not crowded and turned out alright.
We spent that day and the following in Kuala Lumpur -
Penang National Park
This was a real treasure - you can hike to several isolated white sand beaches and be the only people there. The only problem was the cast, so after about 500 m we realized that the rocks and tree rooted path would be too difficult, so we enjoyed the scenery and then rode on. a large city with not a whole lot to see as a tourist. We did go visit the Petronas Towers, though - these are the largest office towers in Asia and are very impressive. Unfortunately we were not able to go up to the sky walk and do the tour because it was too late in the day. We visited China town and the shopping district but were not really into being in a city- there are a lot of things to do if we had been prepared to spend some time and money doing some tours but we were anxious to move on to the next stop - Phuket.
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Caroline Burkholder
non-member comment
Good to finally see your blog!
Hi Gail and Rick! Wonderful travel blog and pictures! I'm sorry that the cast is holding you back from some experiences but you'll appreciate the "freedom" all the more when you are free of it! You have seen some amazing sights by the looks of it! We have lovely February weather which was great for the wedding of my niece in Banff on the 6th and last weekend here in PR for pond hockey, carnival, going for walks and enjoying "couch time" watching the opening ceremonies of th Olympics and drinking "bubbly" with Churchmans. I'm glad you had some travel time. Guess you're back at work again!