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Published: August 7th 2007
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Colonial charm in Georgetown
A city hall, built by the British My first destination in Malaysia was Penang Island and its main city Georgetown. It was a good introduction to life and history of the country: everything essential was presented and easily accessed due to good size of the place. Having about 600 000 inhabitants is not too big or small but just good for a couple of days exploration.
As Malaysia is positioned in the crossroads of the sea trade routes between the Middle East, India and China the country has always been a cultural melting pot. There are numerous different ethnic groups living side by side, three most important ones being Malays, Chinese and Indians. These consist 90 % of the population today. All groups have maintained their cultural customs, religion and cuisine. Malays are mostly Muslims, Indians Hindus, Chinese have their own temples and of course there are also Christians as a reminder of the colonial times. You can see the temples of three main religions nearly side by side in Georgetown. And you can choose between eating curry and naan bread in Little India, dim sum in Chinatown or Malayan dishes nearly anywhere else.
I used the first day of my stay on the island in
Captain Fracis Light
The founder of Fort Cornwallis, the British settlement in Penang sightseeing. In Penang State Museum I got a brief induction to the history: Until 1771, when Francis Light established the British settlement on the island, it was inhabited by less than a hundred fishermen. After that Penang quickly became a major colonial administrative centre. In a couple of years time lots of land was under cultivation and population had reached ten thousand.
I also went to Fort Cornwallis, the spot where the first settlement was actually established, and saw the main colonial buildings, including street called Lebuh Pantai, the heart of the business district and home for many old beautiful houses.
I of course walked through the Chinatown and Little India, both very colourful places. For more modern shopping there are a number of malls in Georgetown (Malaysians love malls, they have them everywhere) - I went to Komtar but managed to save my money this time.
After quickly visiting a Chinese temple I wandered around the Mosque Kapitan Kling a number of times not knowing if it was open for the non-Muslim audience - and particularly for women in their summer skirts and sleeveless tops. In the end I spotted a sign welcoming visitors and went
in. I was greeted by a friendly in-house guide who gave me a tour. I needed to wear a kind of kaftan when I was walking around the mosque, but was allowed to keep my head bare. It happened to be a prayer time and for my surprise I was invited to stay. Obviously I needed to sit at the back of the room. It was interesting to see how the ceremony that takes such a big part of a devoted Muslim's day happens in practice. No other women, Muslim or non, was present.
The guide talked me through the every day life and the main principles of Islam. I told about my previous encounters (or rather how you can't have them) with the religion in Istanbul and Doha, and he seemed to be frustrated about how strictly some other nations/people interpret it. He said that it is every Muslim's obligation to tell about the religion in a friendly way - there is nothing secretive in it.
So it seems that Malaysia has a fairly relaxed Muslims compared to many other countries. I'm pleased to see e.g. that women haven't been hidden at home. The only sign them
Sunrise on the cycling trip
There would be some nice beaches in Penang but the water is so polluted that you can't swim. being Muslims
is the white, black or colourful headscarf; otherwise they wear normal clothes. They are also working - you see them as clerks in the shops and offices as well as presenters in TV.
On the second day I had an ambitious plan to cycle around the island, 74 kilometres. I left already at dawn as I wanted to make sure that I would have enough time to stop and see some sights on the way. It appeared soon that I left TOO early: I had planned to have breakfast on the way but all the cafes were still closed when I got to Batu Ferringhi, the first village along the route. The same happened in Teluk Bahang, the second village, but I decided to stop nonetheless and wait until they open. I had my brekkie in the end, but missed the Butterfly Farm, Batik Factory and Forest Recreation Park - they were all opened at 9am and it was still earlier than that.
The Tropical Fruit Farm, which was the site I definitely wanted to see, had luckily been opened by the time I got there. They even had a tour starting in a half an
hour’s time. It was really interesting: the guide showed us lots of fruit trees, some familiar ones and some I had never heard of. There were about 200 different fruit species at the farm! In the end there was a fruit buffet and we could also order a fruit juice of our choice. I also got to taste durian, the horribly smelly big fruit which Malay people adore. I didn't...
I continued cycling. It was fairly hilly in the middle of the island, but luckily the uphills are always followed by the downhills (at least in this case when you end by the sea level). The scenery was pleasant and I saw some fairly authentic looking villages.
It all went fine until nearly end when I started to feel weird. First I thought that I had just exhausted myself in the heat - these self organised trips of mine tend to be too hard as I never remember take into account how hot it gets around midday. Soon I realised that it was something worse, basically that there was something fundamentally wrong with my stomach. All that fruit I had eaten! I managed to cycle a few more
kilometres to the Chinese Snake Temple. Never saw it from inside though as all I could do was to sit down on the steps of a souvenir shop. There I sat and shivered of cold and was wondering how an earth I ever manage to get both myself and the bike back. There were a number of tourist buses, but I suspected they all were going to the other direction. Eventually I was sick on the stairs of the shop. No wonder that the shop owner got busy to get rid of me and succeeded to call a taxi which agreed to take both me and the bike.
I spent the rest of the day in bed, but was fine if slightly weak on the following day. I still think I've done well - I've been only sick two days in four months and eaten fairly carelessly anything I wanted. (Except salads and non-packed ice-cream.)
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Claire
non-member comment
Penang
Hey Karoliina, I stayed in Batu Ferringhi and did the Chinese Temple, was only on the island for 22 hours so didn't have time to do anything else. My friend loved Durian but even using all her persuasive skills could not persuade me to try it. Did you notice the signs in the hotels saying 'No Durian' - you can get evicted if you eat it in there!!