Around Penang

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We hired a motorbike first thing for 25ringits. Our mission was to ride around the Island of Penang. When you hire a motorbike in Asia the petrol tank is always empty, the reason is they siphon out any fuel left over after the hire so they can put it in there bike. So when the bike says empty it really means empty. Most of the time you just have enough fuel in the carburettor to get you to the first petrol station. We have been caught out before and it’s no fun trying to find a petrol station pushing your bike.
With Jacinta on the back we headed out with the chaotic traffic. It was pretty scary at first as there are people driving and riding everywhere, horns tooting and people walking in front of you. Trucks and buses rule the right of way, biggest rules the roads around here. We headed for the coast road and in an anti clockwise direction around the island. 10km out of George town and the traffic thinned out and I really started to relax. The further we went the prettier it got and there was some really nice coastal beaches minus the rubbish of course. With the ocean just to the right of us we took a dirt road to have at the water. At the end of the track there were many school kids in the yard and they were practicing their combat skills with staff’s. I watched from a distance and as soon as I got the video camera out they started showing off. I was able to get them to demonstrate their fighting techniques and one kid was unbelievable with the staff. He spun his staff like there was no tomorrow and did a few spins and twist to shake things up. We got to the top right of the island towards the national park. There was some great walking you could do through the national park anything from 1hr walks to 8hr walks. We didn’t have enough time to do them so we kept riding. We stopped at a dam which is the main water supply for Penang.
We also passed some Malaysians with long bamboo sticks picking seed pods out of a tree. I ask what they were and they said “Chinese medicine good for the digestive track”. He gave me a pod which looked like an oversized pea pod with 2 pea’s in it. I gave it a go and rode off as quickly as I could so I could spit the bitter seed out without offending him. Oh well you have to try these things. The road started to really wind up the mountain and it was great to be in the jungle with quick glimpses of the unbelievable view through the trees. We were getting Hungary but didn’t want to risk the baia-mare type Indian food which is a haven for tummy bug germs. We stopped at a small bridge that spanned a jungle spring, parked the bike and walked up the track to a small rock pool to enjoy the cool temperature and peace and quiet. We were still looking for something to eat and we only had an apple each for breaky and it was already 2:00. We passed through a town on the south eastern side of Penang and I smelled the food before I saw it. Two Indians were cooking from a Mukin kart. It’s a cross between a bike and a kart that is setup for just street food, usually they ride the kart back and forwards to home and around the streets. You have to be careful with these Mukin karts as they are often not very clean, but as long as the food is cooked in front of you it should be fine.
The cook threw in a good couple of handfuls of bean sprouts and noodles then added fried tofu, chillis, dried shrimp, dried shredded squid, shellots, soy, spices and a couple of eggs. It was cooked in a piping hot wok within 3mins mmmmm it was good, we toped it off with a couple of fresh lime juice. Just next door an Asian man was splitting open a strange spiky fruit called Durian, known for its real stinky sweet smell we brought it fresh and gave it a go. It was nothing I have ever tasted before and although I could get pass the smell, the mushy creamy texture didn’t agree with my brain as did Jacinta’s. We offered the rest to the valet parking guy that looked after our motorbike for us. He did a good job of putting cardboard on our motorbike seat so it wouldn’t get hot in the sun, at least he wasn’t begging on the street. I wanted to see the snake temple but all the road signs were in Malaysian and with the dodgy tourist map we had no hope. We also wanted to go to Penang hill and with it being the biggest mountain on Penang we had a good chance to find it. We headed for the correct suburb and could see the hill the whole way. We repeatedly ask for directions and inched our way closer, just when we thought we were at the base of the hill and the road ran out, I asked someone else and they said back they we came, so off we go again to follow his directions. We started to head away from the hill by this time and we asked again and they said back the way you came from, this happen six times and we gave up. No one knows how to get anywhere on this Island so back to George Town we went. We rode through town like a local and I felt very comfortable on the bike at this stage. I’ve always bee jealous of those people on the motorbikes that jump to the front of the queue in heavy traffic, so now it was my turn.
We noticed a brick wall with canons poking out from the wall right before the esplanade. It was Fort Cornwallis that was built in 1786 by Francis Light and was the best preserved fort in Malaysia. It surprised us how much history Penang has and there are some incredible colonial buildings throughout George Town dating back 200 years ago.
We had to pick up our day packs where we dropped of the day before from a little Malaysian man that makes canvas bags and repairs bags, luggage and ruck sacks. We were able to get him to make drink bottle holders on our day packs because they took up to much room inside, he did both for 30ringits and he did a fantastic job. He told us he had been in the same shop for 60 years and he couldn’t retire as he was the only one in Malaysia that did this type of work, he also worked 7 days a week. He was a very friendly and gentle man and it was an honour to meet him.
Back to the Guest house for a shower and out to dinner at Kapitan’s. I order a Butter chicken and Jacinta order a Tandori chicken with Garlic and cheese Naan. I wish you could taste the photos to experience the flavour and the spices. We only paid 20 ringits for the meals.

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Comments

[Carole Geurts]

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Love reading about your travels, awsome,awsome,awsome. Hope to catch up on Skype to hear all the news. Take care,hugs allround.Love Carolexoxoxo