Getting lost in George Town...

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This morning, we woke up, had breakfast, and headed out exploring. Since my arm got burnt through the window on the awful bus journey, I had to keep covered up. And the weather was so hot! We stumbled upon Fort Cornwallis, the largest fort in Malaysia, and decided to check it out.

The fort was named after the late 18th century governor-general of Bengal, India, Charles Cornwallis. It was originally built from palm trunks in 1876 by Sir Francis Light, to protect Penang from pirates and the north-western peninsular state of Kedah. In 1804, however, it was rebuilt using bricks and stone, reaching completion in 1810. There was once a moat surrounding the structure, but due to a malarial outbreak in the 1920s, it was filled in. In its entire history, Fort Cornwallis never engaged in battle.

After the fort, we took an unsuccessful rickshaw ride in search of our hostel, but ended up walking most of the way. It wasn't the rickshaw driver's fault; we couldn't remember the road we were staying on.

When we finally found our way, we freshened up, then headed out for some lunch. I had an amazing Tandoori chicken set meal at a restaurant named Jayah (I think!) on Upper Penang Street. It's the best meal I've had since Cambodia. And it cost less than £2!

Back on Muntri Street (yes, I remember where we're staying, now!), we found the Hainan Temple, and after chatting to a little old man outside, (who, incidentally, studied English at the school next door, back when it was simply two classrooms) we removed our shoes and took a look inside. I marvelled at the ornate stone carvings, created by Chinese craftsmen during the 1995 remodelling project. The temple was originally founded in 1866, and completed in 1895.

Throughout our day's wanderings, we saw a number of steel-rodded sculptures, set against walls in various parts of the town. These caricatures provide snippets of information relating to the areas in which they are based, and are an interesting approach to detailing the history of Georgetown.

At some point this afternoon, Edithe will be arriving from another part of Penang, and tonight, Tony, John and their friend will come from Langkawi.

We're currently sitting in our room, listening to an onslaught of what we're assuming to be a teenage school group arriving. A single person walking down the halls in this place sounds like a herd of elephants, so imagine the volume of a bunch of school kids! God help them if they make this amount of noise tonight. They'll end up with a full-on Franklin welcome, I can assure you!

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Photos

Sir Francis Light
Fort Cornwallis

Amazing stone carvings
Hainan Temple

Tandoori set
So good, I had it twice in the same day!