Palau Penang-Georgetown sights, Penang Hill, temples, beaches

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Day 11-March 16th: I took the 9 AM bus to Butterworth and ferry over to Palau Penang. I walked around Georgetown, the "big city" of the island. Here's what I saw:
-Kapitan Keling mosque - on Kapitan Keling street, where lots of cool temples/sights are located.
-Sri Mariamman temple
-Yap Temple
-Khoo Kongsi - skipped going inside due to a 5 RM entrance fee. that's ok, I live in China and see Chinese architecture often!
-Kuan Yin Teng Temple - skylight inside, active temple, cool atmosphere
-St. George's Anglican Church - stark white church w/ large church yard
-Francis Light Cemetary - oldest Christian cemetary on island, most gravestones rotting/falling apart/broken; also had gravestones of Chinese Christians who fled China to avoid persecution
-Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion - entrance fee precluded going in, besides, they were closing for the day
-Fort Cornwallis on the waterfront
-Victoria Memorial Clock Tower

I took the bus to Teluk Bahang on the far northwestern part of island, it was getting dark and not much to see there - it's a fishing village really. I waited a LONG time for a return "express" bus and finally caught a local bus down to Batu Ferringhi and walked around the night market. From there I was able to get another local bus back to Georgetown. I walked around, got some dinner - street food, noodle soup - and went to the internet cafe for some photo uploading and emails.

Day 12-March 17th: I made my way to Penang Hill after first stopping at the Tourist Info Center for a map and info. I had arrived on Sunday and many businesses were closed. Today, Monday, everything was open. I bought a ferry ticket to my next destination - Palau Lankawi. I went to Penang Hill and took the slow train to the top for the view. There were great views of course from the top! I walked down the road to a canopy walkway (the nice man at the tourist info center told me about it). It was very cool and exciting and scary to walk through the top of the trees! Afterwards I walked back up the road to catch the train back down the hill. I took the bus to Kek Lok Si Temple, a large Chinese temple nearby. It's been newly refurbished and the big statue that is it's landmark was under scaffolding so I couldn't see that part. But the rest of it was very cool and I took lots of photos!

I took the bus back to Georgetown and tried to take another one to see the giant reclining Buddha at a wat (temple) not far from the city. I missed my chance! The bus driver forgot to tell me where to exit the bus, I missed my stop, and by the time I got back to the right street, the temple was closed for the day! Oh well! I walked around the grounds of the temple and then went across the street to the Burmese temple there. It was still open for a few minutes, so I walked around and saw some of the inside and the grounds. It was very cool, very ornate and gold. Interesting!

To end my day, I took the bus out to Batu Ferringhi and walked along the beach at sunset. Beautiful! I finally headed back to Georgetown and had dinner, used the internet, and called it a night. Gotta get up early for my ferry ride to Palau Lankawi!

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