Penang - the heart of the Empire

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Russell - So once again we find ourselves on a night bus. The bus is due to arrive at 5am but according to the guidebook the main bus station is under the main shopping mall so hopefully there will be some life until we can check into a hotel. The bus is resaonably comfortable and no drunks this time, the only thing preventing sleep is the fact the bus keeps stopping en-route to drop people off, which requires all the lights to come on and the driver to shout the name of the destination in an unreasonably jolly shout for the time of the morning.

Eventually we hear "Pulau Pinang" being yelled in the various local languages. We are over a hour early so it is a little past 4am - the one time we didn't want to be early! We get off and then survey where we are. The whole bus station is in darkness apart for one small area where hot drinks are being served. We head up there to find out which direction our proposed hotel is in. It becomes quickly clear that the station has no information in it whatsoever and the mentioned shopping mall was nowhere to be found. Once again we are victim of the not asking the right questions since Malaysian ticket sellers don't tell you anything unless you ask.

We decided to wait until the information office opens assuming that is at a reasonable time. At around 5:30 a Malaysian looking chap asks me if we know where we are. "No, we don't" we reply. He looks crest fallen. "Nor do I, but this isn't where I was supposed to get off. I think this might be Penang." "Oh yes, it is Penang but we aren't sure we're at the right bus station in Georgetown" we reply. We show him the guide book and he explains that he and his friend had fallen asleep on the bus and missed their stop. They were actually both Singaporean but they had friends in the area who could pick them up. "Do you want us to ask one of the locals where we are on your map?" We gratefully accept and he goes off with his map of Georgetown to find out where we are. Not in Georgetown at all, is the answer. Once again the Malaysians have managed to build a new bus station without our guidebook's knowledge. We are starting to wonder if the authors actually ever came to Malaysia, as how do you build two major bus terminals and a monorail for goodness sake without even an inkling! Iit turns out we are about an hour from George Town, with no idea how to get there. As the time went on the station very slowly began to come to life, and by 7am the sun had risen. Which is more than can be said for the information centre. By 8am we gave up and decided to just walk out the front to where there seemd to be buses going in the right direction (the compass sewn on to Lins' rucksack coming into its own!) and just stopped random buses until one was going to George Town. Despite that sounding a crazy plan it worked and we were soon on our way.

We walked into China Town to a place recommended as having a really helpful owner and were warmly greeted. They had a "suite" but it would not be available until 10 am but if we left our bags we could go for breakfast next door. At 10am the suite still wasn't available (despite the girl having to go to the bus station in nowhere for 10am!), but we were offered a triple suite at double suite prices to make up for it. The word suite had been used without a hint of irony but this is not the Ritz! The room was very basic, as in the shower was directly above the toilet in a small cubicle in the corner and had no hot water. Hot showers were available in the communal area next door. But for what we were paying it was good enough and we were tired and accepted. "No need to check in yet you look tired. Have a sleep then check in later" the owner said and left us in the room. Ken and Jimmy, the two owners have to be be the most helpful people we have come across in our time in SE Asia. When I eventually checked in I was given a map which Jimmy marked import things like ATMs, bus stops etc. They gave us a list of bus numbers and where they go and are always happy to tell you what's going on around. Every morning starts with a "Good Morning Russ-all and Lin-see! How are you?" When I pay each day for our room he takes my money with a "Cheers Russ-all" I haven't the courage to say 'Cheers Jimmy' back in case a faux Scottish accent escapes with it!

The first job we set ourselves was finding a wedding dress shop but that appeared as fruitless as KL. Most of the shops give their address as Penang, and since this is a 285 sq km island that doesn't help much. We did find some wedding bands however which were duely resized to fit and are now being carefully guarded!

Day two was definitely a beach day, and since the disappointment of Phuket we were determined to get in the sea. We looked at our list of beaches supplied by Jimmy and decided on Batu Ferringhi based on the fact it was the only one named after a race of people from Star Trek. The beach is pleasant with none of the in-your-face commercialism of Phuket. The sand is quite sharp however, so we we made a beeline for the sea.

You couldn't quite call the water bath temperature, but if you encountered water as warm as this in UK waters you would definitly be looking around to find the swine responsible. The biggest surprise was how quickly it got deep. Keeping by the shore is a definite and not just for the depth. Speed boats and jet skis rule the waves and swimmers just have to look out. Not that the beach is much better. Four-wheeler motor bikes and horses thunder up and down all the time. Having said this there is room for everyone and a very pleasant day was had. In the evening we made one last attempt at a wedding dress when we spotted a shop from the bus. Unfortunately Lins was almost driven to tears trying to explain what she wanted with the owner just repeating she had never had a bride as big as her before. She wasn't being rude she was just commenting on the difference in size between Western and Oriental people but there is only so much a girl can take.

Day three was history day. Penang Island was the first part of the Malaysian penisular to come under British control when Captain Francis Light procured a lease on the Island from the local Sultan in the name of the East India Company, in exchange for a large rent and military aid. Unfortunately the military aid never materialised, but the British where already encamped by this time so possession is nine tenths and all that, so despite attempts by the Sultan to oust them the Brits remained. The Island was named Prince of Wales's Island in honour of the fact it was colonised on the Prince's birthday, and George Town is named after King George III. As you can imagine there is a lot of history here and much of it about the British. This is largely because before British colonisation the island was virtually uninhabited so there is not much to talk about. The local musem has a time line, admittedly still under construction, which starts in the year 100 and contains nothing until 1700! Still it is an excellent musem, looking at all the diferent races that live in peace on the island. We also visited Fort Cornwallis - the first permanent fort built by Captain Light to protect the island. Apparently it was rubbish, and the comentary at all the historical sites says so, but it managed to hold on by the skin of its teeth. On entering the fort we were accosted by a man dressed in period constume who explained the best way to walk around the fort in order to appreciate the various attractions. At the end he said in a voice of abject resignation, "you want you photo taken with me don't you? Come over here" and he headed to the statue of Captain Light. At this point it seemed a bit cruel to tell him I didn't really want a picture so dutifully followed him. He thrust a hat on my head that made me look like Dick Turpin and gave me a musket. "Smile at the camera" he told me a tad unnecessarily as Lins happily snapped away. "You want one?" He asked Lins. "Yes" I said quickly, determined to get her dressed up too and handed over the hat before she could complain. When I get some batteries for the camera I will post them!

We now have to move on as our time in Malaysia is running out and we still have a rainforest to see. So we are catching yet another night bus to Kota Barhu tonight, ready to catch the jungle railway to Teman Negara.

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Photos

British Flag
Claiming Penang for her Majesty

Is it Dick Turpin
I really wanted this photo!

Is it Dick Turpiness
Well if I had to do it

Hmmmm Dinner
Enjoying the local fayre