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Published: August 27th 2006
Wednesday 23rd August Paul - Leaving the Highlands this morning was sad as we were all getting used to the lovely weather. Not that I'm complaining that it's hot all the time here (honestly) it was nice to have a little bit of cool weather for a change. After a couple of Roti's for breakfast we got on the bus that didn't start for an hour... no surprises there. Read for a bit before going to the toilet as the bus still hadn't moved yet and as soon as I got back we were off.
The road down the mountains was ridiculously windy so trying to read "Great Expectations" wasn't going to well so I nestled my head on Laura for a couple of hours. We pulled into a place called Ipoh for a brief stop over to investigate the toilets (sexy yet smelly) and buy some garlic bread (no idea why, it just happened to be on sale) and we were off again.
As Penang is an island just off the coast of Malaysia we were dropped at the ferry port. As we were supposed to be dropped in Georgetown itself this was slightly annoying but not
excatly surprising. So hopped on the ferry and had a pleasent journey across, taking in the sights of Georgetown from the sea. It's an old colonial town that will be interesting to wander around for a few days.
Walked towards the area with the cheap hostels and bizarrly got handed a flyer from some random Mercedes that was going past. They literally stopped, wound down the window, handed us the flyer to the hostel and drove off. Anyway we are staying there now and it's nice!
Laura wanted some new trousers so we went for a shop around the countless clothes markets and shops around here. Never did find anything (Laura's quite picky you know but with her sister in fashion what did I expect?) so we headed off to get some cheap food from a random restaurant.
That was about it for today. Going to do a nice walking tour tomorrow and see the sights and sounds of the town.
Thursday 24th August Paul - I was woken up by the sun shining brightly through our window. When I realised it was only half past 6 I rolled over for another couple of
hours sleep. After a refreshing shower we wandered over to China town to get some breakfast.
It's a really lovely town here, all old crumbling buildings and lots of character. It was founded by a guy called Francis Light after he set up a fort here. He apparently fired silver money into the forests so that his workers would clear the land quickly to find them! We were going to be following the so called "Heritage Trail" today and visiting the historic sights of the city.
Strolled through the streets until we reached the port where Fort Cornwallis stands. This is where Captain Light first set foot in 1786 and it's a pleasent enough stroll around the walls for 20 minutes or so. There is a really important cannon called Seri Rambai that is famed because childless women are advised to place flowers in the barrel as it will bring them good luck in the old "rumpy pumpy"...
Now I don't know about you but sticking flowers in a random cannon hasn't brought about any babies in our family but if anyone is trying this is obviously THE place to be.
Next up was a string
of fine architecture as we strolled past the Town Hall, State Assembly building, St George's church and the Victoria Memorial Clock tower. The buildings reminded me of typical English settlements in foreign countries (yes I know they are!) and I thought the Town Hall was particularly striking.
We then payed a visit to the Penang Museum which was actually pretty interesting. Lots of stories about Penang in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and I learnt quite a bit about the Opium wars!
Laura - My god it was so hot today, we were getting used to the colder climate in the highlands. Yes I know, I'm always complaining either way. I do have a cold though (poor little me) and was feeling a bit groggy so the heat got to me more than it would usually.
Anyway, back to the heritage trail. After the very informative and interesting museum (which also had some REALLY nice sequined ballet pumps on display in the traditional clothes section, I want to get my hands on some) we strolled onwards to see the oldest Anglican church in Malaysia (wonderful). After that we passed a convent, then headed back into Little
India to see a variety of temples, most of which were on the same street. One of the temples had gigantic incense sticks burning outside as well as huge cages full of birds, and it was very busy with people. Most of the people there seemed to be a little bit crazy aswell and we got approached by a very enthusiastic guy who wanted to show us around. There was one woman who seemed to be particularly 'away with the cuckoos'. She wandered around laughing at everyone and everything in sight.
After making our escape from the crazy temple we went to see a large mosque, where Paul got shown around by a strange security guard. I didn't venture in because I was wearing shorts (what a harlet I am) and my hair was not covered. There was a sign outside which stated that 'women who are on their monthly periods are forbidden to enter the mosque, although they may walk around the courtyard'. I do understand that this is for religious reasons, and that menstruating women are seen to be unclean or whatever, but it's not like they're going to be leaving a trail of blood behind them!
Who exactly is going to be policing that?
So on we went to see a couple of Buddhist temples, which were down quiet little alleyways lined with pretty old buildings. Although many of the buildings are rather dilapidated they are still very charming and it was a nice little walk. One of the temples was charging a ridiculous fee to get in so we didn't bother (well we did see many many temples in China that I'm sure are much more impressive). The last one we saw was very coulourful and pretty though, and really reminded us of being in China.
After that we strolled back to our hostel and did some washing (my favourite chore), had refreshing showers, then headed out for some dinner. We ate in a Chinese restaurant that was apparently serving Xiamen province specialities, but it was very disappointing and not good value for money! So still feeling hungry after our meagre portions we walked down to the sea front and had some local snacks at a food court and watched a pretty spectacular sunset.
The streets here seem to come alive at around 9pm so me and Paul went to explore them.
There are food stalls lining some of the side streets, and little cafes that are full of local people who are either slurping noodles and sipping beer or scooping up handfulls of rice out of banana leafs. We really like it because it has a really good vibe about it.
Friday 25th August Paul - The sun shining through our window in the morning is getting slightly annoying now. Woke up with a start, thinking it was about 11am... HALF 6!! Holmsy had breakfast downstairs (cornflakes) while Laura and I were feeling more adventurous so went to swap our books and got a bit of Roti Canai on the street. After asking our hostel owner which bus took us to the Air Itam temple we headed off towards the bus stop.
Today we're off to Kek Lok Si Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia which is set on top of a hill in Air Itam and we would be going all the way to the top of Penang Hill (3200 feet) for some stunning views over the whole island.
Got off the bus when some random lady told us it was our stop. Not
sure how she knew as we hadn't spoken to anyone all journey but after a short walk we arrived at Kek Lok Si temple. It was actually much better than I expected, very colourful with lots and lots of interesting carvings and statues. One room had thousands of little Buddha's carved into the wall which was quite a sight. We climbed to the top of the pagoda for some lovely views over Georgetown.
Laura - Well there were lovely views in one side - green hills. The other side however looked alot like Benidorm - a concrete jungle lining the coast. Not too pretty really...
Paul - After spending a good hour at the temple we headed back down and had some food in at a roadside stall. The guy who served us was lovely - spoke perfect English and made us sample the local dish "Laksa" which was delicious. It was a spicy fish soup with noodles and veg. He also persuaded us to have his lime juice as it was "the best in Penang!" I have to say it was probably the nicest lime juice we've had!
After thanking our host we were off again,
down the road about 20 minutes to queue for the funicular that would take us to the top of the mountain. As there is a huge Chinese population here there was the usual pushing and shoving involved. Me and Laura thought it was hilarious, having been used to it for 2 months although not sure Holmsy felt the same!
Sat at the top of the hill for about an hour as dusk came across the horizon. Watched all the lights in the city flicker on which was quite cool before coming back down. Now remember what I said about hitch hiking... well we were at it again!! Well... sort of!
All the buses in town had stopped running apparently but we flagged one down anyway and it just happened to stop. The driver told us that all the buses had stopped running but after asking him where he was going he told us all to hop in and we were off! Another free lift! I could get used to this.
Arrived back in town and Laura and I had Murtabak from a slightly dodgy street stall before calling it a night.
On a random side note,
the Leeds Festival line up this year is APPALLING! It's a disgrace. I don't think I've ever seen such a terrible bill. Saturday has Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs as the top 3!! What!? Nothing against the Yeah Yeah Yeahs but when does their "popularity" warrant a top 3 slot!? For 170 quid I expect slightly bigger bands. And Pearl Jam, Placebo, My Chemical Romance on another day!? Awful! What have Placebo done to warrant that! Talk about scraping the barrel!
Saturday 26th August Laura - We had a bit of a lazy lie in today and didn't venture out for breakfast until it was almost midday. Me and Paul opted for the tasty Roti Canai again whilst Holmsy seemed to be happy to get ripped of buying cornflakes.
After brekkie we walked to the bus station to get tickets to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow. Every single bus company seemed to be sold out as it's school holidays here at the moment. Eventually we found a very mardy woman who was selling tickets at a higher price. We were tempted to walk away but ended up reluctantly buying them.
We had a
walk around the shopping mall, which was a bit of a mistake really because it just made me sad that I couldn't buy any of the gorgeous clothes or shoes! If only we were on holiday and I had a huge suitcase with me...
After that we decided to stroll around to see some of the heritage sights that we missed out the other day. The first stop was a very pretty Buddhist temple with hundreds of red lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Next we stopped at a big blue mansion, where a rich Chinese merchant use to live (Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion). It was very pretty and quaint, I would love to live in a house like that! We couldn't look round it because we'd missed the last tour of the day but we tried to sneak past the security guard to get a few photos. Apparently it's possible to stay in the mansion. Slightly out of our price range, but maybe next time... The only blot on the beautiful building was two towering hotels that have been built directly behind it!
We then took a stroll around the Christian Cemetary to see the graves of Francis
Light, and other rich people who had huge gravestones built in their honour. It was quite eery in the cemetary because it had just been raining and there was water dripping off the huge looming trees. There was also the sound of ravens flying about, which added a touch of eeriness! It was quite strange to see such old graves. I don't think any of them were dated later than 1900. Most of the people there had died fairly young aswell. So not a very cheerful place!
We decided we'd pretty much seen all the sights on the Heritage trail that we were interested in so we went to get a bite to eat, and surfed t'internet for a while.
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Hi to you both, we are back after a super holiday - what have i missed about Katie - why is she in fashion? I will sort out your photos tomorrow - give me a chance i have only just landed. I would have been petrified in the jungle for a night Laura I think you are very brave - i too hate anything creepy crawly and those leeches on your feet paul would have been just too much. I dont know about Mike cutting the grass - i thought we had been raided when I got home and some drunken lout had swayed over the lawn with a lawn mower depositing swathes of cut grass here and there?? Hes only been home a week and the house is like a student pad. Take care both of you - didnt like those pictures of you rock climbing - when are you flying on???