Adventures in Penang - Part I

A Georgetown Street
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Saturday morning we heaved our heavy bags onto our backs and left the IYC for Kuala Lumpur International Airport on the KLIA Transit Train. It took about 40 minutes to get to the airport, on an amazingly clean train with rather funky purple seats. Upon arrival at KLIA, we were very grateful to be able to off-load our rucksacks onto one of the trolleys. After spending the morning at the airport, indulging in hash browns and milkshakes at McDonalds and eating roti canai for lunch, we successfully boarded our plane to Penang. We were initially worried that our bags were going to be overweight, as the limit is only 15kg for domestic flights, but our bags managed to weigh less than at Heathrow (good job they didn't weigh our hand luggage!). One hour later, we arrived on the island of Penang and after some minor transport issues (including getting a ride with the Coffee Bean girl and enduring a rather hot and very cramped bus journey), we arrived at our hotel. We were very pleased to discover that we even had a TV and fridge. Not bad for RM60! After a much needed shower, we headed out to explore Georgetown and had a nice meal at the Rainforest Restaurant, before exploring some of the nightmarket stalls.

Penang Hill Funicular Railway
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Sunday was a day of rain and gloomy skies. However, armed with umbrellas and undeterred by the (seemingly British) weather, we set out to explore. We wandered the streets, passing temples and mosques. There was an aroma of incense in the air, arising from the many small shrines that locals kept outside their houses. We were careful not to miss our step and singe our ankles on some of the ground-based ones! Our wanderings took us to a grey seafront- looked just like any British one, apart from the palm trees! We found the ferry office and got tickets to Langkawi, before visiting Fort Cornwallis. The fort was never used in combat, but became a landmark for Penang's colonial past and we learned some interesting history about its founder, Francis Light, whilst we sheltered from the rain. History had made us hungry and we found a nearby 'Kedai kopis' for lunch. We headed to the Prangin Mall in the afternoon. Strawberry did some shopping whilst Kiwi bravely went to try reflexology. After half an hour of sheer torture, where her feet were slapped, pumelled and pulled about, she was traumatised but apparently detoxified. Next time Kiwi thinks she'll chance the toxins. Reflexology is too painful! That evening we treated ourselves to a 'proper' British-style curry. No bizarre sloppy stuff, just a good curry, rice and lassi. A tasty and indulgent end to the day.

We were exhausted, sweaty and already suffering aching muscles.

A Georgetown Temple
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Although the weather was still not on our side when we awoke on Monday, we decided to head off to Penang Hill, one of the first 'Hill Stations' the British founded in Malaysia. From the KOMTAR building, we caught a bus to Air Itam, from where it was just a short walk to the base of Penang Hill. We forked out the RM4 for our return journey on the funicular railway and clambered into a rather cramped carriage which ascended the hill at a rather disconcerting angle. To amuse us on our journey, there were little monkeys clambering through the trees, and after half an hour, and a change of trains at the halfway point, we arrived at the top of Penang Hill. The only food available for lunch seemed to be Penang Laksa, a local speciality, and priced at only a couple of ringgit, we thought we should give it a go. Well, it was certainly interesting! It tasted like a rather spicy pilchard soup with very fat white noodles lurking at the bottom. We went on a stroll in the cool mountain air, but the views over Georgetown were mostly obscured by cloud. After encountering a giant millipede, we stopped for a cup of tea with a tortoise at our feet and pit vipers suspended from the vines above our heads. It was during this relaxing moment that we met a British business-woman having a break from conferences, who wanted to walk down the hill with us. Since we'd been contemplating this anyway, we thought it was a good idea and stupidly agreed to accompany her. After all, The Rough Guide said it was only a 40 minute stroll, so how bad could it be? Nearly 3 ours later, we arrived at the Botanical Gardens, at the base of the hill. We were exhausted, sweaty and already suffering aching muscles. The walk had been a very steep trek through thick jungle (wearing sandals!), encountering giant ants (4-5cm) and a massive snake. Thankfully, the lady's trip was being paid for by her company so she got us a taxi back to our hotel, where we collapsed. Somehow, we still had the energy to go out for dinner though!

Mosque in Georgetown
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Well, just as we’d begun to think that our Penang trip was going to be a quite rainy affair, we awoke on Tuesday morning to brilliant blue skies and scorching sunshine (bring back the rain!). We decided to head to the beaches at the north of the island, Batu Ferringhi, as we’re staying there next Sunday and need to book. Again, we trotted off to the KOMTAR building and caught blue and white bus #93, which for RM2 took us to our destination. We had to wait for absolutely ages because we got on an empty bus and had to wait for it to fill up! Eventually it left, and about an hour later we arrived in Baru Ferringhi. We were very hot and sweaty, owing to the plastic seating and lack of air-con. We found a nice little café on the beach and Strawberry had a pineapple and cheese toastie washed down with a mango float – divine! The beach was actually very nice although there was nobody swimming in the sea because it was not as clean as it could be. We went for a walk down the beach and with the aid of the trusty Rough Guide, checked out the accommodation available. After looking around a few, we checked ourselves into Baba’s, which looked OK although after nearly getting stuck in one of the rooms, we chose another one. On one of our free Penang maps, it advertises the Tropical Spice Garden, which didn’t look too far away on the map so we decided to walk to it. Unfortunately, after walking further than the map suggested, we thought we’d better walk back as we were getting rather hot and had no water. We needed the toilet, so popped into the posh Bay View Hotel and trod sand all over their nice shiny marble floor to use their facilities. After a bit of a cool-off, we walked further down the beach, stopping for a bit of a paddle. We went past the Golden Sands Hotel where Strawberry stayed as a child (they still have the water slide!) and got talking to Tommy, a masseur, who showed us his tsunami photos. The water came right up into the hotel, but didn’t do any real damage. It was time to go, so we caught the bus to Gurney Drive, the famous hawker centre on the seafront. There was everything you could think of (except vegetarian) and we had some nice satay. We bought some delicious banana fritters and caught the bus back to the KOMTAR, before shopping and returning to the hotel to pack our bags.