Did Penang, movin on…

One full day in Penang has been enough for me. I’m leaving tomorrow for the Cameron Highlands. It’s not that it’s really terrible here or anything, but to me it’s just another typical Asian city and there’s nothing really here that I haven’t seen before. You’ve got your assorted temples, a monkey garden, snake farm, butterfly farm, reclining Buddha, Chinatown, waterfalls, scenic vists, etc. etc. The temples I usually find to be quite interesting but I covered what I wanted to see of them today anyway so I’m ready to head out. Tomorrow will consist of a 6-hour bus ride from Penang to the Highlands.

So what I did do here in Penang today was I visited Kek Lok Si Temple (the oldist Buddhist temple in Malaysia), and then I visited Penang Hill. I decided to take the local buses to get around and was pleased with how easily I was able to find my way. Mind you I was the only foreigner on all of the 3 buses I was on today. Just me and the locals. But they were cool and the driver told me where to get off for the temple. It’s always a good feeling when you’re travelling on your own and are actually able to get around without relying on a pack of backpackers to do so.

The temple was good. Supposed to be a mix of Chinese style, Thai style, and Burmese style. I was actually checking out the temple to see if I wanted to do a 10-day vipassana meditation there, but I didn’t get the vibe I was hoping for so I think I’ll wait and look into some other places in Thailand.

After the temple I found my way via Bus #8 to Penang Hill and took the cable car up to the top of the hill at 700m above sea level. Nice views of Georgetown and across to the mainland. I was thinking all day actually that Penang reminds me of Hong Kong in many ways - the strong Chinese community and architecture, the strange smells from the Chinese food, and the general feeling of the place. It’s just missing the big buildings and good night market. Then when I took the cable car up to Penang Hill I felt it even moreso. They have the same cable car-type deal in Hong Kong.

Anyway I took the bus back, bought my ticket for tomorrow, and wandered around Little India to find a place to eat. I found a place packed with locals (again no foreigners) so I braved the stares, sat down, and ordered the vegetarian set. They brought out a huge banana leaf as my plate and served all the food onto the leaf. It was pretty cool! Great food too, completely stuffed myself for about $1.25.

Looking forward to the Highlands tomorrow.

Kek Lok Si Temple

View of Georgetown from Penang Hill

Add comment June 11th, 2002

A far cry from the beachfront suite on Samui!

I decided to go back to Malaysia. Just arrived tonight, in Penang, which is an island on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. 1.5-hour flight from Bangkok. Beats a 20-hour bus ride anyday. The flight was full of Thais and Malays, no backpacker-types or Western travelers to be found. Lucky for me I sat next to a very nice Malay woman who was in Bangkok for business. She was most helpful in showing me how to arrange a taxi from the airport. Since the plane landed at 10pm at night, I was a little nervous about having to get into town, a 45-minute drive from the airport, and being as I was by myself in a foreign country late at night, well that could easily be the opening scene of trouble. But this woman really helped me out, waited in line with me for the cab, and saw me off. And who says travelling alone is no fun? I can assure you that woman would have never talked to me if I had been travelling with someone.

So I’m in Penang which is on Peninsular Malaysia as I said before. Think of this part of Malaysia as the Florida of SE Asia, the tip of which is Singapore instead of Key West. Then Indonesia is kind-of like the Caribbean Islands - and the other part of Malaysia (East Malaysia) is shared with Indonesia and Brunei on the big island of Borneo. I am planning to head to Borneo in September, so for now it’s just a few weeks on the’main land’.

I’m not really all that impressed with the accomodation here (my room smells like urine), but it’s late at night and I can’t be bothered walking around and looking for another place. This guesthouse had been recommended to me by someone I had met in Thailand, and usually recommedations are pretty good and up-to-date, but in this case the girl was a bit off I think. Tomorrow I will check out another place that had been recommeded by someone else. Other than that I hope to wander around the main town, Georgetown, a bit, and maybe hit some of the touristy sites.

Add comment June 10th, 2002