Penang (especially Georgetown) is excellent !!!!! Loads of history, really friendly people, fantastic food, shopping (if you want it) and just a really nice atmosphere.
We decided to take the ferry from the mainland to Penang as it was both easier and also afforded us the chance to view the island from the sea. Were met by clean (ish) quiet streets (ok it was Sunday but even so ....) and a really welcoming atmosphere. Instantly we felt that it was a place that we would enjoy exploring.
Afetr following the two suggested walking tours of Georgetown which took a day and a half we headed upto the hill station (the first in the SE Asia) to enjoy the cooler climate and to get a bit of exercise in. The cable car ride to the top was great .... very steep ride upto 800 + metres. After exploring the Hindu temple and the mosque at the top we then decided to walk down. Whilst this was great excercise it has to be the steepest jeep track that we have ever seen!!!!! (dreams of street luging down it).
Once we got to the bottom we waited for a bus for a few hours (entertaining ourselves watching spectacled and whiskered monkeys stealing food from peoples motorbike panniers) outside the Botanical gardens but when a bus failed to turn up we walked back to the hotel past great examples of the colonial architecture and past several temples ranging from Burmese to Indian.
Also managed to explore Penangs excellent museum and the colonial cemetary where Captain Light (founder of Penang) is buried.
We decided to take the ferry from the mainland to Penang as it was both easier and also afforded us the chance to view the island from the sea. Were met by clean (ish) quiet streets (ok it was Sunday but even so ....) and a really welcoming atmosphere. Instantly we felt that it was a place that we would enjoy exploring.
Afetr following the two suggested walking tours of Georgetown which took a day and a half we headed upto the hill station (the first in the SE Asia) to enjoy the cooler climate and to get a bit of exercise in. The cable car ride to the top was great .... very steep ride upto 800 + metres. After exploring the Hindu temple and the mosque at the top we then decided to walk down. Whilst this was great excercise it has to be the steepest jeep track that we have ever seen!!!!! (dreams of street luging down it).
Once we got to the bottom we waited for a bus for a few hours (entertaining ourselves watching spectacled and whiskered monkeys stealing food from peoples motorbike panniers) outside the Botanical gardens but when a bus failed to turn up we walked back to the hotel past great examples of the colonial architecture and past several temples ranging from Burmese to Indian.
Also managed to explore Penangs excellent museum and the colonial cemetary where Captain Light (founder of Penang) is buried.
No comments:
Post a Comment