Pulau Penang

Pulau Penang, an island in the north west of Malaysia is famous for its food and the wide range of attractions it offers to tourists. The most populated area, also the most touristic, is Georgetown, the city on the east of the island closest to the mainland.

I arrived feeling optimistic about the experiences that awaited me here and I was not disappointed. Continuing the relaxed pace of travel I have assumed for this trip, I spent a few days here, enjoying the atmosphere of Georgetown as well as taking the local bus to a couple of other places on the island.

After settling into a hostel, I spent my first evening wandering around the side of the city closest to the port. This, I later discovered, was a much less congested area of the town than further inland.

My journey took me along a straight, wide, business street. Many banks and other official buildings along the road, giving the similar appearance to a street in London. This is not surprising as the original layout and architecture in this area was laid out during a time of British colonialism.

Eventually the road curved to the left, taking me past a Naval base by the water on my right (where I heard the distinct sound of a ping pong ball being hit), and a large green to my left. It was at the far end of this green that I met Mr Wong, a 78 year old local man who stopped to talk to me as I took pictures of many small hanging paper models of hot air balloons, placed in anticipation of an upcoming hot air balloon festival. A good fifteen minute chat meant I knew these models lit up in the evening, that Tai Chi took place evening morning on that green, as well as discovering a little about Mr Wong and his family. It was a wonderfully welcome beginning to my time in Penang.

As I walked back toward my hostel I noticed many of the restaurants had signs advertising vegetarian and sometimes even vegan food. I had stumbled upon Little India. An area of town dedicated to Indian restaurants, sweets stalls, clothes and grocery stores, as well as some media shops still selling dvds, videos and cassette tapes. Walking this area later in the day would ensure you were met not only with vibrant colours, but also with huge speakers blaring out what I can only assume were Indian hit songs.

After enjoying the sunset and some good company on the rooftop (reached by a fire escape ladder), I was in bed reasonably early ready for an expedition to the botanical gardens and the famous Penang Hill the following day.

Once at the gardens, I was to discover that reaching the top of the hill was not as easy as planned. Not unless you wanted to partake in the Jeep rides to the top, charging 160RM per car and in my view removing half of the joy of the journey by taking you through road instead of jungle. The path I’d hoped to take was closed due to repairs, but after a little determination and hope of there being another way to walk, I discovered (with the help of my Maps.me app), that there was a pathway which began inside the botanical gardens.

Exulted with my discovery I made my way through the orderly gardens until I came across the path. The narrow staircase leading through woodland would have been easy to dismiss as an unused walkway, had I not known it was the route I needed to take.

Needless to say, several times during the first part of this journey I questioned my sanity, as I plodded one foot after the other up an uncountable number of stairs. Feeling not completely stable at one time or other as the dense heat made this thirty odd minute climb into a challenge, I felt joyous at completing this section.

I discovered a small shrine overlooking the city below as I finally reached the top of the staircase, having been overtaken by a reasonably elderly Malay man taking the stairs two at a time, carrying nothing but an umbrella and a walking stick. (I would see this superhuman man again later, commending me for also walking up, as he made his way back down the hill and I’d barely reached halfway!)

Another thirty minutes after being passed by my ninja friend the second time, I reached a dead end. The path was covered with a huge tarp, tied into place and sloping toward the road below. The rain must have destroyed the path at some time or other. Convinced the man I’d seen had crossed this in some way to reach the top, I have to say I gave the area a critical analysis before deciding it was indeed insane and suicidal to try and get to the other side. Either he knew a hidden pathway that I did not, or he’d just bounced right over this obstacle to the other side (I would not be surprised at either of these conclusions being true).

And so I did not reach the top of Penang Hill, but I certainly don’t regret the choice I made. I still had some incredible views of the city, I had enjoyed peace and a challenge with the jungle I had found and as I began my return journey I was also lucky enough to see a small snake fall into my path.

The following day I took the bus out to Kek Lok Si buddhist temple. Much larger than I had anticipated, this temple was more a small village than merely a single building. I left the public bus with a Chinese couple from the US and a woman from Austria, the latter luckily knowing the direction we should head from her previous visits as the path was hidden in an alley of shops, not yet open at the early hour.

Throughout the temple grounds we saw a myriad of workers, some gardening, others working in shops or on the lift which took you up to the tallest monument I have ever seen, and some in the midst of placing small red lanterns in anticipation of the Chinese New Year. I passed a guide telling his group that each lantern is around 60RM (around £12) for a family to buy and 20,000 will be placed throughout the temple for the celebration.

Taking a good few hours to explore, we walked slowly through the grounds, admiring huge hallways adorned with carvings, sculptures and murals. The final stop, a white pagoda around five floors high, giving panoramic views of the temple, the city below and surrounding farmland.

I made my way to Bilak Pulau on the other side of the island during my final morning. My lack of awareness on the day of the week (Saturday), meant I hadn’t considered that a community art centre I had hoped to visit may be closed. It was, but I was still able to continue past this to a fishing village.

I was travelling by bicycle, rented from a man who was very keen to try and help (for a fee) when he discovered I was trying to hire. After being bitten by an ant while working out which direction I needed to go, I set off along a long, quiet road. Single level houses dispersed among the spacious green route and eventually the road led me to the local fishing village.

Houses and workshops lined the riverside, numerous boats tied to the bank outside one property or another. The place was not busy, but there was constant movement as fishermen passed by, heading out or back to land. I crossed the river and followed the dirt path between workshops and houses, receiving shouts of ‘Hello!’ here and there from men at rest.

The path curved with the river, and suddenly I faced open water. A man fishing beside free roaming cattle on the opposite side, while to my left another stood working knee deep in mud, green mountain spreading the landscape behind him.

An unexpected and most welcome sight, it felt the perfect reward for my forty minute cycle ride on the single gear bike, my knees having passed the handlebars as I’d pedalled.

After a few minutes to enjoy the view and photograph these hard working men, I turned and began a steady return to the town. I was looking forward to my final evening on the island. Roaming the streets of Georgetown one last time to bask in the colourful sights and sounds of Little India and pass by the touristic nightlife of my local neighborhood.