Penang Hill

We had to take a drive on a public bus through some really poor areas to reach Penang Hill which you could see was millionaires paradise, but one thing I can say is that even the poorest person in penang seems to have better housing than the people do in the Townships of South Africa. Not a lot better, but at least with the major facilities like water and sewage.

To get up the hill we had to take two "trams" and ascended a few hundred feet above sea level, you immediately knew that you were higher up than usual as the stifling heat changed into a much colder and more pleasant climate.

Once on the hill we started off by taking a couple of photos of the view, they didn't come out perfect as their was a lot of mist in the air and most of the town could not really be seen through the cloud.

First on our agenda was the mosque, we arrived just in time to witness a traditional Muslim ritual where people came to ask for good fortunes from Allah. We didn't take photos out of respect, but got some of the decorations on the outside of the building

(massive locks on the doors of the mosque)

We proceeded down the road only to find that we would have to do a +/- 2.8 kilometer walk to get to the canopy walk. Well worth it as the scenery along the way is breathtaking and the houses are mansion with the most beautiful views in the whole of Penang.

The canopy walk is certainly not for someone who has any fear of heights whatsoever, you walk on planks tied to ladders, with a very thin net being the only thing between you and the ground at least 10 stories below you. Your legs feel all wobbly by the time that you get off on the other side...

Great fun.

Eugene found a Giant Forest Ant on our way back, they are about as big as a 2 rand piece, if it is still the same as when we left a year ago. Quite scary, I panicked and dropped the leaf which I was supposed to old for the photo. So this photo is all Eugene...

(more sunny on our way home)

Fort Cornwallis

We were walking along beach lane on our way back from the pier when we came across what seemed like an old castle wall or a prison and decided to go and inspect. It was Fort Cornwallis, which was built by the British when they occupied Penang right on the coastline with canons and all to protect themselves from any battle from passing ships and "pirates".

They had "wild horses" outside, which turned out to be not all that wild seeing that Eugene went and touched them much to my protests and telling him that we are going to get put in jail. Once in the fort it was like we were set back a hundred years. The buildings are all out of the 1800's and hasn't been looked after too well which is a shame because they have nice gardens and could easily turn the place into something rather special.

(Wild horse, not all that wild)

What I did find very interesting is that the Fort contains the very first church built in Penang, it is over 200 hundred years old, and it is very very small. There is nothing left of what was inside, so it is just a empty building, but it was still cute and special.

Us in Jail (Only pretend)

How to cool down in Malaysia (Find the closest air con unit, even if it is in a public area and make sure yo spread out directly in front of it and lift that shirt.)

(The oldest church in Penang)

Downtown Penang

Penang is a very historic Island.

Once occupied by Britain you can easily see the difference in a place that had western influence than from areas like Thailand who had none. The buildings look more like home, the infrastructure are better and cleaner. It just looks like it is a hundred years old, but then most of the buildings date out of the 1800's.

Penang has a rich history of people fleeing their own countries to see if the can make a new life on a major stop along the spice route from just about everywhere in the world, including Thai's, Burmese, Indians, Westerners and all the sub cultures in between.

The Penang museum is a very interesting place and we learned a lot about the area on past and present matters, but unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures, so that one will have to last in memory only.

(Apartments on Beach lane, about 150 years old)

(Abandoned building at the pier - use to be part of the courthouse)

(Abandoned building from the outside)

(Huge doors, and old locks)

(Malay worker, enjoying the sunshine outside his residence)

(Burma road, Penang)

(The pickled fruit and spice market)

Penang, Malaysia - Shopping

We decided to go to Malaysia for our visa run and ended up spending a nice five days on the island of Penang. Our first day we spent shopping and just accustomed to all the different things that we don't get in Thailand.

This was one of the biggest shopping malls we have ever been in, three separate buildings, each with six floors, connected with corridors on some of the levels. We spent a whole day here and could still only get through about a third of the mall.

Amazing how things can be so different, yet the areas so close together - only a six hour drive and we are in a different country with a completely different culture.

We experienced Malaysia as a much cleaner country, the people speak English a whole lot better than what their Thai counterparts do and the Malay food is absolutely Devinne.

See next post for our true Malay Indian food experience.