Penang to Kuala Lumpur

Yesterday I traveled to Kuala Lumpur, but before I left I had one last, delicious lunch in Little India.

I had to take a ferry from Penang to Butterworth, which is on the mainland.  The ferry is free to the mainland, but I think they charge if you go in the other direction.  

I was worried about finding the bus station but it ended up being right by the ferry port and there were plenty of buses leaving to Kuala Lumpur, all around the same price, so I picked one that was leaving in just a few minutes.  It was by far the nicest bus that I've been on.  The seats even had back massagers!

I got to KL a little after 7.  The nice thing about the time change is that the sun doesn't set until late and it was still light out when I arrived.  It took me over an hour to find a hostel and I was exhausted by the end.  Most of the hostels in Chinatown are on upper floors and by the end I looked for people outside to ask about prices because having to take my shoes off and walk up a flight of stairs with my bag just wasn't that appealing.  I finally found a guesthouse where I could share a room with an Italian woman and I took it.

I ventured out into the Chinatown market for dinner.  It was crazy, jam packed, not my kind of market at all.  They had all of the typical shoes, handbags, electronics, etc., but significantly higher prices, and most of the food was is expensive restaurants.

Leong San Tong Khoo Khongsi

Khoo Kongsi is a Chinese clan house in Penang which has been well maintained/restored over the years.  It was really interesting to see.  The property consists of the temple, offices, a theater, and the old houses for the members.  They now have a small museum under the temple which has information about the history of the temple and the clan.

The temple was amazing, especially the intricate woodwork.   It was amazing how much detail there was.

Sai Baba and the Hungry Ghost

I stumbled upon a couple festivals during my time in Penang.

The first was a celebration of Sai Baba, a holy man, in Little India. There was a parade around the neighborhood with singing and dancing and blessings.

The second was the festival of the Hungry Ghost at a Chinese temple.  Although the festival runs all month Penang only celebrates for three days during which time they put out food for the hungry ghosts and burn large columns that looks like a cross between a candle and incense.

Penang Hill and Kok Lok Si

A couple days ago I went to Penang Hill.  I took the bus from Komtar (the shopping center) to the botanical gardens but during the ride it started to rain, I’ve been dragging my poncho around everyday but somehow while switching bags I forgot it!  Fortunately there was a cafe near the entrance of the park and I ended up waiting out the storm with a German guy that had been on the bus with me.  Once the rain let up we took a nice walk through the botanical park where we saw a really interesting tree and a group of monkeys.

The hike turned out to be a walk up a very steep road.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a road that was that steep for that long.  It wound back and forth but didn’t level out at all until we were 3.5 km up.  It was exhausting!

We saw another group of monkeys on the way up.  It’s amazing how close they will get. I was taking pictures of a few in the trees when I realized that another one had come to check me out and was only a couple feet away.  

We made it to the top and checked out a small Hindu temple.  We went to a restaurant that overlooks the city but it was so foggy I could only make out vague outlines of buildings.

We took the funicular train down which was an interesting experience, the train travels at a steep angle but the floor is horizontal.  It took only a few minutes to travel down the hill that took a couple hours to climb.

After Penang Hill we took another bus to Kok Lok Si which is home to 10,000 Buddhas and a large statue of Kuan Yin.  

To get to the temple we had to walk
by lines of touristy shops

Turtle pond complete with a pagoda and hundreds of turtles

Just a small fraction of the Buddha's, there are supposed to
be 10,000

Buddhist Temples

I’m sitting in a dark hallway, charging my computer with the outlet reserved for the toaster and the internet here is so slow I feel like ‘m back in the days of dialup.  Obviously I’ve been spoiled.

Yesterday I took a walk along the Northern part of Georgetown to visit a cemetery and two Buddhist temples.  

The cemetery is Protestant and Roman Catholic and one of it’s most notable residents is Francis Light, the founder of Penang.  

On the way to the temples I walked down a street with a bunch of beautiful old mansions.  Some of them had been turned into guesthouses and businesses but others looked like they were still private residences.

The Buddhist temples are right across the street from one another.  One is Burmese and the other Thai and it was interesting to see how they differed.

On the way back I found one of the hawker centers (where the food vendors congregate).  This seems to be the trend here to have multiple vendors together and actual seating as well.

Penang National Park

Yesterday I took a trip to the national park on the NW corner of the island.  They have a convenient bus, Rapid Penang, that goes all the way to the park for 4 RM.  You have to check in before entering the park and the trails are all well marked, which I was glad of since I was hiking alone.  

I took a trail to the meromictic lake, a rare body of water where the layers of water do not intermix.

I found a few monkeys by the beach!

After the national park I headed to Batu Feringgi to see the floating mosque, there wasn't a lot of water under it though!

I walked along the beach and then went to see the night market in Batu Ferringi that my hostel had recommended, I think I prefer the markets in Thailand though.  It opened pretty late, they were still setting up at 7:30 when I left.  They sold all of the same stuff, knock off bags and watches and bootlegged DVDs, but the stands looked like they should be at the mall not out on the street.  There weren't any interesting food stands either, just large food courts.

Back to trishaws, fortunately these are people powered, not motorized and they seem a bit safer.