Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We left Krabi early in the morning for a long minibus ride to Penang, Malaysia. This meant that we had to cross the Thailand-Malaysia border. This was a little terrifying after all the stories we had heard back home but it passed, luckily, without incident. It did amaze me though how corrupt these countries are. The only way you are allowed through is if you first pay a bribe to the Thai immigration officials and then to the Malaysian soldiers meaning that at the right price absolutely anyone can enter. I managed to gain so well needed rest for the second half of the journey after the exertions of the past 2 nights and didn't stir until we were drving in to Georgetown, the capital of Penang. On first impressions this was a busy and stifling hot city and I wasn't sure whether I would like it but my mind was soon changed. For dinner we went to an indoor food court called the Red Market which sells a fantastic array of every type of food you can think of from fried rice with duck to grilled seafood to sushi. It was absolutely delicious and really introduced us to some of the city's culture. After dinner Ronnie took us out to show us a bit of the local night life. As a prize for having beaten him at drinking in Khao Sok, he soon presented me with a Flaming Lambrogini, a mixture of coffee liqeur, sambuca, Blue Caracao liqeur and Bailey's Cream liqeur. This was set on fire and I had to drink the alcohol as the flame reached the bottom. Although extraordinarily strong it was, surprisingly enough, quite a tasteful drink. The next day some of the girls and I decided to take a tour around the city in spite of the stifling temperatures. Stephen, our guide, was a very well-educated Chinese man (he spoke 8 languages) and was very informative. Penang is a wonderfully diverse city where many different cultures and religions live in harmony. This is shown by the presence of Harmony Street where there is a mosque, an Anglican church, a Hindu and a Buddhsit temple. Penang's population is based mainly on immigrants - of its 1.3 million inhabitants, 60% are Chinese, 30% are Muslim, 7% are Hindu and the rest are mixed. Our first stop was the Fort Cornwallis, where Captain Francis Light landed in 1786. Penang was a British colony and therefore has many British architectural influences. It is rather strange to be wandering down a street in the middle of Asia and see Victorian buildings on every corner. We then visited the jetties that housed the Chinese immigrants. Each jetty belongs to a group of people who have the same surname (eg Chew) and only these people were allowed to live there. There is a temple at the start and finish of each due to the great superstitions and belief in luck of the Chinese. The people here live in poverty but Stephen seemed very proud of the area all the same. Our next stop was the famous Buddhist Snake Temple which honours Chor Soo Kong who had healing powers and gave shelter to the snakes of the jungle. There are 3 parts to this unique temple. The first contains the main shrine in which several poisonous snakes lie, dazed by the incense, on pillars in front of an image of a Buddha. The second section was where you could have your photo taken with a non-venomous snake. Being up for a challenge I was the first to attempt this. The man put a very very large snake around my neck which I was quite happy with. It was only when he put a smaller one on my head that I began to freak out but I got a picture nevertheless. The last section was a snake farm where there was a whole range of snakes on show as well as a very cheeky but cute little monkey who liked to tease the catfish in the stream, some very old tortoises and some guinea pigs (probably food for the snakes). The last stop on our tour was Kek Lok Si temple which was again Buddhist. This was placed on top of a hill and presented an amazing view of the whole of Georgetown. After the tour we went back to our hotel to cool off before spending the rest of the afternoon shopping and then the whole of the night partying at Johan's.
- comments