"Our time in Penang" Penang by jmmorgan

The flight from Kota Kinabalu via KL was a truly miserable experience for me. I had picked up a bad cold several days earlier and my nasal passages were not in the best condition. Two aircraft ascents and two descents and the agony was unbelievable!
We arrived quite late so after something to eat we went to bed. Our first call next morning was to the local doctor since we were flying back to the UK 5 days later. After a thourough consultation I was dosed with a number of medicines and we were ready to see the sights Penang had to offer.
We took the Hotel bus into georgetown and had a bit of a wander about and some more food.
Bussed it back to the hotel, cleaned up and went out to see what Batu Ferringhi had to offer. The night market was interesting, and quite busy. We found a nice restaurant near the Doctors (LOL) and enjoyed an excellent meal. As we were walking back a thunderstorm started. We joined a few others in the bus shelter but then questioned the wisdom of a metal structure with lightening strikes all around us. A change of plan saw us run for the hotel which was about 300 yards away. Our entrance entertained those sitting in the lobby bar having cocktails. We looked like we had both been in the swimming pool fully clothed!
Today we hired a car with a tourist guide/driver. When he arrived he was HUGE. I wondered if we would get in the car with him! I really took to this guy. The first thing he did was sit down and call for some drinks! I did wonder what was going on here but very soon he got out his map and started to tell us about Penang. He was really good at his job! He got to know us a little and suggested places we might like to visit. After about 15 mins we had a better itinerary for the day than we had come up with ourselves yet still including the places we wanted to go.
Firstly we visited a Butterfly farm (Tony likes these) and then a fruit farm where we walked around a bit and then enjoyed a fruit plate. We both tried the Durian fruit. Can't say that I liked or disliked it. A bit non descript considering the fuss about it's smell.
Next stop the Snake Temple where I had a bit of bother with my camera. Not to worry, superguide and the man on the camera stall attacked it with gusto and soon had it working again in A1 condition. The snakes were an anticlimax. They were all sleeping and didn't attempt to bite anyone despite the best efforts a few stupid tourists who obviously wanted to test out the words on the notice saying " The venom of these snakes kills in 10 mins - the nearest hospital is 15 mins"

Temple guards

Our guide had not eaten for 30 mins so he suggested maybe some lunch. He offered us a tourist restaurant or a local restaurant and looked pleased when we said local. I have no idea where he took us to but we were the only tourists there! It was a hawker centre and we soon browsed the stalls looking for something good.
After an excellent lunch which cost very little money it was off to the Kek Lok See temple. This really was the highlight of our trip. It is an incredible place and is simply huge. We spent a couple of hours here. We declined a visit to Penang Hill as we were planning that for the next day. Instead we went to see the Thai and Burmese temples. These were very pretty and very colourful. On a much smaller scale to the Kek Lok See temple and well worth the visit. The Thai temple houses a reclining golden Buddha statue. Photography is not allowed inside but for a couple of pounds you can pose with the Buddha and have the photo delivered to your hotel room. We duly obliged and some 2 hours later our picture was slid under our hotel room door! I have edited it a bit and this is the pic I use as my member photo.
Tired and very happy with our day, the guide took us back to our hotel at around 6.30PM. We had a great day out, lots of laughs, plenty of interesting places and some good information learned for our solo trip tomorrow.

Furnicular

Todays plans:
Return visit to the doctor to see if I will be fit to fly tomorrow. Lounge by the pool. After lunch to Georgetown, Penang Hill and finally some shopping and more hawker food before taxi back to the hotel, packing and an early night before 5.00AM airpro pick up.
The Doctors went well as did the lounging. Caught the hotel bus OK and were dropped off at the Shangri La Hotel. A little lunch in there and decided to take a cyclo ride around town. We negotiated an extortinate price for the rickshaw and off we went. It was very scary. The driver pulled out into the traffic and a huge bus thundered past inches away. Eventually we reached more peaceful roads and I relaxed a little. Our ride around was actually quite pleasant and when it ended we gave a good tip as we are not the thinnest folks on earth and we nearly killed him. Actually he was very good, showing us the sites and keeping up a good commentary on the occasions he had any breath.
Next we wanted to go up the KOMTAR building. We walked round 3 times and asked countless directions before a nice lady actually took us there! The view from the top was good but it was clouding over. From KOMTAR we took a cab to the bottom of Penang Hill and the Furnicular tram to the top. We had a nice walk around in the cool air and then noticed that we were above the clouds! We spent several minutes watching the storm below us and as it was getting dark and we had no idea when the trams stopped or how to get down we went back to the station. The trams were still going so we descended with the intention of going back to Georgetown to do the night market there and eat food. When we got to the bottom it was raining so hard when a taxi driver asked if we wanted a taxi we jumped in and gave the hotel as our destination.
We enjoyed our time in Penang. It is a nice place with good hotels, restaurants and very friendly people.