Crown Jewel Georgetown

Hoy estuve paseando por Georgetown, decididamente sin mapa. Mire al sol, me situe y me puse a caminar. Esas clases de navegacion del PADi no solo sirven debajo del agua! <br><br>Sin proponermelo, acabe en el barrio chino, rodeada de templos muy chulos. Segui caminando y encontre una tienda de buceo, que casualidad! Tenian rebajas ademas. Me compre unas gafas y un snorkel para estar ...

... conduct certainly belied his image.<br>Two ferries (the kind that take cars and just cross a river) later and we were on the mainland heading south. I chatted to a girl called Vic and two guys from the UK (one of them told me he was in Yorkshire once and he asked a barman what action there was - the barman replied "Well, if you go up the hill there's a windmill..."). <br>Apart from all being charged 10 baht for nothing while we passed our bags ...

... free of charge because he didnt have much else to do. <br><br>It was a big Chinese/Thai temple and he walked us round and explained to us what everything meant. Then we went to see the buddist monks who blessed us both (which involved some chanting and splashing water from a branch on our heads) and gave us a bracelet each. <br>We got dropped off at the shopping centre with a promise to the nice taxi man that we would recomend him as a tour guide if any of ...

... stopping to drop off parcels along the way. We found a guest house by the pier and enjoyed yet another fantastic Thai meal! At many of the cafe's it feels as though you are joining in family life; the mother took our order and cooked the family meal, the grandmother cooked our food and the children played on the pavement. <br>We negotiated a great price for a return speed boat to Koh Lipe and when Mark spotted 3 225hp engines on the back we knew we were in for an ...

... cars and buses. <br><br>We&#8217;ve had some fabulous food in Georgetown, from all sorts of places. (although generally places less upmarket than the Georgetown restaurant in Leeds - for those continuing to note our themed journey). One of our regular eating and drinking haunts was the &#8216;Red Garden&#8217; which was a night market with lots of different food stalls around the outside, with tables and chairs in the middle and a stage with very cheesy ...

... about the driving, and I was surprised to note that I hadn&#8217;t really realised the guy was speeding and swerving. India and China must have lowered my safety standards, or at least numbed me to nerves.<br><br>After a quick and chatless lunch and a few more hours driving, the South African and I were moved to a different van for the final hour or so before the border. I finally got speaking to him, and it turns out Clinton is actually a ...

In Penang I feel like a traveller again. Thailand was a holiday within a holiday and after a month, I craved days filled with sightseeing and mornings without hangovers. We're staying at Banana Guesthouse on Jalan Chulia and it reminds me of South Africa no end. For one, it's a proper hostel, with a packed bar downstairs and featureless rooms and shared bathrooms upstairs. Secondly, Penang itself, much like Long Street in Cape Town is ...

We left Kota Bahru and got a coach to Pinang which took around 7 hours in total with a few stops including lunch. Well done to the person who invented mp3 players, 7hour journeys wouldnt be the same without them! Got dropped off in Pinang somewhere, and we then got a local bus to Georgetown (the capital city). We stopped in chinatown district and walked a short distance to ...

... of colonial, Chinese and modern architecture. I also spent a lot of time eating (and eating, and eating) - the street food in Georgetown is incredible - I was a big fan, in particular, of the Indian street food, sampling different types of delectable roti, in addition to the best (and cheapest) tandoori chicken I've ever had. A great place in which to end my time in Southeast Asia . . .