Pin Seng Hotel Georgetown

... about Malaysia, and look forward to what tomorrow brings!

We checked out after a substantial buffet breakfast around 11am, deciding that staying in a posh hotel wasn't 'travelly' enough. We wandered down the road to an old Chinese mansion that had been converted into a really sweet hotel with a Chinese-style water fountain out front and wooden shutters in front of the doors. Perfect. Wanting to make the most of the day, we left our key at reception and headed ...

... cinemas in India. He and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

We soon found the path and sneakily walked down past the ' do not enter' signs, pretending to be distracted by the wildlife every time a vehicle passed. We soon came to a sign that threatened anyone who entered the school would receive a 10, 000 dollar fine and/or a three year jail sentence, it failed to deter us, and we pressed on.

After some walking, and passing the warning sign, a car drove past, so we quickly ...

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!

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 ...

... trip on a red tail boat for us and a very special fish BBQ on our last evening, although we arrived as customers it felt like we left as friends.
We met other friends here and enjoyed sharing stories, playing card games (including Bonanza!) and lots of laughter. Two of them have come onto Penang with us and are staying in the same guest house!

One great thing is that Education on Lipe is now free although school uniforms are still too expensive ...

... us in the direction and they were spot on.
We found a bus shelter and only had to wait about 5 mins until the
bus came. We knew we had to get off somewhere near Komtar bus
terminal but we still managed to miss the stop and so had to get off
at the next one which was just around the corner. We then headed to
this amazing coffee shop – Sue you should definately import it, it
is amazingly good, where we had a coffee before going back to our ...

... to the top for a view over smoggy Georgetown below. Two bowls of hot spicy laska for lunch for < £1. On the way back down we shared a carriage with a man who had Durian fruit - what a pong!
A short bus ride on took us to the Kek Lok Si Temple, the biggest Buddhist temple in Malaysia ....... and it's still growing. The 36 m bronze statue of Kuan Yin (Godess of Mercy) was surrounded by scaffolding ...

... directions ‘Cock Lick see’ Temple. Shelley pointed out the error of my ways but it was too late the nam ehad stuck and to be honest my version is better and more memorable! This temple and pagoda is huge and the detail fo the décor and stone carvings was majestic. we headed to the top of the 1000 Buddha pagoda and took in the view.

One evening we spen the night on Penang hill taking the funicular up to the summit. The ride took forever and we was lucky enough to ...

... food. Rain poured and lightning flashed to a background of Islamic prayers broadcasted over a tannoy at a nearby mosque. We could have been stranded in a worse place! [Rich: I loved the cultural diversity of Penang, it really did seem like a small harmonic melting-pot] Day Four: On day four, we took a bus to Penang Hill to visit the first British hill station in Malaysia. After a funicular railway ride (not exciting at all in comparison with the steepness of the one up to ...

... bemos, the smog and the fumes of Java. After the Toblerone mountains of Flores and the Hindu charm of Bali, Jarva is like being hit in the head with a shovel. Or side-swiped by a bus in my case. It was the coming the other way on the wrong side of the road and belted me into the side of the second bus that  I was passing at the time. So I was like a pinball, ricocheting between the two at 50mph. Scary, but we rode the bull and made it through ...

... were likely to cause a trouble. Then we found Ali's guest house nearby, which has a restaurant on the beach. We travelled around the island by bus. It was an idea to rent a motorbike and Jon wanted to take that option. if I had an insuranace, I may have agreed, but I couldn't just in case. The beach was less beautiful than we had expected with a few tourists, but we enjoyed bathing relaxing in a cafe just in front of our guesthouse, and strolling around the town ...