Hello Malaysia

Our first stop in Malaysia was Penang, part of which is on the mainland, but most of which is an island. We stayed on the island (having been on the mainland for almost a whole week), in Georgetown. More accurately, love lane. Sound seedy? It should - never seen so many prostitutes (all women with quite prominent adam's apples giving them away)in one place...Anyway, I shouldn't give you that impression of Malaysia, but I am quite surprised how different it is from Thailand. Seems a lot more developed, as well as much more culturally and religiously diverse. The Thai's are 90% Buddhists, where as the main religion of Malaysia is Islam, with Hindus and Buddhists close behind. So we spent our day around Penang Hill where 700m above sea level they have various temples next to each other and appear to live quite happily together. Loads of people of Chinese and Indian origin - which means yummy Chinese and Indian cuisine everywhere - woo hoo!

Crowded house

Fenicular railway

Malaysian breakfast

Penang