Day 120

I left my hotel room at 12 noon and went to find something to eat. One vegetable curry later I was at the Komtar Centre boarding a bus to Penang Hill. Penang Hill would be a great point to view the North East tip of Penang - Georgetown, and the Mainland just a few kilometres further East. The local bus dropped us off about 1km from the base of the hill and while walking I got chatting to a Malaysian tourist who was also on his way up the hill.

1 Our carriage heads back down to the bottom

Penang Hill is about 900 metres tall and is served by a Swiss built funicular railway with two carriages that ferry tourists up and down while acting as counter-balances for each other. That's a neat idea which means you don't need too much energy lifting one up as the other carriage descends. Once at the top the view really was great - have a look at the pics! My new Malaysian friend was pointing out various Penang buildings like the Football Stadium, the Muslim cemetery, and various mosques and hotels. We found a hill-top hotel - named the Bellevue of course! whose gardens afforded another view more to the North. Also on top of the hill were a Mosque, an Indian temple and a cannon with a King George insignia on it. That was probably from George V or VI times while the city of Georgetown is named after George III.

2 Georgetown, The Ferry Ports and the Mainland

I found an Indian Nut and Peas stall and had a very tasty treat of chick-peas with curry paste, onion and tomato. Very spicy and cheap too!

Back at the bottom of the hill I left my Malaysian friend and walked about 2km to the temple of Kek Lok Si. It was closing for the day which was a shame so I didn't get to see all of it but the bits I did see including the pagodas, the prayer room and the turtle pond were nice enough. It's actually quite a big complex of temples that are still being added to.

I took the local bus back in to Georgetown and tried some Roti Canai - like a miniature curry and naan bread. Then I found the night market and had some noodle soup from a Chinese vendor. I'm beginning to enjoy Malaysia's ethnic simply for the food options!

3 The Cannon

4 The view to the East

5 The Kek Lok Si temple complex from above

6 Inside the temple complex

7 Buddist carvings

8 The Main Pagoda

9 The famous Eastern and Orient hotel