In retrospect, if we had known we had a decent place waiting for us in Penang, we would have taken a day bus because the drive is breathtaking - a modern highway carved out of the middle of the jungle and surrounded by exotic palms and 20-40 meter tall trees. We tended to pass time in the bus with our mouths open wide in awe.
We arrived in Georgetown, the main city on the small island of Penang situated just off the northwest coast of peninsular Malaysia, at the ungodly hour of 4:30am. Of course, we were greeted by several trishaw drivers (like our becak driver friends in Indonesia - we didn't believe a word they said). We had one take us to an all night Indian eatery at the corner of the main streets, Lebuh Chul La and Lebuh Penang, as we got the feeling he was working the commission game. This had happened a lot in Indonesia – it was always better to use a restaurant as your base. One person watched over the bags while another scouted out places to stay.
After having a 5:00am curry breakfast sitting next to three down and out transvestites, we felt right at home in Georgetown, and I set off looking for a place to stay. I checked out a few absolute holes (Paradise B&B, Plaza Hostel and GT Guesthouse) before I stumbled upon D'Budget Hostel. It was decent, had an awesome name and in hindsight after talking to people and reading travelogues, we found out that D'Budget was one of the most popular place to stay in Penang.
Although there were no attached bathrooms at this place, the rooms, toilets and showers were immaculately clean, and the owners were security conscious - enough so that they had a guard posted all night and a security gate. The best thing about it however, was the hot showers which we hadn't had since way back in Ubud, Bali.
There was a saying that went "you'll never go hungry in Penang" that we ended up hearing throughout Malaysia and this had been proven true even before we had gotten a place to stay. Breakfast was great at some of the small Chinese restaurants - whole wheat toast, yogurt, cereal, muesli and fruit… our favorite place was Eng Thai Café which had a fruit/muesli/yogurt, toast and coffee combo for RM 4.90. For Indian food, you could have great lunches or dinners for 4 or 5 Ringgit at places like Taj or Hemeediyah, or any little local place. We stuck mainly to Indian but if you wanted Chinese, there were hundreds of places between Lebuh Chulia and Lebuh Kimberly.
Our greatest "finds" were the Green Planet and Rainforest restaurants. They were both owned by the same Chinese family and had the exact same menus that offer a lot of local and Western food, but it was a bit pricey. The best part about those places was the 30 or 40 volumes of travelogues written by backpackers passing through Penang. They had books on practically every country (they even had a "Canada" one which was obviously filled with comments from Canadians). These travelogues were the best resource for current information and after reading through the volumes of useful, useless ("don't drink the water in India, I got sick"), comical and sarcastic comments, you really got a feel for great places to stay and things to watch out for. I had a feeling the Internet would eventually put companies like Lonely Planet out of business because they just weren’t current or accurate, in particular the non specific "Southeast Asia" or "Northeast Asia" guides were crap, but that was a story for another day.
The walk from the bottom of Chulia, up to Jalan Penang and towards the Komtar Shopping Center was the main shopping and money exchange area, and there were plenty of mini markets as well. We were also happy to find lots of places to exchange or buy used and new books - in particular Sam's on Chulia.
We thought Penang would give us some relief from the heat because of the breeze from the sea, but we were sadly mistaken. We thought it strange that most of the motorbike riders wore their jackets on backwards covering their arms, but after we rode around on one for the day, we discovered how quickly the hot sun could burn your arms and legs. You had to plan the day around the fact that from 11:00-3:00, you had to be out of the sun. We even watched a movie (Con-air – wow, perhaps we should have stayed out in the sun!) just to avoid the heat at midday. Hanging out in the air conditioned Komtar Center also provided a little relief.
On our second full day in Penang, we rented a motorbike from one of the money changers on Chulia for RM 20 plus gas which amounted to about 3 or 4 Ringgit to fill the tank. The drive around the island was great, particularly from Georgetown, around the northwest side to Teluk Kumbar in the south. Getting lost wasn't an issue as a friendly local would always point us in the right direction. Even at busy intersections, we were able to get directions from fellow riders while waiting for the red lights, as well as a little cultural exchange before the light turned. We headed off towards Batu Ferringhi, supposedly the nicest beach in Penang, and on the way encountered a couple of roundabouts, which turned out to be less scary than "European Vacation" portrayed, but still a little chaotic. To the west of the beach area, we drove to Teluk Bahang, a small fishing village with some nice views.
The road down the west coast was amazing - a winding, weaving roadway up and down the central mountains in the midst of durian and other fruit farms, and jungle like terrain. We did stop at a butterfly farm on the way - hey, you've got to stop somewhere - which was actually pretty good. After that, the road climbed even higher in the hills and after about 20 kilometers we arrived at a small crossroads town named Balik Pulau. By that time it was noon and we were ready to feast so we went in to the first Indian place we spotted. We were greeted by a large, almost toothless man who proceeded to show off his menu (including chicken hearts and throats!) which turned out to be amazing. The best part is always after the meal - he looked at our glasses and plates, glanced at his food, looked at the ceiling in quiet contemplation and delivered his verdict: 6 ringgit. Six ringgit for that meal!?! We were pleasantly shocked!
We continued our drive across the southern end of the island, which was nice, until we reached the airport, where the hellish part of the ride started. We made it all the way to the north by using major roads, which got a little hairy at times, but on the way we managed to see the Kek Lok Si Temple and the Botanical Gardens.
Without a doubt, the Kek Lok Si Temple and the walkway leading up to it is the most tacky, touristy thing I had ever seen - ranking just ahead of Tokyo Tower and Niagara Falls. The covered walkway, maybe 500 meters long, was crammed with little shops selling everything from fake Nike shirts to fake dog shit with fake flies. When we reached the top, the temple was so gaudy, I wondered how anyone could take it seriously.
The Botanical Gardens on the other hand, were very well done. Although it was hot, we managed to walk around for a couple of hours, and it was pretty relaxing after driving in rush hour traffic.
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