We felt Melaka was a hard act to follow but Penang, also, found a place in our hearts by the time we left. Tangong City Marina has a reputation for being a rolly marina but was kind to us for the week we were there. The marina is central to the historic Georgetown. There were many hours spent wandering the narrow old streets observing life in Georgetown which was like stepping back in time. The temperatures and humidity have been close to the upper end of my tolerance levels so the afternoons were restricted to somewhere/anywhere with shade, breeze or air conditioning. The evening, however, were great for wandering or eating at the hundreds of restaurants Georgetown has to offer. We shared a hire car with Chris and Fi and did an orientation day of the area, including Pen Marine, a haul out facility. The sunset on Penang Hill was well worth the 4 wheel drive trip 821 metres uphill (unfortunately the cable car built in the 1920’s is deemed no longer safe, so a new one in under construction). And would you believe there were people cycling and jogging their way up the road –made me tired just looking at them.
After dark on Penang Hill.....................................Jalan Penang
Gurney night market sampling the fried oysters, bbq corn and fresh apple juice
A visit to the Chinese historical Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion was worthwhile but the guide had such a strong accent that it was difficult to concentrate for any length of time and she wondered why we didn’t laugh at all her jokes. We did the usual trip to the museum and a browse at the cemetery. We didn’t get around to high tea at the Eastern and Oriental hotel, maybe next time?
Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion
Cemetery seeping with history...........................Georgetown
Getting to know a Georgetown antique dealer... Durian fruit being loaded up
Driving here is interesting. In general the roads are well developed but the driving took a bit of getting used to. Traffic lights seem to mean ‘stop if there’s someone coming the other way’. If there’s many queued waiting and there’s room -just form a third lane on the two lane road. On the motorway driving up the inside verge is commonplace. If it seems the simplest solution to drive the wrong way up a street or motorway then that’s what some do. It sounds chaotic but it’s all accepted in a calm polite manner and it seems to work well. As you can imagine Daryl couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel and try their logic. For me, however, who likes the predictability of the rules, it somewhat hair raising.
The dinky little hire car........................................On the car ferry to Butterworth
We are noticing that Malaysia seems not to be into doing maintenance on their buildings but is certainly into building new ones. It seems for every new shopping mall there is an abandoned one just down the road. The same goes for resorts. Where the money is coming from to support this, I don’t know. Some say it is newfound Arab wealth.
Much time was spent researching for a haul out facility. In the end ‘Three Ships’ decided on Phituk Boatyard in Saturn, Thailand who could haul them within days of the booking. For us Phituk had some reservation about our width for their slipway so we went with Pen Marine in Penang. Pen was more expensive but a lot more convenient. It meant we didn’t need to travel any further on one motor and they could haul us on the next high tide. Horray!!!! We decided not to do the hard slog of living on board in the boatyard so booked into a nearby hotel. Our room was 800 sq ft, the size of a small house – walking bedroom to bathroom was a major workout compared with what we are used to!!! A polite sticker on the fridge said ‘no storing of pork products’ and on the microwave ‘no cooking of pork products- there went any ideas of Daryl cooking bacon and eggs for breakfast!! I was let off very lightly as far as doing the hard slog in searing temperatures in the boatyard. In fact my days were filled with swanning around the hotel swimming pool and wandering the local air conditioned mall while Daryl did the hard yards at the boatyard. Summing up his haul out experience (politely) he will say – he was happy with the outcome but the effort to get it was immense and frustrating.
Hauled at Pen Marine...........................................What a beautiful bottom
Daryl cringed every time that chainsaw started.....Shopping for parts
The chemical shop
There was, however, some leisure time to hire a car and do a day circumnavigation of the island. The butterfly farm was a highlight. The place was well set up the plants and butterflies all looked healthy and well cared for.
Getting up close and personal at the Butterfly Farm
Well camoflaged leaf insect.............Colourful catepillar
For the last few nights we moved hotels to one that was in the heart of Georgetown. It was safe enough for me to go exploring by myself. I confirmed that most of the ‘antiques’ weren’t very old but fun looking all the same. I was on the search for some more old coins but wouldn’t be surprised if these aren’t all a con as well. Penang is known for its pewter and silver so those were worth a look. I dragged Daryl up at crack of dawn one morning to navigate our way to the local flea market. We love going places where we are the only tourists, and this was one of them. We had a great poke around but drew the line at sampling the food.
Fresh squid at the market...................................or would you rather duck eggs?
I don't buy my meat at the local markets............Frogs on offer dead or alive
Boat out from the Clan jetty in Penang............Daryl getting a hair cut at the local barber's shop
Daryl sampling some local fare at a night market.
But soon enough it was time to have a last swim in the hotel swimming pool, pass back the keys on the hire car and head on up to Langkawi. Wow, we are back to having two motors, which made manouvering out of the marina much less stressful plus with a clean bottom we are flying along. Next stop Langkawi.
No comments:
Post a Comment