One night in Langkawi and feasting in Penang

After our beach tour in Thailand, we still weren't quite satisfied and so went off to Langkawi, our first stop in Malaysia, in search of more sea, sun and sand. What we found instead was more rain, and a beach that looked like a building site with nasty grey sand. Accommodation was also either too expensive or just grim, so we had to settle on a grim place (even Sam said it was grim - mouldy ceiling, stained bed linen, marks on the walls that added even further to the 'murder scene look' that the hotel was obviously going for). All these factors taken into consideration, we decided to move on the next morning as quickly as we possibly could. We even spent 3 hours sat around at the ferry terminal (including going bowling) so that we didn't have to be sat in our room or on the grey beach.

Onwards and upwards... we jumped on our ferry to the island of Penang and its capital, George Town. Not in search of beaches this time, and instead time for a history lesson. Penang island was acquired from the local sultan by a British trader, Captain Francis Light, in 1786, on behalf of the British East India Company. It was seen as valuable real estate because of its location in the straits between the Malay peninsula and Sumatra. This was slap in the middle of the route for trading ships bearing spices, etc, from Indonesia to the west.

Under British rule, Penang developed into a relatively multicultural location, with Indians and Chinese, as well as some Europeans, Japanese, Indonesians and various others settling in the main town - which Francis Light named, George Town, after mad King George III.


Today Penang is part of Malaysia, and George Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its colonial past can still be seen in its multi ethnic population, the huge variety of amazing food, and the many beautiful colonial and religious buildings. 


Wanting to see as many of these key heritage sites as possible during our stay, 'Katie's Colonial Heritage Guided Walks' was born. That's right, with the help of a map, I led Sam around George Town for a magical tour of the must-see buildings and read aloud to him the significance and story behind each one. He LOVED this, as did I. 

On the amazing food - loads of good quality hawker food available, my personal favourites including, Roti Canai (Indian flatbread with a little pot of curry for dipping), and Char Kuay Teow (flat noodles fried in soy sauce with prawns, cockles and Chinese sausage). A general lack of beer though, Malaysia being largely Islamic. 


We also headed out of the centre of George Town to check out the Kek Lok Si Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in South East Asia. So many things to see here, including 'Liberation Pond' which was full of turtles and a 35 metre tall bronze statue of the Goddess of Mercy. Pretty cool. On our way to our next stop in this area, we were approached by a local lady who spouted a lot of gibberish at us and proceeded to make me an origami heart made out of a 1 ringgit note from her own purse. Strange to say the least. Our next stop was Penang Hill, a resort high up in the hills that the colonial Brits favoured for its cooler temperatures. You have to take a train to the top of the peak for views across the whole of George Town. Apart from the view though, there isn't much else to do, not unless you have a particular love for owls (they weirdly have an owl museum up there) or want to have your photo taken with a python. 

So that's Penang, and in particular George Town. Well worth visiting, although I think it's spoilt us for food in Malaysia. I don't think it can get much better than that.

Next stop, the Perhentian Islands for some more...beach time!