Malaysia - Penang

After a refreshing few days up in the Highlands it was time to head back down to sea level and the heat of another Malaysian island, this time Penang. We caught a bus to the west coast and then a very short ferry journey as this island is Malaysia's equivalent to the Isle of Wight.

Found ourselves a decent hotel for the next few days and then went out to sample some of Penang's famous cuisine. We were not disappointed with our first meal, amazing tandoori chicken, curry and freshly made naan bread.

Our first task the next morning was to find the Indian visa centre and start the ball rolling with regards to our visas for our August destination. Unfortunately we were informed that it would take us 10 days to get our visa here and although we were prepared for a 5 day stay in Penang 10 days was pushing it a bit. We knocked that on the head and set off to explore Georgetown, our base on Penang.

There's a big cultural mix here on the island and we found ourselves looking around old British forts, taking pictures of a clock tower donated by Queen Victoria,

choking on the smoke from the gigantic incense sticks at the Kuan Yin Teng temple,

appreciating the beauty of the Sri Mariamman Tamil temple,

learning about Islam from the Imam at the Kapitan Keling Mosque, (as well as cooling down in the lovely air-conditioned room and some ice cold water!)

and marvelling at the intricate decorations of the Chinese clan houses.

Dave got very excited that we were in Downing street during the same week as the British general election and had to take a photo.

The next day we ventured out of Georgetown and made our way to Air Itam to visit the Kek Lok Si Temple , the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia don't you know! All very impressive and spectacular, especially the 30metre high Buddha statue, although the pictures were spoiled by the scaffolding surrounding it.

Got caught in an almighty rain storm on the way back down to the town which literally made the streets steam; by the time we returned to Georgetown the rain had stopped and it was as hot as ever.

We went off in search of the second hand book stalls which Penang is famed for and after some poking around a smelly market someone pointed us in the right direction and we were soon surrounded by piles and piles of reading material. Absolutely no chance of finding a specific book and tough luck if you do happen to spot it and it is right at the back!

We enjoyed our stay in Penang, especially the amazing food, cheap beer and the time spent laughing at tourists dressed like they thought they were blending in with the locals, oh dear!