Mar 18, 2005 - Malaysia - Penang

I don't have much news to report, been a complete lazy cow if I am honest! Just sunbathing, watching the movie channel and eating salads!!! Was very anti-social too, just wanted some 'Louise time' as I have had to be 'nice' for nearly two months! A real challenge for me I am sure you can appreciate! Penang is a great place, a bit like a hot Jersey (off France not USA). I would certainly move here if it offered my line of work but it doesn't. You can get direct flights from London I believe and would be a great place for a 2 week sun...

Mar 8, 2005 - Penang, Malaysia

On Monday morning we met up outside of the Kuala Lumpur bus station and boarded the bus to Penang which is a small island accessible by bridge that is located off the Northwest coast of Malaysia. The bus ride was uneventful but an adventure none-the-less - It is not too often that Ben and I find ourselves on the bus in Malaysia with Mr. and Mrs Hayes. We stopped for lunch and all were scared of the food options so Ben and I had cup of noodles while my Mom and Dad opted for a can of Pringles and some dried peas. We arrived in the main city...

Feb 27, 2005 - Penang

After a 5 hour bus drive from the highlands we arrive in Penang. We are seated behind a lovely Chinese Malay Dutch family. Their only child Joy is an instant hit with Tashi and with this company, the trip rolled along like a breeze. We are staying in an old colonial hotel, The Cathay which is in the chinatown area. The chinatown district is a wonderful area to just stroll around and take in the ambience. Fresh product markets, old crumbling shopfronts and coffee shops. We are back in the humidity and to overcome this, in the afternoon, we...

Feb 19, 2005 - Georgetown, Penang (Malaysia)

After a mammoth journey (8 hour night ferry, 5 hour mini-bus to the border and then about another 3 hours to the island...) we finally arrived, and have been eating to our hearts content - Little India for curries, China Town for chinese (obviously) and the rest for Laksas! We've hired a motorbike (again) and trundled off to a temple on the side of the hill - got lost on the way, but a really nice guy took about 30minutes out of his day to let us follow him there. He didn't want any money or anything - we were a bit confused for a while,...

Feb 13, 2005 - Penang

We found a hotel in the heart of the China Town area of Georgetown in Penang. Fortunately everyone's back to work now after the Chinese New Year holidays and prices have returned to normal. Last night we made it up Penang hill in time for sunset. This involved taking 2 journeys on a funicular railway to the top of the hill because the journey's so long and steep! The trip was worth it though, and the view from the top was great, especially after dark when you could see all the lights around the island. Penang Hill is a 30min bus ride out of...

Jan 19, 2005 - Penang, Malaysia

I have left Thailand and I am now in Malaysia. I took me about thirteen hours to get from Koh Phangan to Penang. Three hours were on a boat and the rest was in a mini bus. I am in the Georgetown area of the island. My Budget hotel is in Chinatown. It is curtainly not up to Alison's standards but, I am willing to sacrifice A/C and cleanliness for $7.00 a night. I even have my own bathroom and cold shower! Today, I have been walking all over exploring Georgetown. I have managed to beat the heat by hydrating myself in air conditioned cafe's...

Dec 12, 2004 - The looking Glass...

Left Pulua Pangkor yesterday and headed north for Puala Penang, a large island metroplis at the northern edge of Malaysia. To get there I had to take a ferry to the mainland port of Lumut, then get on a bus for 3 hours to arrive in the port city of Butterworth and then take another ferry to Penang and the city of Georgetown. In Lumut, after buying my bus ticket I had a lovely interaction with some food vendors. One of them was a young guy who I found out was 21 and worked as a computer technician on the nearby Naval station. It was a bit...

Nov 21, 2004 - Colonial Penang

(Updated by: Giles) Saying good-bye to the Cameron Highlands and travelling by coach down through some amazing hilly rainforest scenery, we arrived in the (comparatively) sweltering heat of Georgetown, Penang by mid afternoon and were conveniently dropped off at....yep, the biggest shopping centre in Penang ! After the best shepherd's pie I have tasted in a long time, an exhibition of some rather macho/camp martial arts style dancing and a fruitless search for the tourist info, we did the typical backpackers thing and hailed a taxi ! ...

Oct 21, 2004 - Penang

We have now mastered the art of traveling so set off for Penang armed with a loaf of bread, cheese slices, a bag of cheese and onion crisps and some orange juice! The bus didn't stop in the 8 hours journey so we made butties on the bus and got some very strange looks of our fellow travelers, but we think they were just envious! We arrived in Penang in the afternoon and decided to head straight for the beach. We stayed in Batu Ferraghi (foreigner's rock). It was nice but it was very touristy and was full of Brits and Australians, all the...

Sep 7, 2004 - Georgetown, Penang - Malaysia

Hey Yall... I'll be short this time as I am using computer at internet cafe to let yall know that Mark and I are OK! We left Kuala Lumpur for Georgetown, Penang. It is an island off the coast of Malaysia up north close to Thailand border. The island itself was OK with its own special attraction such as Snake Temple and Penang Hill not to mention a lot of food hawkers selling Malaysia's specialities as well as Indian or Chinese. We had a great time touring around the island today. We went to Snake Temple where pit vipers gathers and stay...

Sep 6, 2004 - Penang (Malaysia)

We booked our straight through trip from Koh Phi Phi to Penang with a a travel agent near to where we were staying, as it turns out we got a really good deal. The trip started off with us getting the oat for jsut over an hour to Krabi, there we transfered with no hassle into minibus, picked a few people up in Krabi on the way and then headed off to Hat Yai, one of bthe largest towns in Thailand and very close to the malaysian bordre, as per usual Thai standrards it was straight through, that had a 1 hour stop there why they switched vans...