Penang is our first stop in Malaysia and Malaysia is the first Muslim country on our trip.
From Railay Beach it first went by boat to Krabi and from there we were 5 hours in an uncomfortable minibus to the border at Hat Yai road. The border crossing was easy. In addition, Malaysia is the first country, in which we had to pay anything for the visa. Up to Penang but were still a 4 hour drive ahead of us. Luckily we moved in Hat Yai bus and got into a comfortable minibus to, where the ride was much more bearable. Since Malaysia is in a different time zone, “lost” we are on the border one hours. The good thing, that it is more brightly.
Penang is an island on the west coast of Malaysia and is also “Pearl of the Orients” stated. The island is connected to the mainland via a 13,Connected 5-km long bridge. This makes it the longest bridge in Malaysia and the fourth longest in South East Asia.
To 21 clock we arrived in Georgetown, the capital of Penang, and checked in “The Small Inn” a. The next day was a "Organisationstag": we first had to buy a travel guide for Malaysia, "Ringit", the Malaysian currency, get, Can wash clothes and plan the next days … and already the day was also to return.
On Friday was sightseeing on our program. Georgetown has more than 700.000 Population of a fairly large city. Here meet the diverse cultures, including many Chinese live here, Malay, Indians and Englishmen. 2008, the historic center of George Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many of the old buildings have been restored.
It's really fun through the small alleys and streets to run. On every corner there are easy road bars with plastic chairs in front, sell the traditional. Often there is the "kitchen" of only a few pots and pans on a cart near the sidewalk. The typical meal-times, morning, noon and night, a hive of activity, for then the locals meet here. Life takes place mostly from outside, people actually always eat on the road. This is quite different than ours, where everyone cooks at home for themselves. Aber da gibts ja auch keine Garküchen am Straßenrand 😉
Of Chinese over Indian, Malay, Japanese to Western dishes are what the culinary heart desires everything. Many streets are lined with Chinese shops. In the district of "Little India" we ate delicious Indian. There are also many shops, where you the colorful saris, the traditional Indian clothing, can buy.
Georgetown is a fascinating city: Rickshaws, Mosques, Chinese Temple, huge shopping malls, modern skyscrapers, old colonial, Stilt houses on the water ... all this and much more can be found on a spot here. A special feature is "Georgetown's street art - works of art that decorate the streets of the city in a special way.
When we took a little break on our tour of the city, we found ourselves on the bench next to a mobile phone. The girl, that previously sat here with us, it had probably forgotten. We took it at first and waited, maybe they realize it and come back soon, we thought. After 15 minutes of waiting we went on and later tried to reach her mother. You could organize everything for Luck, so Aqila a few hours later in front of our hotel room and was glad to have her phone again.
Aqila comes from Melaka, where he studied. She was like a tourist in Penang and we went on holiday. As a thank you, they invited us for the next day the Durian festival. We were excited and looking forward to the trip.
On Saturday afternoon brought us Aqila, Shasha her sister and her friend Jennifer by car from the hotel. The three were not even at the Durian festival, but eating very much like this very popular fruit in Southeast Asia. The mountainous area around Balik Pulau near Georgetown is one of the best places for durian cultivation. There are many different varieties and is currently just harvest time. Therefore, many farms sell on the roadside rather pungent smelling fruit. Not for nothing are they called stinky fruit and are banned in many hotels. On the way to the festival we stopped first at the Tropical Fruit Farm at. The three girls told us the different tropical fruits and we also tried. Next we stopped at a durian stand and got our first taste of this fruit. The yellow-orange flesh is creamy and has reminded us of the flavor of sweet onions. Not exactly our case, but the girls tasted hats. Finally, each of them almost squashed a whole the rather large fruits. No wonder, after that it was not as good to them ...
The Durian Festival, we could not find them and so we went on our way back to Georgetown. We made a stop put on “Tropical Spice Garden” and walked there through the exotic plants- Spice World and Malaysia.
3 Our personal guide suggested we “Fried Kantar” for dinner before. This is a typical dish of rice, with various curries, Seafood, Meat, pickled in salt, eggs and vegetables, depending on what you would like. It looks just a little from the food stand. The booth was so popular with the locals, that we had to stand for an hour snake, until we finally were able to order our food just before midnight. A really nice day came to an end and we have of Aqila, Shasha and Jennifer learn much about their country and their culture.
On Sunday we had an appointment with them for breakfast. Then it was first goodbye. But Jennifer and Shasha we will meet again in Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Aqila. Unfortunately, it was raining quite heavily since early. When it finally stopped in the afternoon, are Dopey and I strolled a bit through the streets. We visited the “Clan Jetties”, the houses are on stilts, who are at the port and were built by Chinese. After that we went through “Little India”, where we tandoori chicken with naan, the Indian bread, ate.
On the last day we went to Penang by bus to Penang Hill. Of the 821m high mountain one has a great view of Georgetown, the environment and the Penang Bridge. The next morning we went for us then go to the Cameroon Highlands.
thanks nicole..such a good writing..i have something to show to my family :))
interesting blog:) congratulations!