Penang

Visiting Kek Lok Si Temple on Penang Island

Sep 20, 2017

After yesterday’s jungle trekking, we wanted to spend our last full day here in Georgetown a bit calmer. In the morning we planned our next few days on our trip and booked the flight ticket for Singapore tomorrow. In the afternoon, we visited the Kek Lok Si Temple nearby during a thunderstorm.

Kek Lok Si Temple

Upon recommendation from one of Ilinca’s friends, we could motivate ourselves to get a 30 minute ride to the city limits where the Kek Lok Si temple is situated. We left Georgetown in sunny weather, but we were basically driving towards a black wall of clouds. When we arrived at the temple, there was heavy rain. Luckily, most of the temple is covered, so the thunderstorm was not a big problem at all, rather the opposite as the temperatures were more bearable and there were almost no other visitors around.

I like visiting temples and other religious buildings mainly because of the architecture, so I will not comment much about Buddhism, and what Buddha stands for what in their belief. If you are interested in these kinds of things, feel free to visit the Wikipedia page.

I was really surprised by the dimensions of the whole temple, consisting of several buildings, a pagoda (tower), and a giant statue of the Goddess of Mercy. And because the temple is situated at the city limit on the hillside, it was bordering directly the jungle. I let the pictures speak for themselves.

Travel plans for the next week

Tomorrow we will fly to Singapore with the flight we booked earlier today. Singapore because we decided to have Ilinca’s backpack sent on the shortest possible path to South East Asia. And this is Singapore, where there is also a direct flight with SWISS. And as we wanted to visit our friend Chris anyway in the next few months of our trip, it was a good occasion.

After Singapore we will the finally fly on to Borneo where we should have arrived already a few days ago according to our initial plan. But jungle trekking without Ilinca’s equipment did not make much sense to us. The flights and accommodation in the jungle we have not booked yet, but we will most likely do this tomorrow.

Jungle Trekking in Penang National Park

Sep 19, 2017

After a rather eventless day yesterday in shopping malls where the only achievement was that Ilinca bought a replacement backpack and some other items, today we went trekking in Penang National Park. In up to 33°C and lots of humidity, this was a physical challenges, but the experience of the dense jungle and the beautiful remote beaches were worth the physical effort.

About Penang National Park

With only 2300 hectares, Penang National Park is the smallest national park in Malaysia. And it only achieved National Park status in 2003. Nevertheless, it offers quite a lot on this small areas: dense jungle, waterfalls, various animals, remote beaches, and most important on Penang Island: a retreat from the busy streets of George Town. There are not a lot of trails in this national park, but the ones we used were in good conditions and marked well.

Trekking in Penang National Park

Because it often rains in the afternoons here in the tropics, we decided to head out early. After a 45 minute ride by car we reached the entrance to the Penang National Park at Teluk Bahang. The admission is free, we only had to register at the entrance.

The beginning of the trail was flat and in perfect conditions, so not really a jungle trek, but after roughly 500m the path split. We were going uphill to reach Turtle Beach on the other side of the hill. In the steamy hot temperatures, we were really glad that we could walk in the shadows of the forest. Nevertheless, we were both sweating a lot.

On the way we met some monkeys in the trees, birds, tiny spiders and an unidentified rodent. Unfortunately we did not get to see any lizard for the whole day.

Turtle Beach at Penang National Park

As the name suggests, turtles lay their eggs on this beach at night. To protect the species, there is a Turtle Sanctuary located at this beach in Penang National Park. Apart from that however, the beach was very calm, amazingly beautiful and remote. We met around 15 people on that beach today. It is a picturesque tropical beach how you usually see it in travel magazines! Only problem with this beach (and others in the national park): they are overrun (overswam?) by venomous jellyfish, so swimming is strictly forbidden. What a shame, especially after the 2 hour hike through the jungle.

On the beach I continued looking for lizards, but I could not find any. However, I met a much cooler creature that I had no idea it exists: A Hermit Crab. These are crabs that borrow shells of snails and hide inside them for protection and carry them around as if it were their own shells. It seems we humans are not the only ones who use other animals’ skins to feel more comfortable and safe.

Back to George Town

From Turtle Beach we took a tourist boat that was stopping at turtle beach back to the park entrance. Once back in George town, I rewarded myself with a massage, and when I got back, got news arrived to Ilinca: They found her backpack at Milano airport! It took them 7 days to do that. And of course we bought yesterday a replacement backpack, so now after they deliver the backpack to her, she will have two backpacks. But we have a good friend in Singapore… Maybe we could deposit one of the backpacks there for a while? (Chris, are you reading? ;))

So a fantastic days comes to an end. Tomorrow we will enjoy a bit more George Town before flying the day after tomorrow directly to Singapore to meet Ilinca’s luggage and maybe Chris…

Travelling by Train to George Town

Sep 17, 2017

After four nights in Kuala Lumpur, we took this morning the train towards Penang, a state in northern Malaysia and home to George Town, a multicultural colonial city on Penang Island. After a beautiful but cold train ride through green Malaysia as well as a ferry trip to Penang Island, we arrived five hours later in George Town.

Trains in Malaysia

I have to admit, I really underestimated the railway infrastructure here in Malaysia. Not only was it possible to buy the train tickets incl. seat reservation online, but the train was also very modern and cruised at speeds above 100 km/h. The fact that the trains are also air conditioned is nice in a country with hot temperatures and humidity, but as expected, they turned the whole train into a fridge. We were glad when we finally could exit the train in Butterworth and could change to the ferry which took us to George Town.

Multicultural George Town

Do you feel like some Chinese dinner? Some Indian lunch? Some western café or even a Swiss restaurant? Or do you prefer Malaysian cuisine? It does not matter, George Town has it all. It is not by coincidence that Lonely Planet calls the city the food capital of Malaysia.

When walking through the historical center of George Town, a lot of different cultures meet each other. As a former colonial town, the architecture of some buildings is typical for that period, however, the Chinese with their temples, the Muslims with their mosques, and the Indians with their spices and clothes shops contribute a lot to the multicultural atmosphere in George Town. I am quite confident that in the next two days that we will be staying here there are plenty of things to discover.

George Town also has some interesting street art to offer:

Situated on Penang Island, George Town is also the starting point for going to some white sand beaches outside of town or go trekking in the rainforest in the hills, so it is not just about a city, but also about nature here.