Painted walls, colored houses and beautiful landscapes, I couldn't just skip this city on my little trip through Malaysia.
I was excited for this trip!
I had to wake up early to get to KL Sentral and made it just on time to grab breakfast before hoping into the train. This ride lasted for nearly five hours which gave me time to finish my night.I was surprised by the good state of the train and services, they even gave everyone free snacks, isn’t that cool?
When I arrived at Butterworth, I needed to take the ferry to Georgetown, Penang. Standing at the front I saw the city slowly approaching. Once on land I needed to find a WIFI spot to find my way to the hostel. Unfortunately, no fast food in the area, so I just walked down some random streets until I found a big city map and looked for Love Lane.
I was going towards the right direction and finding your way in Georgetown is really easy.
I just loved the atmosphere of the city, people were friendly, there were a lot of coloured houses and art everywhere.
The colonial style hostel I was staying at looked great and I just fell in love with the outside bathroom! Once settled in I decided to just stroll around in the city, get myself lost. Georgetown is just the perfect place for that as you’ll find surprises in every corner. I came across some temples, lovely themed shops and the art of the walls what made Georgetown famous and made it listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
Georgetown is also very well known for its delicious food, so I just stopped somewhere before continuing my little walk. As the day passed by I encountered more and more fascinating places. I went to a shopping mall to cool down a little before getting back to the hostel.
One days while scrolling on Instagram I fell upon a very nice picture of people who were in a kind of Avatar garden, that looked so out of the earth that I wanted to go. When I discovered it was in Penang at one hour from Georgetown, I knew that I had to! So at the hostel I checked where I could take the bus and was ready to go!
The bus stop was supposed to be at 3 minutes from my hostel. I walked and walked, no bus station… I turned around and went the other way…. No bus stops. I was really confused, I was in the right street but nothing. I asked some locals, but they couldn’t really help me either because they said there aren’t any fix bus schedules and they couldn’t tell me where to go either. I decided to give up and just walk a bit more in town.
When it got dark I decided to go to the hostel and work a little. Once there I met an American girl who had been living in Thailand for many years and she asked me if I wanted to join her and an Italian guy for diner. We went to little India and ate some very tasty and spicy curry!
The next day I decided to just chill down a little, I took my breakfast and went to a part of town I hadn’t visited yet. This part was still in it old colonial way which was great.
While I was in my room I was talking to my roommate from Japan and she said she went to Penang hill at sunset the day before and that I should absolutely visit it.
It wasn't on my initial plans but it was such a good idea to go there to see the sun go under! Since I was close to the real bus station I took the first bus leaving for Penang hill. Once in the bus I understood why I couldn’t find a bus stop last time. The bus won’t stop if you won’t let him know, besides you just really need to know where the bus stops if you want to enter the bus as there is no indication.
Once you arrive at the hill you need to take the funicular railway to get to the top. It’s quite an experience as the funicular climb the hill really fast and it’s quite impressive to see the city getting smaller and smaller.
As you arrive on top and see the view over the city, islands, and Malaysia you understand why this place is a must once you are visiting Penang. Other then the view it’s just a great place where there are a lot of things to do as visiting a museum, listen to music, put a locker on love lock, sports and obviously walk through the rich fauna and flora. On your way you will also be able to visit different landmarks as temples and mosques.
I walked around in order to find the perfect spot for the sunset but as I was walking downhills I realized I would definitely have a better view at the top. I climbed back through the jungle looking path until I reached the starting point again. I sat down, music in the background while the sun slowly, slowly got under. Perfect end of the day!
I took the funicular which was even better at night as it you could see the whole enlightened city in front of you.
As I came back at the hostel I packed my bag and went to sleep. My plane toward Kota Kinabalu was at 10 am the next day which would mark the end of my amazing traveling week and start of new adventure...
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