Day 3, Thursday 24 October 2013 - Georgetown

More questions, more choices..... Today should be easier as I get more familiar with how things work here. Importantly I need to tick a few boxes to ensure I've done justice to this visit to Penang. My guide book lists a number of 'must see' venues, but it's unlikely I'll get top score. There isn't going to be an early start today either. I've overslept due to the busy day yesterday and no doubt still affected by the lost hour. In addition, my attention concentrates on plans for tomorrow when I intend to travel to Langkawi. The hotel has a booking service, but this only includes the speed-boat option island to island. I want to evaluate the option to return to the mainland, travel further up the coast and take a much shorter ferry crossing. It's ticking on into late morning and I jump onto the 101 bus heading for Komtar bus station. Not surprisingly I find myself at the jetty so have to jump onto the shuttle bus to take me to Komtar. Here I make enquiries regarding road transport to the mainland. I get a surprise! There isn't any despite a map showing a 704 service. It doesn't take too much reasoning to wonder why on earth there is an extensive road bridge connecting Penang to the mainland then, but it does explain why most city buses terminate at the jetty. So, to reach Butterworth and national transport links it is necessary to use the island ferry. From Butterworth there is still as least two further links before reaching the ferry port on the shorter route at Kuala Kedar or Kuala Peris. This option is starting to get complicated with no firm timetable. I'm warming to the 'bird in the hand option and take the speed-boat directly from Penang. I figure that arriving at Langkawi Island well before lunch, the second of only two crossings/day departing at 8.30 am, will provide extra options when looking for accommodation. While I mull all this over, I consume an Indian curry near the bus station before heading back looking for the 204 bus that will set me up for the afternoon tour.
Penang Hill..... Penang Hill is the terminus for the 204. At the bus station a service bus is waiting and within minutes it departs. This will be my first excursion outside of Georgetown. Leaving the city, the hills beyond soon come into view as the bus makes its way picking up passengers on the way to Air Itam and Penang Hill beyond. It soon arrives at the base of the hill and the reason for this location appearing in the guide is the presence of the funicular railway which makes its way to the summit apparently offering spectacular views of the city. I say 'apparently' because I do not make the ascent. I'm ushered to the ticket office as if it's a foregone conclusion that I wish to make the ascent but at 30 Ringgit I'm totally put off. I paid little more to make it here from Hat Yai and with the likelihood of taking the speedboat to Langkawi tomorrow this would put me well over budget. Labouring the point, it cost just 2 Ringgit for entry to Fort Cornwallis yesterday which was of far more interest to me. However, the afternoon won't be wasted. Although I can wait for the bus I decide to walk back towards Air Itam.
Memorial to the Penang Chinese Transportation Volunteers..... The road runs for half a mile down to the main road where at the junction is a memorial to the Penang Chinese Transportation Volunteers and the Chinese war dead from the Sino-Japanese War. A 49-foot obelisk, a sculpture themed 'Dauntless Warriors' and a 60-foot-long wall relief depicting the transportation volunteers moving the vehicles on the perilous Burma-China Road gives a reminder of the role the Chinese of Penang played in the conflict. There is no record of this in my guide, but I'm compelled to record it as a reminder of a tragic episode in history that the West knew little or cared little about at the time. Thankfully, the authorities have provided an inscription in English without which it could not have been noted here. I have reproduced it in full on this tour summary page. As war memorials go, this one is impressive given the relatively small community it involves and should one dare to amplify this example onto a national level then the catastrophe is really beyond comprehension. I continue right, looking down towards Air Itam, where beyond on the hillside is the most beautiful Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia.
Kek Lok Si Temple..... It's a 15-minute walk to the base of the temple at Air Itam where a passageway ascends to the base of the temple itself lined with souvenir stalls. This temple is beautifully sculptured, the main features being the seven-story pagoda and bronze statue of Avalokiteśvara (Kuan Yin). I have to admit the views from Kek Lok Si Temple back towards Georgetown go some way to compensate for the lost opportunity at Penang Hill.
By now, most of the afternoon has passed by and it's time to head back to Georgetown. I locate the bus stop in Air Itam and after a while a 203 service arrives which will terminate at the jetty where I manage to get some information. A local man also points out that the funicular is new. I still think it's too expensive though.
A taste of India..... The 203 duly arrives at the jetty in Georgetown and here my attention turns back to my plans for tomorrow. I head up into Jalan Chulia where I spotted a ticket agent. The ticket to Langkawi seems to have a fixed price. I make a booking as I'm running out of time then head further up into the city in search of a meal. Here I come across Little India, definitely on the tourist trail, which consists of a few streets totally dedicated to supplying Indian wares and food: I can't resist the chicken tandoori. At least I've ticked another of the boxes as I head on up into Chinatown.
As I discovered yesterday, there is no easy route back to Grand Inn because of the one-way system and as I find my way back to Komtar I realize I'm about 20 minutes away by foot. OK here we go again. Remarkably I make it all the way back to Grand Inn on foot. Now it remains only to ask for a 6 am call and that will be it for today. My stay in Penang is nearly over. I will sum up my stay at Grand Inn at some stage but I'm certainly not going to miss it as late arrivals at the hotel interrupt a peaceful night.
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