The 5 hours bus trip to Penang (RM23) from Tanah Rata was again very boring except when we went through the Cameron Highlands towards Ipoh via a new road that has been opened recently, travelling on this road we saw great landscapes. The bus stopped for a while in the very busy bus station of Ipoh and soon after leaving Ipoh it stopped again but this time on the side of the highway behind another bus from the same company. People going to Butterworth from our bus had to go to the other bus and people going to Penang from the other bus came to our bus even if there was not enough seats! Arriving to Penang crossing the 9km bridge that links Penang to the mainland, we were surprised to see that all the East coast of the island is in fact the extension of Georgetown (the main town on the island), moreover the sea looked very polluted. The bus dropped us at a bus station left of the bridge. As the taxi was RM25 to Georgetown, we decided to catch a local bus. It took us a while to figure out which bus to catch as there is no map available at the bus stops, but we managed to find the right bus and were glad to pay only RM3 for both of us. We checked in at a hostel in a quiet street parallel to Chulia Street, which is a very busy street where are located all the bars, restaurants and guesthouses for the tourists.
As Gosia had to get a visa for Thailand (all the guesthouses, agencies, bookshops of Chulia Street offer to organise visas to Thailand), we spent 3 days in Pennang (you give all the documents in the morning and you get your visa in the afternoon the next day, cost: RM130 = RM110 visa + RM20 commission). Penang is a very busy town that has a certain charm. We wandered in the old town where you can see nice old houses and a few Chinese and Indian temples. The most impressive was the Kuan Yin Temple Chinese temple as it was full of devotees doing rituals (see pictures) and around the temples there are lots of small shops selling all the items necessary for the rituals; oil, incense, ... . Walking in town we noticed all those small temples attached to the facades of the Chinese houses with a few incense sticks and some food for the gods. We checked out the shopping centre next to the Komtar tower, the highest building in Pennang, but we did not go to the top of the tower from which apparently you get a good view on the island. We also went to the Butterfly farm located north of the island. The bus 101 takes you for RM3 to Teluk Bahang (a long trip, 1h30!) and from the roundabout it is a short 15min walk to the farm, it is also possible to catch a bus but it runs only every half an hour. We thought that going that far from Georgetown we will get a chance to see the non built part of the island, but we entered the countryside only when we arrived at Teluk Bahang, for most of the trip we went through the suburbs of Georgetown. The Butterfly Farm is really an interesting place to visit, it is worth the entry fee of RM20. Of course there are a lot of beautiful butterflies of all sizes and colours flying around in the very nice tropical garden but there are also some very strange animals and insects, like a living leaf (see picture), some Thorny Sticks and some Macleay's Spectres ... All were quite hard to spot within the leaves of the small bushes they were hiding in. Also in big aquariums we saw an Asian softshell turtle and an alligator snapper (the largest freshwater turtle in North America)! There are also some scorpions and snakes to be seen. Well we really enjoyed visiting this farm.
As Gosia had to get a visa for Thailand (all the guesthouses, agencies, bookshops of Chulia Street offer to organise visas to Thailand), we spent 3 days in Pennang (you give all the documents in the morning and you get your visa in the afternoon the next day, cost: RM130 = RM110 visa + RM20 commission). Penang is a very busy town that has a certain charm. We wandered in the old town where you can see nice old houses and a few Chinese and Indian temples. The most impressive was the Kuan Yin Temple Chinese temple as it was full of devotees doing rituals (see pictures) and around the temples there are lots of small shops selling all the items necessary for the rituals; oil, incense, ... . Walking in town we noticed all those small temples attached to the facades of the Chinese houses with a few incense sticks and some food for the gods. We checked out the shopping centre next to the Komtar tower, the highest building in Pennang, but we did not go to the top of the tower from which apparently you get a good view on the island. We also went to the Butterfly farm located north of the island. The bus 101 takes you for RM3 to Teluk Bahang (a long trip, 1h30!) and from the roundabout it is a short 15min walk to the farm, it is also possible to catch a bus but it runs only every half an hour. We thought that going that far from Georgetown we will get a chance to see the non built part of the island, but we entered the countryside only when we arrived at Teluk Bahang, for most of the trip we went through the suburbs of Georgetown. The Butterfly Farm is really an interesting place to visit, it is worth the entry fee of RM20. Of course there are a lot of beautiful butterflies of all sizes and colours flying around in the very nice tropical garden but there are also some very strange animals and insects, like a living leaf (see picture), some Thorny Sticks and some Macleay's Spectres ... All were quite hard to spot within the leaves of the small bushes they were hiding in. Also in big aquariums we saw an Asian softshell turtle and an alligator snapper (the largest freshwater turtle in North America)! There are also some scorpions and snakes to be seen. Well we really enjoyed visiting this farm.
