Paradise island. (George Town)

Member Name: Pobble

Product:	George Town
Date:	14/06/00 (32 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You could stay for a year and not be bored.

Disadvantages: The climate can be uncomfy, and the traffic is sometimes pretty bad.

George Town is the main town in the small island of Penang. You can either stay in the town itself, or in one of the hotels along the beach about 10 minutes away.

Penang is one of the most exciting, beautiful places I've ever been to. I go back to Malaysia about every three years (I have family out there), and always stay for a week in Penang, recovering from a week with my depraved family.

It's one of the most culturally dense and fascinating places in Malaysia. There's a phenomemal amount to see; the huge Kek Loc Si temple, the botanical gardens (take fruit to feed the fantastic monkeys who will pester you to death; just be careful a particularly cheeky one doesn't steal your bag in search of peanuts), the Snake Temple and its quota of mystically peaceful vipers, shops galore, glorious Chinese clanhouses, English colonial architecture, a funicular through the jungle to the top of Penang Hill where you're so high up the climate is Mediterranean, and lots more besides.

The climate in Malaysia is exceptionally warm and humid, but all the hotels are air conditioned and have pools. If you stay in town, the Shangri La hotel is beautiful; it's all marble and exquisite wood carving. It has its own excellent dim sum restaurant. It's also near the hawker food stalls on Gurney Drive; one of the best places I've ever eaten. (And one of the cheapest.)

The best place to stay, though, is probably the stretch of beach outside town called Batu Ferringhi. It's about ten minutes from Georgetown by taxi (and the taxis are incredibly cheap), and is one of the most gorgeous places I've ever seen. Hotels on the beach are set against a backdrop of rainforest. The island curves off into the distance, and you can watch the steam rising off the jungle in the mornings. The Rasa Sayang is the best hotel on the stretch, and I love it. I usually save up to stay there. Next door is the slightly less pos
h Golden Sands. There are other hotels, but I like to stick to these two; they're sister hotels, so you can use the facilities in each if you're booked into one. There's an air conditioned shuttle bus into town every fifteen minutes, watersports galore and wonderful cocktails on the beach. Each hotel organises free activities such as bike rides to and tours of the nearby orchid farm, cookery classes, jungle treks and putting tournaments. There's so much to do, you could stay in one of these places for a month and never go into Georgetown proper.

That would be a big mistake.

Georgetown is bustling. Go to Campbell Street and look at the 23 carat gold jewellery for sale. Stop at the Dragon King restaurant on Lebu Bishop for the very best meal you'll ever eat. (I mean that. It's run by old ladies who still cook traditional Nyonya food, and it's wonderful.) Take a look at (but don't stay in; there are cockroaches) the E&O hotel, immortalised by W Somerset Maugham. Check out the colonial graveyard and its hauntingly scented frangipani trees. There are so many Hindu, Bhuddist and Moslem temples to see, there's Asia's largest reclining Bhudda...I could go on for hours.

There is more to do and see in Penang than I can really tell you about in one page. A few tips; hire your own car only if you're brave. Malaysian drivers are insane. Check out the bespoke tailor's at the Rasa Sayang hotel; they do cheap and beautifully made suits for men and women in 24 hours. If you're flying in from KL, see if you can get an upgrade to first class on the internal flight; with the exchange rate as it is now it's only about twenty pounds more. Take a hat and plenty of sunblock, and enjoy yourself!

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