A city with multicultural history
Penang is a state in northern Malaysia, located on the peninsula of the same name in the Strait of Malacca. Capital of the state and the island is George Town, which is located in the northeast of the island and home to around 700,000 people.
Although the beaches of Penang are nice, they are somewhat bleak compared to some other Malaysian states. This is more than compensated by the island's rich multicultural history, dating back to the beginnings of British colonization in the 18th century, and full of Malay, Chinese, Indian and European influences. Penang is also known as a "food paradise" in Malaysia.
Lots of cheap streetfood
From Kuala Lumpur I went to the peninsula Penang which takes about 5.5 hours by boat and ferry. The peninsula is mainly characterized by a majority Chinese population. Likewise my guesthouse, the WeLuv Travel Guesthouse, was Chinese. They even gave me a deluxe room where I had 5 beds for myself because they did some overbooking. Good for me!
Penang is known for its variety of streetfood. I had two portions incl. drink for about 2 €. Malaysia is generally a cheap country.
Visiting a casual lifestyle fair
The next morning I found out that my dutch friend Anke from Kuala Lumpur is also in town and moved with her to The Frame Guesthouse. The hostel was right next to mosque, so 5 times a day and night you heard the muezzin calling the muslims to pray.
We visited a casual lifestyle fair with a Sunday market where jazz music was played and we bought some bamboo toothbrushes. It took place in an old bus depot which is now the setting for this indoor & outdoor art exhibits and market plus cafe.
Beautiful street art
After that we continued our walk through the Malaysian heat to a Chinese temple and the harbor. Besides the food Georgetown is also famous for its street art. You can find many of it in the Armenian street.
Robbery in front of our eyes
In the evening we, an older Dutch woman, a young German and an American went out for a few drinks. While doing so, a guy on a motorbike grabbed the mobile phone from the hand of a German woman in front of our eyes. She burst into tears, because she was about to talk to her boyfriend on the phone. I doubt that she ever saw her cell phone again, because the motorbike disappeared in no time. Two older locals tried to mediate and help. Apart from that Malaysia is actually a very safe country to visit. After all the drinking I didn't drink anything for the next 2 weeks
Indian ceremony
On the day of my departure I walked a little bit through the city and the architecture changed from district to district. In Little India, I witnessed a kind of Indian procession in which two holy cows pulled a sort of throne behind them.
