Day Two - Tuesday 25th October: The delights of walking the Heritage Trail in Georgetown, Penang

  

Today's mission was to attempt the Georgetown Heritage Trail under the guidance of our guide George - who was very aptly named.

We were interested to find out the reasons Georgetown earned UNESCO World Heritage status, so it was a busy day filled with a diverse range of places and experiences.

We started with a wander into the central part of town enjoying:

- Lots of christian churches - Catholic and Baptist and others - and a mosque or two.

- Impressive white colonial buildings in the English-colonial style and now functioning as Town Hall, Law Courts etc.

- Fort Cornwallis: established by the English. We walked the perimeter rather than being allowed in!

- Coffee and special toast from a tiny street stall for morning tea. We sat perched on tiny plastic stools enjoying thick white bread toasted and covered in butter or kaser (?) which seemed like a sort of honey and nut paste. Very delicious whatever it was!

- Some street art: but more about that later!

This specific piece of street art is the most well-known of all of the street art ....and that's a lot!

- A Chinese temple covered in a smoke haze from the many incense sticks being burned as an offering to the Gods. They varied in size from tiny sticks able to be held in one hand to huge colourful thick posts secured in special stands.

These enormous incense sticks produced
a lot of fragrant smoke!

Huge metal braziers belching out heat and smoke

These sets of incense sticks appeared to
belong to specific families: maybe ancestor worship?

- The wet and dry markets full of interesting pickles, snacks, vegetables, meat and fish. As Malaysia is primarily a Muslim country there was a separate area to buy pork behind a closed door.

- Enjoyed a fabulous biryani lunch with six different chicken and lamb biryanis, some chili hot and others more mild. One, we all agreed, had a real depth of flavour and just the right amount of heat ....but I can't remember which one! Damn! George is an Indian Malay so he was keen we try the biryani at his favourite restaurant.

I have to admit the tall lemon ice drinks were much appreciated!

Too many choices!

-

- We stopped to admire a colourful Hindu temple through the rain. Beautiful glazed ceramic decorations.

- A floating village built along a long jetty - the Chew Jetty- protruding out into the sea. Clearly they had been developed to avoid land tax payments. They now have sewerage and clean water access but that wasn't always the case. Many were very neat and the houses seemed to be a reasonable size. 

                   There were a few local food stalls and shops as we entered the jetty. As Anne needed a hat we all offered our advice but she chose a very plain hat in preference to the ones with frills, lace and even dinosaur spikes!

Anne, clutching the new hat,
looking very relaxed in her flowery 
trishaw. 

- The next adventure was a trishaw ride through some roads and lanes near the centre of town. These three-wheeled vehicles are pedalled by wiry (but clearly very strong!) men who were much smaller than many of us. I always feel slightly embarrassed about being so big and expecting them to pedal me around, but they seem unphased and pedal very calmly along, even when it rained.

This one of my favourite photos from the trip, and it has a story behind it.

After I managed to scramble into my trishaw (not very elegantly I admit) I waited patiently to take off. 

I looked up and saw these two young girls and took a photo of them and when they saw me they started to giggle.

Next thing I know they've come across the street and asked me very politely if I would mind saying something about Penang. They thrust a sign saying 'I love Penang' into my hands and started filming.

So there I was slightly drenched after the rain - no lipstick! - and bright red face from the heat (ie not looking my fabulous best). I can't remember what I said about why I love Penang! An older man came over to see what they were doing so I think they may have been marketing/tourism students and he was their supervisor. 

My trishaw driver was totally oblivious and pedalled off in the middle of me being filmed. So there goes my chance to promote Penang!

I was pleased with all of the elements in this photo: the deteriorating colonial buildings, trishaws and a motorbike and the lovely Muslim girls. Very Penang!

 - The trishaw drivers delivered us to Khoo Kongsi, a complex consisting of a huge temple, a library, museum and  accommodation all belonging to the Kongsi family.

Accommodation owned by the Kongsi family

The Kongsi are a long-standing Chinese Malay family who continue to have a high profile today. The Temple was very ornate with beautiful carvings and artwork.

The Kongsi family are known
for sponsoring local students
 to study overseas: including Australia

Such a lot of detailed carving, painting, calligraphy, metalwork, giltwork and more!

The family use it for ancestor worship and the museum section in the lower floor of the temple outlined some of the local Chinese history.

And yet more incense!

    

- There was a monsoonal downpour which made the streets very slippery, so huddled under our umbrellas we walked tentatively along the tiled footpaths. It did cool the air though, and being slightly damp helped us face the humidity and heat.

- Unfortunately many of the small shops and handcrafts workshops weren't open because of Denvali holidays.

We were glad to be delivered back to the E&O after a busy day absorbing the sights and enjoying the food!