Apa khabar, Georgetown

It was a very long night indeed. All over the Thai islands full moon parties were celebrated that night, while we had our own version of it, with no alcohol and also much less fun. We took a bus that dropped us off beside the road, had to wait four hours for another bus that would be too uncomfortable to sleep in, and at 3.30am we were in Hat Yai already, with huge bags under our eyes and with our journey being far from over. Hat Yai was not the final destination. 

We spent four hours in this restaurant waiting for our bus, in Europe they would kick us out right away

As our Thai visa was expiring and we had enough time, we decided to visit Malaysia for a week or so before heading back to Thailand and catching our flight from Bangkok in mid February. We were headed to Georgetown, the capital of the Penang state. The first minivans for the border were scheduled to leave at 8.30 in the morning, so we ended up waiting five hours at the station, learning some basic Bahasa Malaysia from two young Indonesian students who kept us company the entire morning and were also going to Penang. Together we were even able to negotiate a lower price of the minivan ticket!

I don't remember much of the ride towards the border as I slept the entire time and I was half asleep even when going through the immigration check. It was very easy and we both got a 90 days permit without any problem. Already very shortly after entering the new country we went into a state of mild shock. Higways in perfect conditions, brand new modern houses, large factories... We felt like Alice in wonderland! After two months travelling around SE Asia, Malaysia seemed unreal.

We arrived on the island of Penang, where Georgetown is located, around lunchtime, at last our 25-hour journey from Phang Nga to Malaysia was over! The heat was too much and we were dead tired so we were happy to find a decent, if somewhat peculiar guesthouse soon, right in the middle of Chinatown. As it was my birthday, we treated ourselves to AC and... hot shower! We hadn't had warm shower since Kampot, Cambodia, a veeeery long time!

Georgetown, UNESCO World Heritage site, is the oldest British Straight settlement, older than Singapore, and for centuries it has been a cultural crossroads, with influences of the English, Chinese and Indian still present today. We spent two days walking through the winding streets of Litte India and Chinatown with its old shops and decorated houses, we caught a little break from the omnipresent heat by the esplanade (pedang) surrounded by the colonial buildings just by the water front where I couldn't get my eyes off of the port. We even visited a museum (how unusual of us!), recreating the house of rich family of the Baba-Nyonya, the descendants of the Chinese merchants in Malaysia.

Old Georgetown

Restored Chinese merchant house

Pedang with the City Hall buildings in the background

When it got just too hot we would find a refuge in the local mall (it proved useful everywhere later on our Malaysian adventure) that again left us speechless, we forgot things like that existed. It was an interesting contrast, the old Chinese streets right next to the huge air-conditioned shopping center.

Feels like home

Georgetown is home to many religions, along one street you'll find a Catholic church, Hindu temple, a mosque and ancient Chinese temple, admirably tolerant arrangement.

Sri Mariamman Temple

Hainan Temple

St George's Church

Kapitan Keling mosque

The cultural mixture of Georgetown is best shown in its cuisine. After weeks of all the variaties of fried rice we were happy to try anything the small eateries around town had to offer. Hainan Chinese for lunch, Indian for dinner, our bellies were in heaven. No wonder I no longer fit in my skirts, after so many butter naans and banana lassis...

It doesn't look like much but it was one tasty Hainan chicken rice

My birthday dinner

And more Indian...

What do you do in Malaysia when you can no longer stand to be sweating all day? You head to the mountains! And so we said goodbye to the colorful Georgetown and hopped on another minivan in directions of Cameron Highlands.