Penang hill, Georgetown ..

For 30th June 2009

Today was more of a relaxing day. We knew we wanted to goto Penang hill, and we also knew that transport to Penang hill was very cheap, frequant and ran until 8pm at night.
We got up and went down for breakfast around 10:25 and spent most of the morning by the pool and at the beach.

We are lucky that our hotel has its own beach, as it is very quiet and its easier to relax in without being pestered by "Discount for you my special friend" sellers. Also, there were 6 empty deck chairs and a hotel host awaiting us for us to lie down and watch the waves it the shore and the spectacular view of mainland Malaysia/Thailand.

After the beach, we went for a swim in the hotel pool. Played our own version of water polo, and met an older Australian couple who gave us some great advice for places to visit when we get to Krabi later on. They were from Sydney and it was nice to recieve some advice for which beaches to visit when we fly to Australia towards the end of July.

Later on, around 4ish we got a taxi to the bottom of Penang hill, it was a 35 minute taxi ride and cost 30 ringett (5.50 GBP).
We got the cable train up the 60 degree angled slope to the top of Penang hill. Penang hill's transportation infrastructure was built by the british navy in 1922 when they wanted a cooler place to sleep at night. It was very high, a great spot to take some pictures of Penang from a height and interesting to see some of Penang hills features.

It was fun and definately worth a visit. After this, we got a bus into Georgetown (Capital of Penang). The bus cost around 20p each and took 30 minutes. (A little cheaper than Stagecoach). When we got to Georgetown we walked up the restaurant street and found a nice hotel restaurant offering a 5 course meal for 6 pounds. We decided to go for it, as at those prices, its very hard to say no!

I had Prawns and Muscles which was a first, a beautiful dish of Lamb, Asparagus soup, Coffee and a Desert. (Not bad for 6 quid). Felt a bit under-dressed in our shorts though as we were on our way back from Penang Hill.

Ben and Jamie both had the fish starter too, Ben had chicken for his mains and Jamie had Fish. Both giving a top rating for a fantastically cheap/posh meal. Roll on... more cheap feasts!

Before we headed to Penang hill, we booked an activity to do for tomorrow. It consists of going out in a fishing boat, catching fish then going to a Monkey island and having a barbeque (probably having the fish available to eat :) (My new found food).
If there is one thing I have found, its that if your fussy before you come here, you will be unfussy when you leave as I am now a chicken lover and have also tried some fish in my diet too. Two types of food I would have previously left untouched that are the main options of most food menu's

.We are looking forward to tomorrows fishing trip/ visit to the island. It will require lots of suncream as I am imaging that there will be little shade available. I'm sure we'l manage, and have another great day out. There is lots to do here, for very little cost. Which has meant we have been able to get the balance right between relaxing in the pool/beach and going out to visit places and do activites whilst also planning the travel/hotels for our next location.

Today I also booked our flights to Phuket and Ben found a great hotel on an island just off the coast of Penang on Palau Jerejak where we will spend our final night in penang before heading to Phuket on Friday. The hotel is around 13 pounds per night, and is a chalet which we are hoping will also be another great/cheap hotel to stay at.

Our hotel for Phuket is also booked, and we are staying in Phuket this Friday/Saturday night before making a move to Krabi on Sunday.

Be blogging again soon!