There are no images of Penang on this blog thingy so I've had to put one up of a water village- it has no relevance to Penang though. We stayed in Georgetown which is a world heritage sight. Lots of older travellers rave about this place but we weren't exactly overwhelmed by it, it was nice but nothing special.

On the first day there we decided to go and check out Penang Hill which was a good 45minute bus ride away. You have to then take the funicular railway to the top and the experience feels a bit like being rammed in to a sardine tin. There were 3 little carriages with 4 seats and about 25 people stuffed in each one. Thankfully the 30 minute journey immitating fish was worth it as the views from the top of the hill were amazing. There was a really colourful Hindu temple at the top too which was very cool. The temples here are generally so much brighter and more vibarant on the outside than the ones we saw in India... perhaps because of the age differences? Strawberries are also grown at the top of the hill and so we splashed out and had afternoon tea with scones in this posh place at the top of the hill. We also visited the bird sanctuary that they have there. They had some really exotic ones and also a cheeky parrot who kept on posing for the camera and doing a sort of peace sign by sticking his claws out of his cage... he kept us entertained for a while anyway!

Also in Penang is fort Cornwallis which was built by Sir Francis Light, founder of Penang when it became part of the British Colony. To be honest it wasn't very exciting but the rooms in which they told you about Sir Francis Lights' life were air conditioned and so it was worth the quid just for that! There was also a bird there which Dean had a lot of fun wolf whistling and talking to for half an hour... starting to see a theme with Penang and birds!

Near the waterfront at Penang is really pretty with lots of historic buildings but the rest of it isn't as beautiful. We stayed there for 4 nights though because we wanted to get our free thai visa and Penang was one of only 3 places with a thai consulate and we arrived on a friday... they close at weekends!!