I am now in Georgetown, on the island of Penang in Malaysia.
I spent Friday night in Bangkok after travelling by minibus from Kanchanaburi. Given that my backpack is bigger than the average Thai (I must really learn to travel lighter), I had to pay for 2 seats. Still, at £4.50 for both I can't complain!
I took the opportunity to do something highly cultural and went to see Spiderman in 3D at the cinema, with a bucket of sweet and salty popcorn and Air Con. A certainly more engaging Spiderman than the previous one, and probably closer to the original Comics. Entertaining but not formidable.
The next morning to wash some of the guilt away I headed to a couple of galleries in Silom area. H gallery had a photo exhibition called Obscene by Thai's most famous photographer (so I was told) Manit Sriwanichpoom. A mix of photos of wooden fertility symbols (we call them penises), and of half naked women portraying revolution symbols (we call them communists). The next gallery, Kathmandu, is both a book shop and a gallery with a small photo exhibition on Bangkok viewed "from a different angle". I did see other work of Manit Sriwanichpoom there, more accessible to commoners like me.
I had decided to travel to Penang by train and left Hua Lamphong station on Sat at 14.45 in a 2nd class berth. The journey took 22h. Carriages hold around 30 berths. Double seats face each other which at night are converted into 2 berths with curtains for privacy. I recommend lower ones as they are wider (2 seats wide!). Overall really pleasant. Food can be ordered from your seat or in the restaurant carriage. Which seemed to hold a karaoke in the evening for the staff, thankfully my carriage was quite a way from it. The only downside is that after crossing the border in the morning, there is no longer a restaurant carriage, and I was very hungry by the time i arrived in Butterworth.
The border is easy to cross, just getting off the train with all luggage, and getting back on. I was fined 500THB (£10) as I left the country 1 day late, which I was expecting.
Penang and its main city Georgetown is a former British colony vital in the trade of spices, tea, coffee and other South East Asian commodities. The architecture reflects this, with the historical centre being Unesco protected. Historically different communities have thrived here, mainly Malays, Indian and Chinese. All are still there, and you will find within 2 minutes of each other a Hindu temple, a mosque, a cathedral and a Chinese Clan temple. Living in harmony as far as I can tell!
Most of the sights are former colonial buildings or religious ones. Of importance, the Blue Mansion, or Cheong Fatt Tze mansion is a beautifully restored former home of a Chinese tycoon. It served as a location for the French movie Indochine with Catherine Deneuve (very good movie by the way, won best Foreign movie Oscar).
Another house worth visiting is The Pinang Peranakan Mansion which is also a stunning former house of a Straits Chinese, who were called so as they were loyal to the British colons and adopted some of their influences.
The Penang State Museum offers a good retrospective of the history of Penang, as well as its different communities (on top of the ones mentioned above: jewish, Armenian, etc. Must have been something in early 20th C!).
Finally a lot of buildings and of Penang's history is related to Dr Sun Yat-Sen, the revolutionary leader commonly referred to as the Founding Father of Republican China, who launched a few protests from here. Many Chinese from Penang supported him and devoted their life and wealth in supporting his cause.
The beauty of Penang however lies in its streets and food. From Little India to Chinatown via Malaysia, many food stalls (hawkers) and restaurants offer fresh, cheap, diverse and succulent food. Laura please put me back on a diet when I come back on Friday!
I leave tomorrow for Kuala Lumpur, again by train.