Traveling in Malaysia. penang island
Penang (or Penang)
Having turned 180 degrees, our boat rushed at full speed towards Malaysia. The speed was so high that if the boat had wings, it would simply take off. It was not easy to break away from the heavenly Koh Lipe. You close your eyes and in front of you are the same palm trees and azure water. I decided for a change to take a walk around the open part of the ship and climbed onto the open roof. One of the staff saw my curiosity and even explained to me that it was not allowed to go there. But you can't refuse a tourist) It was very windy upstairs. At this speed, adrenaline was felt throughout the body. There were hundreds of green islands all around us. We are back in Langkawi. It was necessary to get an entry stamp again and transfer to the next ferry. Before the next ferry we had another 53 minutes. But then I remembered that Langkawi has a different time zone. And it looks like our ferry is already sailing. Tourists in line at the border checkpoint happily let us through, and even the officer in a hurry gave us entry stamps. Having run to the ticket office, it turned out that the last ferry would be an hour later. But there is one problem - the tickets are sold out. Is it possible that our route, which was ideally shaped like puzzles, will fail today. On the one hand, we understood that this is Asia, and here everything is decided in favor of tourists, on the other hand, panic really covered. What to do, something must be done urgently! Today we have absolutely nothing to do in Langkawi. The solution to the problem was not long in coming. A well-dressed man approached us and said, “Guys, don't worry, I know what you need to go to Penang. I promise you will be there today. But first, calm down. ” But the situation with the lack of tickets for the ferry and the rush during the transfer did not let go of the heart so quickly.
“Guys, I see you haven't calmed down yet. Relax, we'll take care of everything. " The boy spoke in a calm and confident voice. It really inspired confidence and peace. “After 2 hours, you take another ferry to the city of Kuala Perlis, where my bus will pick you up and take you straight to your hotel on the island of Penang. It will cost you 100 ringgit, the price for the ferry for which you did not have time was 70 ringgit. In fact, for two, we overpay 360 UAH and keep up with the route. Indeed, this is a good decision! But where do we hang out with things for two hours. “Go eat while you eat, and I’ll stand right here with your things. By the way, my brother studied medicine in Simferopol, you should definitely talk to him on the phone. ” Dasha talked on the phone with a Russian-speaking Malay) We left all our things to this pleasant stranger and went for a walk. Here the Malays are great, how everything clearly converges everywhere with them. The road, taking into account traffic jams, took about half a day. But yes, in the evening of the same day we were already in Penang. True, without a hotel, since we did not know how close we could get to Penang on this day. It was hoped to check in a day earlier at our tomorrow's hotel, but the reception was closed at night. Rather, we did get to the reception, but there was no one there. It was about 10:00 pm Dasha stayed with her things at the reception, but I went in search of a hotel. At first, the search was not the most successful. Hotels rarely came across, to the question “Do you have a free room? ” they answered me with a smile “No, sorry! ”. That is why when they show Eagle and Tails, they almost always answer “Yes! ” to this question. There were rooms in one hotel, but they were capsules. We were not yet mentally prepared for the kakpsules. Another hotel had a good room, but the price was cheaper to buy tickets and spend the night in Hong Kong. Having reached the main street, I quickly resolved the issue with the hotel. I was welcomed there for a good price. After checking in, we had dinner at a Turkish restaurant. On this day, Penang celebrated the Chinese New Year, but, unfortunately, we did not know about it. When we went to sleep, we heard that something was rumbling, but it did not look like fireworks, but that bricks were falling from the hotel. We started the morning from the temple complex Kek Lok Si. It took about an hour to get there by bus. There was a rather modest photo of this place on the Internet. But the reviews of tourists convinced us to go there. And we did the right thing. It was a temple complex of Chinese temples. The entrance is free. On the way we ate very funny sweets. It was something like semolina porridge cakes in a nut breading.
In front of the complex there is a lake with turtles, which can be fed for 2 ringgit ($0.5).
The turtles were so healthy and hungry that they would have been happier if I had fallen into them myself.
Kek Lok Si Temple Complex
The temple complex is probably the most beautiful in Asia. In any case, we have not yet seen more beautiful. It is large, literally at every step there is something interesting and unusual. Various gazebos and buildings. Lots of greenery and beautiful statues. Between the two parts runs a small lift on the rail.
A lot of elements of Chinese decor. We actually spent more than three hours on the territory of the complex. We even bought forks in the temple as a souvenir, but we had to return them, as we realized that we would not carry them on the plane. The beauties of the temples could not please the eyes. And I didn’t want to leave even after three hours of festivities.
But the temples have prepared another surprise for us. On multiple photos, we noticed that in the evening they will turn on a beautiful backlight.
So we'll be back here today. Not far from the temple was a mountain with a funicular. It took about 15 minutes to walk, but since we did not know this, we waited at the bus stop for about an hour. The queue for the funicular was overcome in the good old way “Two people! ”. At the top of the mountain there was a lot of entertainment. It was possible to go by jeeps to the boat garden, walk through the park with a small jungle, enjoy the panoramas.
We chose an alternative entertainment option. Having looked at Georgetown from the mountain, we decided to go down the paths and paths down through the real jungle. There was one snag. The descent takes an average of three hours, sunset after two. In the jungle, in no case should you be in the dark.
Therefore, in our time, the descent was not recommended by anyone. What are we after the forbidden forest in Kuala Lumpur, or that path under the bridge to Langkawi. We'll make it! In the beginning, everything was promising and fun. Dasha even rode the liana like a swing. It was beautiful and very exotic. All living creatures jumped through the trees, they even saw a blue plant and termite mounds.
But there were a large number of tracks, which could not always carry.
The most promising path had a sign showing one guy aiming a machine gun at another. For some reason the sign didn't stop us. And even the inscription "Beware of dogs! ". Then there was a clear sign "No Passage". It was at this point that we realized that everything did not go according to plan. The search for the road leading down was very long. And often had to go steeply up. When there was an hour left before sunset, at best we could manage to get upstairs. There was no time to look for the same path already. A couple of times we met groups of Chinese tourists who also seemed to be moving up, but very slowly. It was not worth moving with them, as they would obviously be swallowed up by the jungle in a couple of hours. It was already getting dark, but the edge of that jungle was still gone. Fortunately, some paths began to be illuminated by lanterns. We even found a map, which only complicated everything. But in Malaysia, all wishes come true. At one point I really wanted a regular pizza. Dasha even then said that even “It’s impossible to imagine that pizza will be sold somewhere here. ” After about 20 minutes, when my desire materialized (That's how long it takes for a food court with pizza to materialize), the jungle parted, it was the end. Rather, it was the same beginning as two hours ago. And we sit happy eating pizza, and even that group of Chinese came to the meal. Apparently the Chinese also thought of a food court in time. For dessert, we drank the local drink "Lime Syrup".
It tastes like barberry. When I was choosing a drink, the girl quickly let me know what Malay drinks are made from in their cafe. She even poured a spoonful of powdered milk into my mouth in the process of telling stories. We drank a lot of syrup. There was a long queue for the funicular to go down. Even our pass in the form of two fingers would not work here. But we didn’t have a return ticket, unlike the others, and Dasha went to find out if there was a ticket office upstairs at all.
For some reason, this question ended with the fact that we were seated out of turn on the funicular and told that we should buy a ticket at the box office near the exit. How do we pearl with queues in Malaysia. Below, the bus we needed just drove up, but the driver said that while it was at the final stop, it would be easier for us to walk to the temple on foot. On the way, we passed a large local concert, but the desire to make it to the temple was stronger. The night temple complex of Kek Lok Si was completely different at night.
As if in a day, we visited two of the most luxurious temple complexes. The total number of light bulbs clearly exceeded one million.
Literally every centimeter of this huge complex shone. It was just some kind of light show on a planetary scale. The places where we were during the day looked very different. There were probably ten times more people in the evening than during the day. As far as we figured out, the illumination in the temple was in honor of the Chinese New Year.
I don't think we'll ever be so surprised by another temple complex. In Georgetown, the capital of Penang, the Sweet Pepper Hotel from the Spicy Hotel Chain was waiting for us. Our number was called "Cubanela" - one of the types of pepper. This hotel was distinguished by its surroundings. And indeed everything was antique. True, the toilet was preparing an uprising and began to flush the water itself every 30 minutes. After I fixed the toilet, something began to buzz in the electrical interchange. After my shield was fixed, I thought the hotel wouldn't pay me back. In the morning we were waiting for the included breakfast in the “Spicy” cafe. You really had to stomp to the cafe. But the main concept! On this day, we planned a trip to the Penang National Park. Again on the bus it was necessary to drive an hour out of town. The road was along the beaches, very picturesque. We spotted a couple of stops for ourselves, which will need to be done on the way back. The reserve was a jungle park that occupied a large part of the island. There were two ways, to the beach of the monkeys and to the beach of the turtles.
After walking part of the way along the sea to the beach of the monkeys, we decided that it was too easy. Came back and changed the path deep into the jungle.
And the road was mostly up. The whole thing lasted for about two hours.
You had to really want to swim in order to overcome such routes for the sake of the beach. Again, it was very beautiful. There were even paths passing through boulders.
At the exit, a beautiful bridge and a really beautiful wild beach were waiting for us. The tablet depicted a man being attacked by jellyfish, waves and other enemies. Warning not to swim and accident statistics for the last year. But in fact, after Langkawi, and especially Koh Lipe, our swimming plan was already completed. It was nice to wander along the green, sandy and deserted beach. True, a group of four Chinese was still found. They are always there. A healthy monkey was sitting on a tree. Seeing a curious me, she began to run along the branches in my direction. To be honest, my heart skipped a beat.
But the monkey just jumped over the tree that was over my head. The front was needed. The heat on that day was at its peak. We sat down with the Chinese in the shade. And they watched the crab that was digging a mink for itself. Nearby lay the shell of a turtle egg. To the left are hefty stone boulders and jungle. It was like an anti-stress playground.
There was absolutely nowhere to hurry, so you could stick anywhere as much as you like. With horror it seemed that we had to make our way through the jungle through the mountains for another two hours.
But this is Malaysia, here everything should be decided in such a way that it is not stressful for everyone. And so it happened. The Chinese seemed to have arrived here by boat, and when the boat sailed to the shore and they all boarded it, the captain gladly accepted us for 40 ringgit ($8). Lucky they got away with it. The captain gathered more of the same tourists in different parts of the beach and took us on an excursion! On the way, he looked out for monkeys and eagles, stopping for us to take pictures. Just one of the eagles was revealingly catching a fish in the sea. When the eagle did catch the prey, everyone applauded him. Then we were shown blocks of stone that looked like different animals. Dasha even guessed the crocodile before they pointed to the stone. A great trip to the beach was a success. Around this point, we realized that we would have to buy another memory card for the camera. The 16GB card was almost full. And the issue with the map will have to be resolved today or tomorrow.
At the exit from the park, we refreshed ourselves in an Indian cafe, washed everything down with syrup and went to celebrate at the Hard Rock Hotel.
It was the greenest and sunniest of the Hard Rocks we have visited. It is a pity that there was no name of the country on branded T-shirts. And then “Hard Rock Penang” few people will understand.
The hotel had its own beach. But, to be honest, the beaches of Penang are significantly inferior to the beaches of the neighboring island. It would be more convenient to build hard rock in Langkawi.
After riding the bus a little more, we went out to see the best beach of Batu Ferringhi. In such heat, even locals and tourists were too lazy to swim. We have the hottest memories of Malaysia from this beach. The water was beautiful, but opaque. It somehow reminded me of the sea in Mariupol. Personally, my opinion about a beach holiday in Penang is that you should not waste time on it. Nevertheless, the jungle on the island is at its best. After passing a bunch of stops, we got off near the floating mosque. The mosque rests on stilts above the water.
That is, in fact, it is just above the water. There was a relaxed atmosphere in the carpeted mosque. One of the visitors snoring sweetly slept. Behind the mosque, one fisherman threw nets into the water and pulled out dozens of fish. I wanted to look at the fisherman longer, but the sun finally finished off consciousness. Even the air-conditioned bus didn't help. As a result, we got to the hotel and rested under the air conditioner. But the morning hike in the jungle was worth it. On the way to the hotel we passed McDonald's which looked more like the Houses of Parliament. Recharged in a cool room, we went to the Mall to get acquainted with the Penang McDonald's. The taste is probably the same as ours. But they sold fruit snowballs for one ringgit ($0.25). Every time we were in the mall, we went for a glass of snow. Walking along the central streets, we got to the festive festivities. Everywhere there were fabulous luminous figures, in the center of which a money tree opened and even closed its mouth.
Malay and Chinese music played and the people had fun. It happened on the territory of a college. I even awarded the Chinese guys with a dance show from Kyiv. They were delighted, as I was imbued with their Chinese songs. At this celebration, we bought a cockerel for our home and named it Kokote. Now he sits on our kitchen samovar. The highlight of this evening were romantic gatherings on the parapet. Before us was a sandy shore and a night sea. Locals and tourists probably spend every evening here. Very atmospheric place. There are many crabs roaming the sandy beach. Some, just like tourists, just walk, others dig minks for themselves. Carrying handfuls of sand from the mines in his claw. At the same time, fighting off the rest who want to look into someone else's mink. These crabs could be watched for hours. The warmth of the evening was pleasantly enveloping after the heat of the day. For the nervous system, this trip is simply paradise. The Malays are so relaxed and pleasant people. And it feels like everyone is always happy. Although they express their joy more restrained than the Thais or Sri Lankans. We were moving towards the hotel. When we passed under the bridge, the locals were already going to bed. One guy, even before going to bed, wished us good luck, and we told him good night. The guy on the positive lay down on the side and fell asleep comfortably. It’s good that the country is the first world and you don’t have to be afraid that a spinning top will come! In principle, this was the end of our program in Penang, but there was still the next half day before the plane. We decided to just wander the streets, and suddenly something interesting and come across. Very appreciated the area of Little India.
Everything around is so Indian, and thematic music is also playing. At one of the hotels we got to a musical show with two dragons.
Apparently it was a gift to my grandfather, who was sitting at the entrance in a wheelchair and watched. The show lasted about 5 minutes and ended with an explosion of a bunch of a couple of hundred firecrackers. Moreover, the bunch was next to us and somehow there was not even where to go. Nearby was an opening between two columns. Dasha was able to get through, but I was doomed. I don’t know how my grandfather endured such a chain of explosions, but it didn’t seem enough to me. So just walking down the street you can get to the dragon show. We also looked into one of the beautiful Chinese temples and went to see one of their central mosques. Dasha had nothing to cover her legs with, she remained outside, behind the courtyard. But the mosque girl insisted that I call my wife, she will now bring robes for us.
Then we had a 20-minute lecture about Islam. I deduced such a pattern - if you just wander aimlessly around Penang, then once an hour something interesting will steadily happen. As far as we knew, the typhoon that was in Malaysia and Thailand is now covering Indonesia and adjacent Singapore.
On one of the buildings there was a banner depicting a rejoicing man and woman, sheltering from the rain with a jacket. Dasha said that this is our near future))) Finally, we went to the food court to refresh ourselves with Asian dumplings. The girl put my order in a special microwave for these dumplings. I was given a flashing keychain. I went to the table when my keychain rang, which meant that the dumplings were ready and you can go pick them up. After registering a card for a free ride, we drove an Uber to the airport. The trip, of course, did not come out free, but the discount turned out to be impressive. At the airport we were accompanied by a mini concert. Ah, positive people. And now our journey into the future begins.
