Globe-trotting Adventures and Mouth-watering Eats: A Stroll Through Georgetown

Because we only had one day in Penang, I wanted to make the best of our time. I had three things I most definitely wanted to do in Georgetown, and those were: 1) see Kek Lok Si Temple, 2) see Masjid Kapitan Keling, and 3) have roti canai. We ended up doing two of these things. (See roti canai on the next post.)

After lunch at Ho Ping Cafe, we decided to go find Kek Lok Si Temple, apparently the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia. C'mon, who would not want to see this?

With a colorfully detailed map of Georgetown in our grasp, we were excited to go find it. Unfortunately many of the streets were not labeled. What good is a map when you don't know what street you're on? Hmm ... this challenge reminded me of our getting lost on the streets of San Jose, Costa Rica in 2010. Not so much fun when you're trying to get somewhere. We stopped and asked many locals along the way, some of whom asked other locals, and ALL of them gave us conflicting advice, in Malay of course. The following is the English translation:

"Oh yes, just keep going straight. Straight and straight and straight until you get to ______, turn left, go up three blocks, then turn left on _______ and there it is. But just keep going straight and straight and straight."

"No, no, you can't walk there. Too far. You must take taxi."

"Yes, you walk there. Just go straight and straight and straight until you get to _______, turn right, go down two blocks, then turn right on _______, and there it is. But just keep straight and straight and straight."

"No! Impossible to walk. Take taxi. I tell you take taxi!"

Seriously?? Do these people really live here? Why did this have to be so confusing? It was right there on the map. It looked like a reasonable distance, yet here we were walking in circles. Perhaps it was all a matter of opinion. What may be close to some people may be far for others? We finally gave it up and decided to look for Masjid Kapitan Keling, the largest historic mosque in Georgetown. It took us awhile to find it, but with perseverance we found it. It was worth the exercise.

We didn't go in, but ran into a couple from Amsterdam who asked if tourists could enter. Yes, but you'll have to cover up with robes they have available. Some places loan it for free; others ask for a small fee.

We then found ourselves in Little India ...

Sri Mahamariamman Temple, the oldest Hindu temple in Penang

The interior of Sri Mahamariamman Temple

Penang's "tuk tuk"

A food festival!

Mmm ... samosas!

A cute, little girl

And took up rest at a pretty spot known as the Esplanade, a patch of green in the northern corner of the island. Had we more time, I would have loved to do a walking tour of the area. At least we got to see the Town Hall, City Hall, and the water.