m8888888's Reviews

Yay for Penang

Penang wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but I had a nice time there! I thought I would be lounging on the beach a lot, and I didn’t end up doing it once. I’m not sure if it was temporary, but the ocean water didn’t look very nice anywhere in Penang (rather brown & sludgey), and the beaches and oceans were almost completely empty. But there was a lot to do anyhow! There are lots of temples (Chinese, Burmese, Thai, Buddhist, Hindu, and probably more I’m forgetting!) that are absolutely beautiful and fascinating to go see. There is a lot of rainforest on the island, which was beautiful to drive through, and I’m sure would be great to hike through (if you aren’t afraid of insects & snakes like my boyfriend!). There is also a wildlife park, a butterfly farm, a tropical fruit farm, a spice garden, a town museum, as well as numerous markets and malls. There is a Chinatown and Little India, which can be fun to walk around in. Georgetown is quite nice in some parts, and pretty run-down in others. The northern part of the Island has a lot of big hotels and is more touristy. We didn’t see many other foreigners walking around in downtown Georgetown, though.

There were heaps of small restaurants everywhere, mostly Indian and Chinese, that were DELICIOUS, and super cheap. Definitely go for these instead of the bigger restaurants at least some of the time! Penang is known for the food, and it was great!!

The public transportation wasn’t very good- it was quite cheap, but not that easy to figure out, and the buses were very old. Taxis were plentiful and fairly cheap, though. Penang is also close to other islands that you can take day trips to, and a bridge connects it to the mainland.

It was a bit more expensive than Thailand, but still reasonably inexpensive. The people were quite friendly and helpful, too, and people were always smiling at me. Almost everyone spoke English, so it was quite easy to get around.

Reviewed on: February 05, 2007