With its fascinating heritage and great cuisine Penang is located off the northwest coast of Malaysia.
Thanks to many original colonial “Chinese Style” shop-houses,
Georgetown, its capital, was in 2008 listed by Unesco as a World Heritage Site.
It’s in one of those nice shop-houses that we are currently sitting with 3 dogs and 6 cats until 31 of Oct .
With its rich melting pot of Malay, Chinese , Indian and European cultures
Penang is known to be a Street Food Paradise
Tourists often coming here to visit the island by “food” :
Such as special local Char koay teow, Wan tan mee, or laksa to name only a few
and with so many available forms of transportation, the island can be easily traveled N-S ; E-W
How to get around Penang Island:
• Buses
They will take you close to any of the main Penang Attractions.
If it’s the cheapest way to commute it’s also the less reliable.
• Taxis
Cabs can be found near every tourist area on the island yet holding a not so good service reputation
Taxi drivers do not use meters and can charge most of the time several times more than the normal fee course .
Yet we found couple of times that prices were listed at Taxi stations so no need to haggle much.
• Private Taxis
We used one from Airport; sent to us by our Pet owners .
reliable and reasonably cheap … 30 RYM / Hour. Best for group & family.
• Scooters
Those small 125cc bikes are always my best choice.
They can’t be beaten when it comes to efficiency / price / beat the traffic.
Thus how and where to rent one :
– Shopping around Chulia Street , a very popular area among budget travelers .
we found Mr Lea in front of his Red Inn, located at “valve.foal.stubbed”
( use –What3Words– my favorite app to find the exact location if interested )
renting Bikes at RYM 30 for 24 h with RYM 100 deposit .
When I asked him if he wanted to see or needed a copy of my driving/riding license
He just laughed and said :
“No! that’s not my problem, it’s Yours! if police checks, you are in trouble not me !”
No insurance provided of course .
I asked for deposit receipt which he wrote on a napkin …
We found out that it was not necessary as upon return no question was asked , no receipt shown , got RYM 100 back .
How does he find his way around if bike is stolen or damaged , I’m not sure .. and have no desire finding out !
Warning : Penang has a bike parking system with designated parking slots and Areas , just like cars . Better park there or get fined !
• Bicycles :
Can be found all around Armenian street and are apparently very popular .
There is a cycling course to visit all the highlights around.
I have no price here to post as all depend on type of Bicycle, Tricycle or Carts of 4 /6 persons
• TriShaw :
We indulged ourselves with a TriShaw tour.
Our true desire was taking a Special Souvenir Picture
Here since Sept 4, we already knew all the surrounding and main places to go
yet we started talking to that Indian Guide who “hypnotized” us.
We ending up taking his tour : RYM 30 for an Hour !
Last but not least .. if you happen to be in Penang by last week end of September
• Go round the island on … FOOT …
– Enjoy the local event and RUN Around The Island .
85.5 km to be precise during Penang Ultra which will start Saturday 26 . 2015 at 9 pm.
(NB: Yes, that’s Tomorrow)
Not everybody cup of “teh tarik” (famous local hot milk tea) of course but …
wife, road marathoner wanted to give it a try for her first ultra .
She, for the event, managed to be gear sponsorship by Kathmandu, an Australian outdoor company
and for that memorable occasion; we will be Fund Raising through Wide Open Vistas,
founded in 2011 as a non-profit organization to support equal of access to education,
with three priority areas: migrant families; girls; and secondary education.
If you wish to help WOV as much as we do,
Please click on this campaign LINK
and donate as little as US$ 10.
– US$ 10 is all we need to cover ONE MONTH School’s tuition for one orphan!
Thanks for reading , THANKS FOR HELPING !