Getting Around Georgetown

Yesterday morning the train stopped at 7am at the Butterworth station. It was a hazy warm sort of morning and we were a bit hazy too. We had had a good nights sleep but we owed a bit back to our bodies yet. We found our way off the station and onto a ferry across the water to Penang Island. There is a 13.5km bridge but the ferry is a much nicer option. It only takes 15 minutes. We watched a red sun rise as we docked. In NZ volcanic ash causes red sun. I think it is normal over here. We dodged the taxi drivers and headed off on foot for Chinatown and the recommended guest houses. I was map reading and prone to my usual overestimation of the scale of the map. We overshot a couple of turns but it was a lovely morning and there were interesting sights everywhere.  Eventually we found Lebuh Chulia. The first guest house we tried was full but the second one had a room. With air conditioning. Which these days means a heat pump. Which is great because they are about a hundred times quieter than the air cons of old.

We settled in and cooled down and did a bit of washing of things that needed washing. And had a late breakfast up the road. In the afternoon we set off to find a free shuttle bus which we would have found if my inate sense of direction hadn’t stuffed up again. Eventually we found the shopping complex we were looking for. It was huge, with many levels and multiple interlinked locations. We struggled to find our way around it but did get the power plug conversion thingy we needed to charge our appliances.

Using the shuttle bus we headed back towards the water and walked a bit around some of the historical parts of Georgetown. Like Fort Cornwallis – built in 1789 or thereabouts. It was hot in the sun and easy to see why so many people were lying down under trees. We took the bus back. Back around one and a half times to be precise as my map-reading took another hit. Maybe I need to recalibrate my inate sense of direction for the change in hemisphere.

We slept for a couple of hours and went out in search of tea. It’s great not having to do the dishes. It’ll take a bit of getting used to the food but we’ll stick with it. It’s tough but someone’s go to do it.

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One Response to Getting Around Georgetown

  1. Julia Davies says:

    Heck – give WYn the map!!!!

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