Pinang

If you look it up on a map it is probably spelled "Penang." That's the English version; the Malay spelling is "Pinang." More and more the country is trying to recover its heritage and shifting spelling to Bhasa Malaysia (the traditional language.)

This was Hari Raya and we had a four day holiday so we rented a car and set out to the north. The trip took us about six or seven hours; one and a half was spent trying to find the right highway out of KL and another hour was spent getting turned around and finding the hotel in Pinang. We were warned about the traffic but the driving was OK...certainly better than a Friday run to cottage country.

In George Town the roads are very confusing. Many streets are one way (Jalan Sehala). In addition the direction of the one way can change without warning in the middle of the length and you find yourself on a side road that has no name that you can see. No road is straight so you might start off travelling east and find you are going north west and then south west. It doesn't matter because you can't get your bearings and besides the name of the street has changes four times.

Pinang is an old settlement and is showing its age. George Town is the main city on the island and was the seat of British rule. There are many colonial buildings in the city and many more abandoned buildings. The city is a little grungy. But, many of the older colonial buildings are still in use and being refurbished. We walked around the old town on Friday night and toured one of the now famous Malaysian malls. We caught a cab back and the driver was quite delightful regaling us with warnings not to trust taxi drivers. We took a trishaw ride (that's a rickshaw powered by a man on a bicycle). The driver was a great tour guide and we saw a lot of the old city. One of the most fascinating was the Chinese Jetty. It is one of about eight. They are organized according to clan and the city of origin in China. They are built out over the water and are owned in perpetuity. It is truly fascinating to tour one (and only one is open to tourists).

On Saturday we took a chance and the car and drove the entire perimeter of the island. In the highland spine of the island the roads are very narrow and winding. This causes some trepidation as the local drivers view the lanes and white lines as merely suggestions. The vistas however were truly breathtaking. We ended up in Air Hitam, a small market town attached to the Kek Lok Si temple. It makes you think of what medieval Europe might have been like with the towns that cluster around the local abbey or cathedral. The temple is a major Bhuddist shrine as well as a major tourist attraction so the people and the traffic are overwhelming. The tourist trade is alive and well inside the shrine, so you have to walk through all the hawkers to get to the religious area. A note of interest: for a fee the monks will paint your name and or message on a roof tile which is then used in the construction of another part of the temple. Quite enterprising!

On Sunday we took another tour around old town. Because this was Hari Raya weekend most tourist attractions were closed so we did not get into the fort. Afterwards we headed for Subang Jaya. On the way we noticed that the Cameron Highlands were not too far away. Only a minor detour. We left the main road and headed up. We were a little low on gas so we decided to stop at the first gas station. Unfortunately there are none. We travelled about 60 km on fumes.

The Highlands is quite an agricultural area. It is known for the tea plantations built into the mountain sides. There are also fruit and vegetable stands and pluck yourself (pick your own...not the rude version you were thinking). Because of the holiday the roads were extremely crowded. The scenery is beautiful and every turn on the mountain roads provides another great view. The roads are twisting and winding with switchbacks and hairpin turns every hundred yards. Along the way we saw a number of kampungs (camps or hick towns). These seemed to be inhabited mainly by the aboriginal population.

Once back on the main highway we felt like we were well on the way home. Due to rain, darkness and poor signage we ended up being forced off the highway and had to guess our way through KL to finally arrive home late Sunday evening.

All in all it was a great experience.