The Jungle Book: Penang, Malaysia June 30-July 4

Penang

Despite how much I enjoyed KL, I took a bus north 5 hours to the island of Penang. The first few days there I spent my time in George Town, a town of about 220,000 people which was founded in 1786 by Francis Light, a trader of the British East India Company (hence the diversity here). Part of George Town is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so my first day here I spent wondering the streets of the town. I stopped in at the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (he was considered the Rockefeller of the East); Fort Cornwallis (built when Francis Light discovered Penang); Chea Si Hock Haw Kong Kongski (one of the oldest clan temples). Penang is also known for some of the best food in Malaysia and I definitely came across it at some road side stands.

George Town is relatively small, so a day or two is definitely enough time to see what it has to offer. Therefore, my last day there I rented a motorbike for the day (about $8 for 24 hours) and drove around the entire island. It took a little bit getting used to driving through the traffic here but was definitely a lot of fun and a great way to explore the island. My tour included a stop at a Tropical Fruit Farm which had 200+ fruit trees, including avocado, cashew nut, passion fruit, rambutan, star fruit, sky fruit, green and pink guava, coconut, dragon fruit and many many more. The best part though was at the end was a fruit buffet that I took full advantage of. Continuing on my bike tour, I drove to the Penang National Park for a great 2 hour hike in the middle of the jungle. Within the first few hundred meters I saw a large snake and a bunch of monkeys (including long tail maoque and dusky leaf langur monkeys) . The wildlife was abundant and the trails empty which made for a perfect nature hike.

The next day I moved locations where I have been staying at Batu Ferringhi, a small beach town where I'm staying through the 4th.