Penang, Malaysia

We had a private tour again which started a bit rough. We went to our first stop which wasn't on our itinerary. We had gotten on another person's bus so back we went to the pier. We all got off then they told us to get back on and we took off again. That was odd. We later found out that the other group had kept our larger vehicle with our English speaking guide. Our driver barely spoke English so it was a silent ride to each spot. 

We first went to see a huge reclining Buddha. They do love their buddha's in these countries and we will see one after another. Some in large cities, some in the middle of no where in the countryside. Why they have so many and why in various spots is a mystery.  I do know that they want visitors to see them all. We had to remove our shoes to enter the building. There was a large sign posted outside, "Beware of Shoe Theives". 

The driver had a sheet with all the tourist hot spots listed on it. We tried to ask to see the places that sounded interesting. Penang Hill would be nice but he said it was an hour's drive so we said to skip it. Next thing we know we are stuck in traffic on the way to Penang Hill! Once we get there we decide there is too long a line so we just turn around and leave. That was a lot of wasted time. 

We went up a narrow, winding drive to the top of the Temple of 1000 Buddah's. There was a large Quan Yen statute at the top. You could buy prayer ribbons as offerings. Some of them had Disney characters on them, including Tinker Bell. That was interesting. There was a great view of the polluted city below us. I think we missed something by driving and not walking up. We have heard others rave about the place. It was interesting and pretty but not that great! Around the parking lot were small marble statues about 18" high. They included very bad images of Mickey and Donald. 

From there we drove way out into the country to a batik factory. Had we known it was so far we probably would have opted out of it. They had beautiful things in the store. The factory out back was empty, it was lunch time. We headed back into town. We tried to communicate with our driver. At one point we asked the population of Penang. He said 80%. We saw a lot of cemeteries along the way. We decided that the other 20% was there. 

I had suggested to see a mansion that was on the list of sights. There we had an English guide and actually learned about the place. It was build in the late 1800's by a wealthy chinese man. We got a glimpse into what life might have been like back then. The house was beautiful, built around a courtyard. There was a temple next door, built to honor his ancestors. Behind the house was a museum which housed a lot of personal items, especially gold. There was a LOT of gold. They even had a dozen or so gold toothpicks! It was a good end to our unusual day. We were back onboard by 4.