48 hours in Penang

Having spent ten days loafing on the beaches of Thailand, it was time to move on to Malaysia ... I’m going to be something of a Littlest Hobo for the next couple of weeks, not staying in one place for more than three nights until I hit New Zealand

As with any arrival or departure from Koh Lipe, it was a ferry first to Langkawi (1.5 hrs - £22/$28) then a second from Langkawi to Penang (3 hrs - £12/$15) to arrive in the late afternoon

It’s not my first time in Penang, and my main purpose in coming back was to revisit what is far and away the best hotel I’ve ever stayed in: Cheong Fatt Tze’s Blue Mansion

I wasn’t 100% sure this was the best idea, as I went there with my (now ex-) wife, and given how things ended, might have been a mistake - but thankfully it was even better than I remembered, and was too busy enjoying the lavish luxury to develop the doldrums. Plus I’d like to come back in future, hopefully with someone else, so this stay served as something of a palate cleanser by reclaiming it for myself

It’s good enough to warrant its own review post though, so I’ll mainly make this about the rest of Penang, or more specifically, Georgetown

Rather more expensive than the rest of the places I’ve stayed out here though, so the first night was a bargain basement while explored the city

In 2008 the entirety of Georgetown was made a UNESCO World Heritage site, to prevent the historic city center from demolition and redevelopment. As a result it remains largely untouched, with narrow streets, packed with buildings that are in the main marvellously delapidated or in the case of a few like the Blue Mansion, painstakingly restored to original glory

There are beautiful temples scattered all over (Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim)

The city is known for its street art, so I had a fun (if sweaty!) time hunting down as many as I could

And the food... as well as the hawker stalls abounding, there are food courts (I recommend the Red Garden Paradise) and street food markets (I’m reliably informed that Gurney Street and Macallum Street Markets are worth a visit)

In wider Penang, I’ve similarly had the Penang National Park recommended, but as I’ll be tackling some national parks in Borneo, I opted to visit the Entopia Butterfly Farm, roughly a half an hour can drive from Georgetown

It’s a huge enclosure filled with tropical plants, trees both real and artificial, a collection of lizards and iguanas

But the real stars of the show are the up to 15,000 free-flying butterflies of 60 species

They’re pretty friendly little creatures too!

After that it was time to check in to the Blue Mansion, where I pretty much stayed put for the rest of my time in Penang, revelling in the high life, before hopping on a flight to Borneo

Next stop: Kuching, the city of cats

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