Land circumnavigation of Pulau Penang 17/11 and arrival Langkawi

We decided that the best way to see the island was by car while we still had it. We set off from Georgetown in an anti-clockwise direction and initially had a very scenic drive along the coast. Then we came to Batu Ferringhi where we bought some fruit and walked about. A very pretty and upmarket sort of place. In fact that seemed to sum up our entire stay on Penang; it seemed to have a more prosperous air than many other places but that's not to say that that others weren't attractive as well. Our whole impression of Malaysia was of general prosperity and an air of purposefulness. The roads were better than NZ's and housing variable but we saw some mansions as well as very modest dwellings, but no slums and no beggars as you see in India.

At times on Penang the road was very windy passing through some rugged country. We stopped and did the tourist thing with buying clothes for the grandchildren and also visited a butterfly farm. The had all manner of butterflies, insects and reptiles and snakes. The camouflage of the insects was amazing - like our stick insects only much more so. Then what looked like a collection of dead leaves was in fact a heap of frogs! Nature is truly amazing.

We came across some road reconstruction near the southern end of the island and it is going to be an amazing road. Just like Switzerland where in places the road is built on piers around cliff faces.

After a fascinating day we returned to Georgetown and then went for a walk and found a great Indian restaurant for a memorable dinner. All in all a day not to be forgotten and we hope that we can return in the very near future to experience Pulau Penang again.

18/11

Today we spent exploring old Georgetown. First we arranged to return the car 3 days early as we weren't going to have any further use for it. Then walking in the blistering sun. Soon decided to return to the hotel for our umbrellas and then, feeling like the British Raj we sallied forth once more. The umbrellas made all the difference and must have lowered the tempaerature underneath by at least 5 degrees. We decided to be really touristy so took a rickshaw ride to the ferry terminal to get acquainted with where the Langkawi ferry would leave from in the morning. Bought a small magnetised pewter chess set for the boat from a great shop not far from the hotel. They have a great sales technique - you see something for (say) 700 Ringitts (NZD 300) and you think (and say) "that's too dear". The shop owner then offers you a 66% discount and of course the tendency then is to think - what  a bargain!! In fact the "discount" should probably be more like 80% but you buy it anyway. Never mind, we were pleased with the chess set and it will while away many a long night on the boat swinging around an anchor somewhere.

Tonight we were lured into a definite tourist area to try one of the restaurants but should have known better. Very mediocre meal indeed. Stay with the locals should always be the maxim.

19/11

Up early. Breakfast at 0630 and left some of our luggage with the hotel where we were returning after Langkawi. Then taxi to the ferry terminal and eventually onto the ferry. These are about 80-100', twin-engined and do about 20 knots. They carry just over 200 passengers. They are airconditioned inside but do have a limited amount of deck space aft where one can actully see the scenery provided the exhaust noise doesn't deafen you! We were travelling light but the amount of luggage most other people had was mind boggling. There were all sorts from a couple of Dutch girls backpacking on their OE to an Iranian couple on holiday, a Malay/Indian couple on their honeymoon who insisted on having their photo taken with us and an obviously Moslem family with the mother in a full black Burqa and face covered. Apparently this is only worn if the husband insists on it - bit hard for us to accept in our society. But they were laughing and joking and  she seemed quite happy.  In fact in Malaysia this was quite rare although there were many women wearing headscarves which in most cases actually seemed to be fashion statements being quite elaborate with diamante decoration, etc. One wonders whether there is much religious significance, especially among the younger women.

After 3 hours across a very calm almost windless sea we arrived at Kuah Town on Langkawi Is. On the way over we had noticed several formations of long sticks floating vertically in tthe water in a circular pattern which must have been supporting a system of nets - all very well but definitely something to be looking out for at night when we are here on "Tiare". Approaching Langkawi reminded us very much of the Bay of Islands with many offshore islands and tantalising looking anchorages and beaches.

Langkawi is about the same size as Great Barrier but has a population of 70,000. We eventually managed to get a taxi. They have a peculiar system where you have to go to an office which allocates the taxi instead of just going to the head of the queue. Still, it was only 10 Ringitts to the hotel which proved to be another good internet find. It was the Citin Hotel - recently refurbished, very comfortable and room rate approx. NZD45! Many costs in Malaysia are so cheap by our standards. We checked in and then walked along the road in search of somewhere to eat as we were famished - there's no food on the ferries!

Then a siesta in our air conditioned room revived the flagging spirits. A couple of whiskies from our duty free stash improved things even more and then a taxi to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club. We found the bar with no trouble (!) and gratefully availed ourselves of their happy hour with drinks unbelievably cheap. The bar sits on stilts over the beach and water and overlooks the marina with breath taking views to the west and the setting sun.It will be a great place to be on Tiare Taporo III. We met some of the locals - a Swedish guy living on his yacht and an Australian lady who ran a yacht brokerage among others. Then had dinner in the restaurant area also overlooking the marina. Copious quantities of very good Australian red wine!! Should point out at this stage that Langkawi is duty free to anyone - locals living there and visitors alike so alcohol prices are low. Probably not a good thing if one is addicted to red wine!!!