PENANG – THE BEAUTY OF STREET ART

HEADING TO PENANG

After six great days in Langkawi, we were on our way to Penang. A city which is based both inland and on an island off the West coast of Malaysia.

We were staying on the island of Penang in the Georgetown area and took a ferry from Langkawi to get there.

The cost of the ferry was 70RM per person (approx. £13) and took around 2.5 hours to get to Penang.

We’d heard terrible reviews about the ferry ride and were somewhat apprehensive about the journey.

I have no idea what all the fuss was about though. The ride was smooth and easy. Don’t believe the hype.

ARRIVAL IN PENANG

We arrived in Penang by mid-afternoon and walked to our hotel – the Ropewalk Guest House, stopping for a spot of lunch on the way.

The Ropewalk was great. A beautiful heritage building, based in the centre of Georgetown. I loved our two nights there and would recommend it highly.

STREET ART

On our first evening in Penang, we took a walk around Georgetown, to get a feel for the place.

Georgetown has a beautiful feel to it. Not overly touristy. Vibrant. A real mix of cultures. And most memorably, an incredible amount of beautiful street art.

The street art explosion, is a relatively recent thing, for Georgetown. Apparently this was started by Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic who, as part of the George Town Festival of Arts and Culture in 2012, created a series of 6 wall paintings depicting local culture, inhabitants and lifestyles.

Since then, other artists have added their own to the buildings in Georgetown.

It was like a treasure hunt, stumbling across these randomly as we walked around.

Here’s a few snaps of some of my favourites:

In addition to the street art murals shown above, there are also a number of iron caricature sculptures scattered throughout the city, detailing life in Georgetown.

Again, this was quite a treasure hunt to try and find them. Here’s a few examples:

MORE OF THE TOWN

There was more to see than just the street art in this town, although for me, that is probably the most memorable part.

Wandering the streets generally, revealed some great sights and I was constantly reaching for my camera to try and document the beauty and diversity of this city.

There so much to see in Georgetown – the street art, the architecture, the feel of Chinatown, the food and cultural diversity of Little India (which I highly recommend you check out). You could walk around Georgetown for days and still feel like you’re missing some hidden gems tucked away in little side streets.

Here’s a few pics from general wandering around the town.

Being a mainly Muslim country there are many grand mosques to see in the towns and cities of Malaysia and they shouldn’t be missed. They really are quite a sight!

PENANG SNAKE TEMPLE

Around 10 miles from Georgetown is the Snake Temple of Penang, which is apparently one of the places to see when you’re here.

So we went.

But, it wasn’t great, to be honest.

On arrival, I was given the hard sell of holding some snakes, so that the guys who worked there could take a photo and charge me for the privilege. They even put one on my head. I look an idiot.

After this ordeal we headed through to the area where snakes were on display. Most of them seemed fairly subdued, except the King Cobras who did seem very lively.

Here’s a few shots of the snakes:

There was also this huge golden python which you could touch. Apparently, stroking it from head to tail will bring you wealth and good fortune.

I gave it a good old stroke. Waiting for my riches now.

The temple itself wasn’t really anything special.

It seemed to me that it might have been really quite something a long time ago, but now has only been retained as a tourist trap.

It’s surrounded by construction sites, so the commercialisation of Penang has not done it any favours.

Inside the temple were some snakes sat on top of what looked like hat stands.

They could have been dead. Who knows. Certainly heavily subdued!

Worth a look around if you’re nearby, but I wouldn’t go out of your way to visit the temple. There’s much more to see around Georgetown, which is more worth your time, to be honest.

Unless, of course, touching the python does bring me incredible fortune. I’ll keep you posted on that.

LEAVING PENANG

After two days in Penang we were off on the road again.

We had limited time in Malaysia and a few spots that we wanted to hit, but wouldn’t have time for them all.

Sounds like a dice roll to me.

Read on for the next instalment to see where the dice would lead us….