Penang Georgetown Island

Penang, Penang Georgetown temple nightlife Malaysia hotel airport island, Pulau Pinang,
Penang Bridge, Malaysia, Chinese, Penang island, British Colonial Times.

-Penang Malaysia “The island of betel nuts”, or Pulau Pinang is the best known tourist destination in Malaysia.

Most of the people on Penang island are of Chinese and Indian origins which guarantees a real exotic environment. Numerous nationalities migrated to Penang Malaysia or Pulau Pinang since British Colonial Times colonization leading to a very interesting mix of culture.

In Penang the different cultures express themselves by lots of unique food with roots in India, China and the neighboring countries Thailand and Indonesia. Numerous festivals are on during the whole year. One of the most famous festival in Malaysia is Thaipusam which is very similar to the vegetarian festival in Phuket Thailand. The Phuket festival seems to be somehow a copy of  Malaysian Thaipusam and that one has its roots in India.

Penang is about two hour drive from the border to Thailand and about 4 hour drive north of Kuala Lumpur. The toll way starts a bit south of the Malaysian Thailand border and runs all the way down to Singapore via Kuala Lumpur that means Penang is easy to access.

Penang is linked to the mainland by the 13,5 km Penang Bridge, the third longest bridge in the world -picture below-. There is also a car ferry which actually offer a much smoother ride. Penang Malaysia or Pulau Pinang is also served by various airlines on domestic and international routes, plus by a railway (the railway station is at Butterworth, opposite Penang island), about 6 hours travel out of Kuala Lumpur.

Over the years Penang Malaysia or Pulau Pinang has mutated into Malaysia's main beach resort destination. Penang or the 'Pearl of the Orient" is probably the best known of all Malaysian tourist destination.

The size of  285 sqkm seems quite large but most of the island are steep hills that means the useable area is quite small have a look at the satellite map that tells more. For q quick overview have a look at our Penang map If you want to relax in an exotic environment with plenty of beaches, a partially colonial flair and a old Chinatown at Georgetown, Penang is probably the right place. Penang hotels are plenty and easily available all over the island in every price range.

Here is a panorama view from Komtar Tower, the highest building over Pulau Penang, the Harbor and Georgetown.

There are dream hotel accommodations at the beach sites and at Georgetown and discounted deals on budget hotels, but not only, certain luxury hotels in Penang offer also some price deals via online hotel bookings. A good alternative on your Penang travel is to rent a apartment, in particular at Georgetown Penang plenty are available.

Penang is not only catering to tourists, honeymooners and backpackers, the island is also actively promoted as a retirement destination. Penang is also a business destination since there are many manufacturing plants near Penang airport producing all kind of electronic goods.

-The most impressive construction in Penang Malaysia  

or Pulau Pinang is the Penang bridge. The construction of the Penang Bridge started in 1982 using

a cable-stayed  concrete girder similar to the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge.

The high-rise buildings on Pulau Penang opening up great panorama views over the Andaman Sea, the Penang Bridge and other travel spots. High rise accommodations are excellent vacation spots when you like to stay in Georgetown and do the short ride to the beaches with the taxi if you like.

Just click to one of the internet booking services to choose your Penang vacation accommodation according to your preference, hotels in Penang are plenty so you won’t have a problem to find the right for you.

Since almost every area at Penang has a good infrastructure and everything around works quite well (except taxis) good service and the easy access to communication makes a stay on Pulau Penang a pleasant one.

Penang Nightlife is on until 3 am but its not to the extend of nightlife as in neighboring Thailand, especially Phuket nightlife. Vibrant nightlife at Georgetown Penang and other places such as Batu Feringgi is the right stuff to relax after a

-Penang Tours

Penang tours are also very easy organized, I hired a very knowledgeable tour guide some time ago, he came with his car and we had a great day all around Penang for Ringits 100,- , that’s about $ 30,

Penang Rickshaw Tours at Georgetown
 

Penang Tours Fort Cornwallis Georgetown

Penang tours little India
 

-Some gigantic mosques,

like the one pictured here show the peoples faith. Actually this mosque is not in Penang Malaysia or Pulau Pinang directly its on the mainland a couple of km before the turn to the Penang Bridge. The different cultures od Penang are also visible by the styling of  houses and temples.

Plenty of mosques are around and a good amount of them are all new, there is a lot of money from the Arab peninsular flowing into Malaysia since about 30 years and this goes hand in hand with new mosques and a visible Islamization of the country. Malaysia is mainly a muslim country but until about 30 years ago it was not so much expressed in public as it is now.

-Penang Temples & Pagodas

Indian Hindu Temples, various Chinese temples, Churches the colonialists built.

Plus magnificent Buddhist temple and pagodas with Thailand or Siam and Burmese roots enrich the

Penang busy little India

Penang Shopping in little India

Indian Restaurant at Penang Georgetown

-There are great restaurants at Penang Georgetown with a incredible beautiful decoration, such as this Indian Restaurant pictured left.Its just in the center of Georgetown where all the big hotels are, the food is good but as in most Indian restaurants the portions are to small, by this trick they try to encourage to buy more  food. This is not very wise since if I have to order 5 main dishes to get somehow enough to eat its better to go to the open air Chinese food court nearby and also get great food, 3 times the size.Unfortunately all Indian restaurants try it this way to leave you hungry when you only take about 2 dishes. They don't know, this is not a hit and run business.

-Penang shopping,

you will find plenty of exotic items, like handicraft, colorful dresses for the ladies, exotic items from China and India, interesting books. One of the best shopping places is "little India", actually a visit of Penang or Pulau Pinang without a stroll through "little India" means you haven't been in Penang. Since Penang has a long history as a cosmopolitan island it’s the right place for exotic shopping, antiques from all over Asia and more are on sales in small dark shops. There are Buddha statues in different style from China, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Myanmar and elsewhere, gold plated, pure brass, bronze, carved wood and porcelain.   Shopping is a the great past time in a city such as Penang Georgetown, hunting for a great bargain a real exotic purchase. The best shopping destinations at Penang is Georgetown Chinatown with great antiques hiding behind the window.There is a great variety of other shopping malls in Penang, shopping centers and hundreds of shops at Georgetown, in addition enjoy exotic dining also around in the area. There are Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, Thailand and other restaurants around plus several food courts.Penang shopping is really exciting, the real exotic stuff is not at the Penang shopping centre and Penang shopping mall, it gets real exotic and exciting in the backstreets of Georgetown. That finally is real shopping in Penang.

Penang Shopping Antiques Penang shopping mall at Georgetown

-Or try some delicious Penang Food like this great Penang Laksa,
Laksa with Chicken and Prawn	Laksa is made from Chicken Prawn Cucumber Soya Noodles Sambal Fishcake Onion dried Anchovy
Laksa base is Soya	Pour Laksa Soup over
Spice up the Laksa	Laksa comes from Sanskrit and means 1000 add on. since no one has 1000 add on's everyone uses the ingredients available and creates his own laksa. Laksa is a typical Malaysian dish, has usually a low price and can be seen everywhere in Malaysia, almost every greater region has its own laksa variety, like Penang Laksa, Laksa Kedah, Johor Laksa, Melaka Nonya Laksa, Curry Laksa and so on.

Street food Food in Georgetown Penang