We spent the last two days of our Malaysia trip hanging out in and around Georgetown. Georgetown is a small city located on Penang Island. It is known for its colonial architecture, hawker food stalls and laid back atmosphere. The city is gentrifying and rebuilding after a prolonged period of unemployment and abandonment following WWII (Penang island was occupied and bombed by the Japanese at the beginning of the war).
On our first full day in Georgetown we rode the mountainside funicular train up Penang Hill. At the top of the hill is a small town, British restaurant and some small Hindi and Muslim temples. The hill is former British Hill Station, which was common across the British Empire. Hill Stations were built by the British throughout Southeast Asia as a means of escaping the heat of the colonized areas. Chad visited Kalaw British Hill Station in Burma on his earlier solo trip.
After our visit to Penang Hill we headed back to the center of the Georgetown colonial district to explore some of the historic sites via foot and “beach bike.” While we were walking around the old town center we decided to go on a spontaneous scavenger hunt searching for Georgetown’s famous street art. It was a lot of fun.
A view from the street bike:
Historical District:
Street Art:
On day two (our final day in Malaysia), we headed to Tamara Negara National park. The park has a small beach aptly named “Monkey Beach.” The monkeys were really into Jack (just like everyone else) and he spent the day yelling “Go away monkeys!” The beach was very quite. It was a good break for the boys before hopping on our flight back to Bangkok.
Will Travel with Toddlers 