I’m up in time for breakfast in the sleepy dining area of the hotel, and I try to get myself a coffee when this annoying hotel worker snapped at me “just sit” and I skulked off back to my seat whilst he made me a coffee, making a point of slamming the cup that I was going to use back in the rack.He was a turd.
Anyway, breakfast over, I check the guidebook to what to do today, and realising that I can’t see everything, I decide on the Butterfly Farm, Kek Lok Si Temple and, if time, the Botanical Gardens and Penang Hill.
I grab a cab from the hotel and he asks me what my plans are for the day and suggests that I hire him for the day, at 35RM per hour. The receptionists in the hotel suggested that this was probably the most economical way of getting round the island, rather than taking individual cabs, so I go along with the idea and hire Hazlam as my driver for the day! First stop, the Butterfly Farm. He takes me along the coastal road, pointing out the sites along the way and stops briefly for me to take a look at the Wat Chayamangkalaram temple (a Thai one) with a huge Buddha inside.
From there, we head toward the Batu Ferringhi and onto the butterfly place. He does make a suggestion that we stop at the Spice Garden on the way, as it was worth seeing, and I spend a good hour wandering about the spice garden before rejoining my host. He had said it would take about 30 minutes, but he must have gone round on a motorbike.
The Butterfly Farm was cool, a bit like the one in the Lake Gardens, but a lot, hmm, livelier: last time I went to the one in the Lake Gardens, they were mostly lying on the floor dead, as I'd probably left it pretty much too late in the day. That, or they'd gorged themselves to death on pineapple.
We moved from there to the Botanical Gardens, which were pleasant enough, but not completely amazing: the best parts were the monkeys that came up to you trying to take stuff out of your hands. I was really lazy (well, I had been walking most of the weekend) and got on the train that took you round the Gardens, like an old lady, and kept looking the other way when people passed us walking, trying not to look into their eyes. Oh the shame...
From there we headed to the Kek Lok Si Temple, which was amazing: it was like a magic kingdom in the hills, with all these turrets, Chinese temples, brightly coloured and highly decorated pagodas poking their way through the treetops, all looked down upon by what has to be the biggest Buddha I have ever seen! I wander about the place for hours (whilst Hazlam waits for me...) and visit most of the temples there, admiring the Buddhas and other representations, making sure that I took my shoes off before entering these places of worship (though I must say that with the numbers of people walking throughout the place, I would have preferred to keep my shoes on).
I climb the Ban Po Pagoda, which has about 220 steps, with each floor a resting place for a different Buddha, and offers great views over the Temple Fairyland, plus out towards George Town. Just when I thought there was no more to explore, I see this sign pointing the way to the 'big Buddha via electric lif". The directions take you through a maze of a very tacky souvenir shop (I buy chopsticks) and take the electric lif up to the top of the temple area. It's an amazing site (alas my camera ran out of batteries, so I don't have any good photos).
Up here there is a restoration stall selling roof tiles that are going to be used to repair some of the temple roofs, and that you can pay to have your name written on for 30RM. I thought that’d be nice and buy myself a tile. I did notice that the pen that they use was a white board marker, so my name will appear of the temple roof for all of about a week, until the monsoon rains gradually wash it away. Oh well, it was only £6.
Talking of rain, it started to bucket down and this was my queue to leave this place and make my way back to the airport and home again. There is so much I didn't get a chance to see, and lots of things I want to come back and spend more time doing, so I'm sure will be back before long.
From there, we head toward the Batu Ferringhi and onto the butterfly place. He does make a suggestion that we stop at the Spice Garden on the way, as it was worth seeing, and I spend a good hour wandering about the spice garden before rejoining my host. He had said it would take about 30 minutes, but he must have gone round on a motorbike.
The Butterfly Farm was cool, a bit like the one in the Lake Gardens, but a lot, hmm, livelier: last time I went to the one in the Lake Gardens, they were mostly lying on the floor dead, as I'd probably left it pretty much too late in the day. That, or they'd gorged themselves to death on pineapple.
From there we headed to the Kek Lok Si Temple, which was amazing: it was like a magic kingdom in the hills, with all these turrets, Chinese temples, brightly coloured and highly decorated pagodas poking their way through the treetops, all looked down upon by what has to be the biggest Buddha I have ever seen! I wander about the place for hours (whilst Hazlam waits for me...) and visit most of the temples there, admiring the Buddhas and other representations, making sure that I took my shoes off before entering these places of worship (though I must say that with the numbers of people walking throughout the place, I would have preferred to keep my shoes on).I climb the Ban Po Pagoda, which has about 220 steps, with each floor a resting place for a different Buddha, and offers great views over the Temple Fairyland, plus out towards George Town. Just when I thought there was no more to explore, I see this sign pointing the way to the 'big Buddha via electric lif". The directions take you through a maze of a very tacky souvenir shop (I buy chopsticks) and take the electric lif up to the top of the temple area. It's an amazing site (alas my camera ran out of batteries, so I don't have any good photos).
Up here there is a restoration stall selling roof tiles that are going to be used to repair some of the temple roofs, and that you can pay to have your name written on for 30RM. I thought that’d be nice and buy myself a tile. I did notice that the pen that they use was a white board marker, so my name will appear of the temple roof for all of about a week, until the monsoon rains gradually wash it away. Oh well, it was only £6.
Talking of rain, it started to bucket down and this was my queue to leave this place and make my way back to the airport and home again. There is so much I didn't get a chance to see, and lots of things I want to come back and spend more time doing, so I'm sure will be back before long.
No comments:
Post a Comment