It's been a long time since I wrote anything on my travels (though I did travel) and what better than writing about Georgetown- a city in the Penang state of Malaysia. A city that is known for its Street Art, Chinese Temples, Mosques, Hindu Temples, Europe like streets and delicious food.
It is wonderfully surprising to know how an entire economy is thriving on its street art - from souvenirs to bags, clothes and the cool cafes around the streets which is swarmed by tourists from all over the world.
I moved to Malaysia a month back and lucky to have visited this city so soon! Thanks to the Hari Raya holidays! We took our bus from TBS Terminal in Kuala Lumpur and were surprised to see airport like bus station. It was exciting to see various departures to Singapore, Malaysian cities and Thailand too. Our 4 hours comfortable bus ride with Untiti travels took us to Cameron Highlands where we stayed for 2 nights. I'll write about that in my next article.
Cameron Highlands to Georgetown is a 4-5 hours travel as it passes through the town of Ipoh. I was waiting for the famous Penang bridge to appear and there it was. A beautiful sight it was and I only wished to have a drone that time.
We checked into AC Hotels by Marriott (thanks to the American Express Credit Card points). I must say it is a great brand under Marriott and you can always rely on it.
As the hotel was about 10km from Georgetown, we took a direct bus from our hotel to Georgetown. One can also book Grab and it costs around 15RM.
There are many things to see but we started with the famous street arts. It is difficult to show all the arts, but let me share a few great ones!
Art clubbed with real life things like bicycle or motorbikes complements it so well that it becomes a 3D type art.
This is just a handful of pictures. Every street and at every turn you will find some beautiful art which either describes life from the past or is just a figment of imagination. Don't forget to buy fridge magnets and bags that has these paintings inscribed on them. It is really cool.
The other amazing attraction are the Jetties of Georgetown. These jetties were built by the Chinese settlers who came there decades ago. Now the jetties are not just their homes, but also a bustling street shopping area, with a cool sea view!
The best experience was yet to come to us when we visited this area again! As it was a sunny day, we wanted to spend some time inside and museum is the best place to beat the heat and also get some knowledge! That's when we stepped into ancient Chinese house turned museum - Sun Yat Sen Museum.
Despite having interest in history, we did not know about Dr. Sun Yat Sen, who was a revolutionary leader in China and is considered to be the Father of Modern China. He was the first provisional president of Republic of China and overthrew the Qing dynasty.
The caretaker of the house, where the Dr. lived briefly and held memorable moments of the revolution, made us watch the movie - Road to Dawn to understand Dr. Sen's life better. I never had this experience of watching a movie sitting inside a house where actual events happened! God, what an experience it was! And of course, respite from the heat.
All these experiences does build some appetite and if you are a vegetarian, then Little India comes to the rescue which is just 500m from the place. There are loads of Non Vegetarian options as well, in fact more. We quenched our thirst and filled our bellies by eating at authentic South Indian restaurants and North Indian - D-Sakra restaurant.
I have tried to capture Georgetown through my GoPro and will soon share many photographs of the beautiful city on Pinterest and Instragram.
So, don't you want to plan a trip soon?