I feel bad writing this post. Some of them were the same people that told us that they loved Prachuap Khiri Khan and they were right. We also loved it. First of all, I should say that I had visited George Town 17 years ago. Other than that, I remember beautiful temples, great Indian food, a friendly and ethnically-diverse population, and amazing sunsets.
But when I think of George Town I think of the beautiful Chinese shop houses that line the streets of the old town. These days many have been renovated into boutique hotels, bars and restaurants. I think the racial and cultural mix make Malaysia special and this is especially true of Penang.
In fact, I think the most interesting temples are outside the city center. Across the street from it is a Thai temple Wat Chayamangkalaram. It is the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia.
What struck me this time around is how George Town has grown compared to my visit back in I have memories of walking around the old town discovering the streets. There was a lot of charm to George Town. This time around, I felt that George Town was overwhelming. Walking around meant constantly dodging traffic. Another thing that really stuck out at me when I came to George Town in were the people.
I met incredibly friendly, honest people on that trip. I remember asking a lady at the hotel reception about hiking. Well, she had invited me for a hike and the next day we had hiked through the Botanical gardens and up Penang Hill. He had insisted. Today that would not happen I think there are very few places today where that would happen.
