Scott & Kerry's Southeast Asia Adventure: Penang

Penang is a small island just off the northwest corner of Malaysia. It was used for a center of trade by the British so it has much more of a city feel than an island feel, with very few small beaches. The downtown area is a UNESCO historical site - the colonial/malay blend of architecture is apparent and some larger buildings and gorgeous but a lot of the smaller merchant streets need some renovations as parts are literally crumbling. In typical Malaysia fashion, it had a Little India and a Chinese zone and has influences from close neighbor Thailand so its is known around Asia for its amazing food. Which we can attest to! They had these establishment, we'll say, where there were several food vendors under one "roof" (tarp) - sort of like an outdoor food court. Each vendor had a different flavor: curry, Indian, lebanese, pizza, naan, Chinese, Thai, BBQ, soups, dumplings, etc. all were smaller dishes and super cheap. So we walked around and order a little from a bunch of different vendors and had this amazing mix of food every night.

A large portion of the island is protected national park. We did a great 2 hour (each way) hike with a nice, relaxing long break at the almost private beach on the other side. I was happy we hiked here as opposed to the muddy jungle hiking near he highlands :)

We planned to island hop further northwest but didn't feel like dealing with the hassle (we must be nearing the end of our trip) so we splurged a bit and stayed at a resort close to the national park where there was some beach and laid out for a day by the pool and watched the sunset from the beach. The breakfast (our favorite meal of the day) buffet was worth the extra money we spent alone. Next stop, Indonesia!

Tower from Kapitan Keling Mosque