40. Malaysia @ Penang - George Town

We took a bus from Cameron Highlands to the state and island of Penang, where Georgetown is the Capital.



Georgetown is located at the Northwest end of the Malaysian peninsula and today the city has more than 600 000 inhabitants.

Georgetown was founded in 1786 by British trader Francis Light and

is named after the British King George III.

Georgetown was listed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2008.

The city is known for its well-preserved original colonial core with original houses dating from the 19th century and the street art which can be seen all over the city center.

Outside the absolute core of the city the houses are modern with skyscrapers and several malls.

Komtar Tower is the highest building in Georgetown.

This is the City Hall situated in a beautiful colonial building from the British empire.

We saw the Fort Cornwallis which

is built on the site where Captain Francis Light, the founder of Penang, first landed in 1786.

The entrance to the star-shaped bastion and one of the oldest structures in the region. Only the outer walls still stands, but we had a great time walking around the area.

On our walks around the city we saw the Queen Victoria Memorial Clock tower.

The Clock tower was commissioned in 1897 to commemorate the queens 60 year of reign.

We also visited the Kek Lok Si Temple, which is the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia.

A 30,2 meter tall bronze statue of Kuan Yin or Godess of Mercy. It is the tallest statue of Kuan Yin in the world.

In the gardens of the temple there is this little fountain with a 7 story pagoda. 7 levels for good luck.

The temple also houses a huge 7 level pagoda we were able to climb.

In 1930 the main part of the temple was completed. The pagoda of 10 000 Buddhas. The pagoda combines an octagonal Chinese base with a middle part of Thai design and a Burmese crown.

On the way we saw many different statues of Buddha... :)

The view was good.

As we climbed to the top we could see the city of Georgetown.

We wished for "Bodily Health" and "Constant Happiness"

Then we waited at the bus stop to get the local bus back to town.

We saw a lot of street art. It was mostly pictures/sculptures partly on the wall and partly out on the street. Like this mural where 2 children is playing on a swing and the swing is built in normal scale outside the wall.

The artist is the Lithuanian born Ernest Zacharevic.

The murals were made in 2012 as a project connected to the Georgetown festival and is known as Mirrors Georgetown.

We saw many pictures of cats and children.

We got a map in our hotel where all the murals are marked, then

we walked around and saw some of the murals.

This is one of our favorites.

There were a lot of other tourist doing the same as us.

These 3 small girls were just pretty and happen to be in the shade next to a place selling cold beverages.

Next stop was Kuala Lumpur. The capital of Malaysia.

39. Malaysia @ Cameron Highlands

We drove by bus to Cameron Highlands.

The area was discovered by Sir William Cameron in 1885. In the highlands are small towns consisting of people working on the many farms. 

It was lovely weather in the morning.

During the first hours of the day we had blue sky and the weather was clear, but  it was raining during the afternoons and nights and it was much colder than we were used to, max 20 degrees at day and colder during the night.

Carina did not feel up to go on a tour so Markus went with this jeep on a half day tour to see the surrounding tea plantations.

This is a picture from the tea factory. The middle part of the opposite hill is for growing tea.

This was the first stop of the tour. The view was amazing. Tea everywhere!

More tea.

And more tea. A bit closer this time!

The workers of the tea plantation come mostly from Indonesia, our guide told us. They live next to the tea factory and get accommodation for free. Some of them had their families with them and most of them send part of their salary back home to the ones who needs it the most.

After the first stop at the view point we drove up the hill to see a cloud forest. Because of the humidity in this area, all the trees have somekind of moss growing on the trunks and branches.

In the forest we saw different kind of plants, like these meat eating plants, or monkey cups as they are also called.

They came in different colours and sizes.

The tour was nice way to spend a day. After the tea plantation, cloud forest and the tea factory we went to see butterfly/snakefarm and also stopped at a strawberry field, which wasn't that special.

After staying here a couple of nights we went on to George Town.

38. Malaysia @ Malacca

We took a bus to Malacca.




Malacca city is situated in Malacca state which is also called "The historic state".

This historical city has been listed as a World Heritage Site since 2008.

Malacca is divided into 3 districts with the city center accounting for about 750.000 inhabitants.

We walked around in the center.

It was lovely to walk on the shore of the river which goes through the city.

We saw a lot of art on the houses.

The art and the river is part of making Malacca a very nice place.

Our guesthouse was just next to the river and in the evening we had dinner by one of the many small restaurants on the riverside.

On our walks around the city we saw some jack fruit trees.

Jack fruit is almost as hated as the Durian. It smells bad and it has a very special taste. We did not taste though. The smell was enough.

They have a Hard Rock Cafe in Malacca.

We did not eat here, but we went by the place a couple of times.

There is a night market in Malacca.

Like all other night markets it was very crowded.

In the very center we saw many heavily decorated bicycle rickshaws.

Many of them were playing music, and

we almost got tired of listening to their favorite. The soundtrack from the children movie "Frozen".

In the old town most buildings are red.

The Christ Church of Malacca.

We climbed to a little hill with a great view. In the distance we could see the Taming Sari Tower.

There are old ruins of St. Francis Xavier Church and

the Fort A Famosa.

We visited the replica of Malacca Sultanate Palace which today is a museum. The building is a modern reconstruction of the palace of the sultans of Malacca. The building was built in 1984 and it has no nails, only wooden pegs.

The museum showcases the history of the region and some of the royal customs and traditions of the sultanates during time.

We also walked around in the beautiful gardens.

After a couple of days we drove with bus further north.