Trishaws Not Taxis On PenangPrepared by Harold Stephens
Travel Correspondent for Thai Airways International
The view of Penang from the air is awe-inspiring. Your jet drops lower into the dense air and the island and surrounding reef begin to take shape and form. It's a high, mountainous island, with vegetation clinging to the very summits of the highest peaks. If the jet makes the approach from the north and banks to starboard to make its approach, the town of Georgetown comes into view. What a magnificent sight.
But one that I think is even more powerful is when you approach the island from the sea. If you arrive by train, which many visitors do, it's a short walk from the train station in Butterworth on the mainland to the ferry landing. Ferries have two levels: the lower deck for vehicles, the upper for passengers.
Passengers make up many different races—Malays, Chinese, Tamil Hindus, Sikhs and all the foreign nationalities from Europe and America. Malays and Tamil's are most always in their native dress. You can't help feeling Asia to the very tips of your fingers when you ride the Penang ferry.
I like to stand at the railing at the bow and watch Georgetown come into view. Off to the right, Fort Cornwallis appears. Here Sir Francis Light founded the British settlement. He was searching for a suitable site to establish a free trading port for the British East India Company. After rejecting Phuket Island, he settled on Penang.
The island was totally covered by wild jungle, with tigers lurking in the bush. The Indian sepoy's aboard refused to go ashore and clear the area for a fort, so as the story goes, Captain Light loaded two cannons with silver dollars and fired into the jungle. He got his site cleared in no time.
You don't find many places like Penang any more in our modern world. The island is one of the great destinations of Southeast Asia and Thai Airways flies there.
Georgetown, the capital, is unchanged––well, almost––since the colonial days when the British ruled the Empire. Penang is developing, for sure, joining the 21st century with new high-rises and tourist resort areas suddenly appearing, but not much in Georgetown. They are mostly confined to the northern coast of Penang at Batu Ferringhi. A visit to Georgetown is going back in time and is what Singapore must have looked like 50 or 60 years ago.
At the ferry landing, both taxis and trishaws wait in line, but I prefer trishaws. The men who peddle these three-wheel vehicles are from a bygone age. Many speak English and make good guides. A ride in a Penang trishaw is unforgettable. Passengers ride in front of the driver, in a kind of scoop that's prepared to serve up helpless riders to on-coming traffic. But it never seems to happen. Traffic gives way to trishaw drivers.
Before going to the Bay View where I had booked a room, I had to stop for a look at the E&O. I heard that it had been completely refurbished, and indeed it had been. The E&O was and still is one of my favorite hotels in Southeast Asia. It was built by the Arab Starkie brothers at the same time thyat they built the Raffles in Singapore and the Strand in Rangoon, a little more than a hundred years ago. Anybody who was anyone stayed at the E&O, as they did at the Raffles and the Strand.
As soon as I had settled in the Bay View, I couldn’t wait and went to my favorite dining place on Penang, an Indian street-side restaurant on Penang Road, and here I feasted on my usual––mutton curry, baby squid in garlic sauce, cabbage in coconut milk and fresh green beans sautéed, with nan flat bread and hot Indian coffee served in a glass. I had doubles of everything.
In spite of a light rain that began to fall while I was dining, I went for a stroll through the narrow little streets of Georgetown, past Hindu and Chinese temples, where the sounds of clangs and gongs and the scent of incense fill the air. Busy shop houses line the street level while the Chinese live in quarters above. Clan houses are most intriguing, and mysterious, with their dark interiors and Chinese writing on all the walls. Most interesting are the doors of Penang. Many are massive, studded with bolts; some are carved; while others are painted with Chinese warlords in ancient dress.
I stopped at the Hong Kong Bar on Chula Street to see old friends. It's one of the great, family-run bars of Asia. It's a seaman's bar with photographs of naval ships on the walls and ships' pennants decorating the bar. Every customer who enters the swinging doors has his photograph taken, which are kept on file in albums. When customers return, the barkeeps (the owner's daughters) dig out their photographs and bring back memories, and often laughs. Except for Jenny, all the daughters are married and off in different countries around the world. Only Jenny and her brother run the place. Their mother and father have long passed away but they are carrying the tradition. Jenny's brother is worried about the fate of the bar which is more than half a century old. "Young people prefer to go to the new wine bars," he said. Maybe, but there are always a few of us left.
There's a great museum in Georgetown, right downtown, with a statue of Francis Light in the courtyard. And for more history, not far away is the Protestant Cemetery. On the head markers is the solemn history of the island engraved in stone. Francis Light is buried here, and so, to my surprise, I discovered the grave of Anna Leonowens' husband. He died two years before she came to Bangkok to teach the children in the court of King Mongkut.
There are some fine old "junk" shops in Georgetown, like the one on Rope Walk Street. I like the name, Rope Walk. The shop is run by Ahmad Arif Bin Md. Noor who took over from his father more than 70 years ago. In any other city around Asia it would be called an antique shop, but not here. You can find just about anything in the shop you don't need and aren't looking for—but which you like. But you have to search and you might get your clothes soiled while you do, but there can be great discoveries.
Before turning in, I went back to Penang Road for more Indian curry. I walked back to my hotel, through the crooked little streets. I love that town, and that island. Maybe next I’ll check into the E&O and make it complete. QUESTIONS & ANSWERSQ. Dear Mr. Stephens, My husband and I just returned from a wonderful vacation in Phuket. The beaches are lovely and there are so many of them. The island is mountainous. It too is beautiful. Is it possible to travel into the mountains? Are there any inns or hotels in the mountains? —Grace Waterman, NZ.
A.Dear Grace, It is possible but you will need a rugged four-wheel drive vehicle. I rented an AVIS car and did it a few months ago. It too was an exciting adventure. —HS
Harold Stephens
Bangkok
E-mail: ROH Weekly Travel (booking@inet.co.th)
Note: The article is the personal view of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the view of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited. | 
