Georgetown, Malaysia

Georgetown, Malaysia, on the island called Penang, was once a major link in the chain of British colonies that protected the Moluccan Strait. We began the day by visiting 3 temples in Georgetown. The first was a Buddhist temple called the Kek Lok Si Temple. It was extravagantly beautiful, especially in its gardens. Then we saw a Thai Buddhist temple and a Burmese Buddhist temple right across the street from each other. The Thai temple contains one of the largest reclining Buddhas in Southeast Asia. The Burmese temple across the street contains one of the largest seated Buddha statues. We went to lunch at a seaside resort that is part of the Sands Hotel chain. It includes the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas and the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. After lunch we saw a lovely collection of butterflies housed in a structure like an aviary, so that the insects could be seen in their natural environment. Unfortunately, a heavy downpour began as soon as we stepped out of the bus. However, with umbrellas and plastic ponchos we were able to manage. A butterfly landed on the finger of a little girl fro Australia. She refused to leave the aviary until the butterfly chose to fly away: she did not wish to disturb it. Only after two hours did the butterfly flew away and freed the Australian family to leave. Finally we toured the back side of the mountain on the island of Penang, admired its lovely hills and valleys, and stopped at a vegetable stand where our guide gave us information about durians, mangosteens, guavas, and jack fruit. The last thing on our itinerary was a visit to a typical, traditional Malaysian village, where our guide explained indigenous building techniques in this damp, hot climate.Read more