Bukit Lada

Today we navigated our way to the beautiful Kek Lok Si Temple, an imposing site occupying a large area on Penang Hill.

Our Grab driver on Monday tipped us off to the fact that the temple’s illuminations would be extended a few days beyond the end of Chinese New Year so we decided to take the opportunity to go.

This would involve two buses and somewhere along the way we need to get small change. This was accomplished by purchasing two cans of coffee in two separate transactions to maximise our small change.

We have no idea what to expect as we approach the temple which appears deserted. We attempt what we think is an entrance and are headed off, told “closed”. Unperturbed, we attempt another ingress and a parking attendant in an empty car park again says, “closed”. But by now we have seen people. Higher up but within the walls, these people don’t appear to be leaving.

We find a set of stairs and head up. And then a ramp, and more stairs. Higher and higher and all I’m thinking is how we need to get back down these again in the dark.

We reach a point beneath the main pagoda, behind a locked gate but again we see people. I elect to wait on a seat while Richard goes off to explore.

It was a waiting game with lots of milling around before the lights came on to the egg collective gasp of the crowd.Read more