Penang, Malaysia

Friday, December 18th
Route of the Ancient Traders
Day 38
M/S Nautica
Penang, Malaysia
Thunderstorms - 87 Degrees

Penang is known as the Pearl of the Orient, which seemed appropriate this morning with rain so thick we felt like we were under water. I think we would have rather stayed in bed, but our bus awaited.

Even in the rain, the streets of Georgetown were full of people in motion as we drove to the Kek Lok Si Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia. It is majestically situated on a hilly slope that commands amazing views over Georgetown. Built in tiers beginning in 1890, the sprawling "Temple of Supreme Bliss" is dominated by the magnificent seven-story Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas and the enormous bronze statue of the Goddess Kuan Yin. The stepped temple complex also includes tranquil gardens, a turtle pond, and decorative shrines and sculptures.

When the bus came to a stop at the foot of the mountain, we looked through droopy eyelids and the steamy, rain-streaked, windows of the bus, up, up, up the hill at the glorious temple shrouded in semi-darkness, clouds, and sheets of rain. No way. We stayed in the bus. As our intrepid fellow travelers filed off the bus, Tres took pity on a pretty lady and loaned her his raincoat. We rode around the block and the bus parked on a side street to wait out the temple tour. The rain continued to fall, the locals undaunted. One little boy walking with his mother, stopped to pee in the open gutter. Our soundtrack for the morning was the worst of American easy listening from the 70s and 80s. Rain and bad music. Just like home. When we came back around to the base of the temple, the others re-boarded the bus, water cascading from every surface. The pretty lady returned Tres' coat, saturated, and a set of postcards so we would know what we missed. The temple was glorious in the pictures, of course they were taken in the glow of the sun.

Fear not for our souls, we had two more temples to go. Still in the rain, we stopped at a Thai Buddhist Temple that houses the 4th largest reclining Buddha in the world, and, across the street, an open-air Burmese Buddhist Temple with a lovely standing Buddha.

After another hotel buffet lunch (better than yesterday, great satays with chunky peanut sauce), we visited the Butterfly Farm. The landscaped gardens, ponds, and waterfalls are home to more than 100 species of butterflies flying freely within a natural habitat. The air was so thick with these fluttering panes of stained glass, you were almost afraid to breathe.

Leaving the butterflies safely behind inside the nets, we drove through the surrounding hills and countryside, small farms, and protected forest, to a local roadside fruit stand. Tres was tempted by the durian, but they wouldn't let him bring it back on the bus. Stinky fruit!!!

Next Stop: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia