Day 9 - Wed 20 Nov: George Town

Fine and mainly sunny 24 to 32 deg with 100% humidity (I thought that meant rain). A late afternoon thunderstorm.
Ride: 53km; total: 285km

Slept well after the long day yesterday so was up before the sparrows. After my exercise routine and morning stuff headed out (5.20am) into a fine but still dark day. However, the lighting on the buildings made for some nice shots. I was on the waterfront before sunrise so that was fairly special. It’s funny but as a young soldier here in the late 60s early 70s I didn’t really appreciate how great Penang is. Too busy looking at the inside of bars I suppose.

Brekky was served a bit late for me, 8am, but it was worth waiting for. You had different options, Indian, Malay, English or American. I went English as we’ve had our fair share of Asian food the last week. Not that I’m complaining as I love the flavours and the freshness. Today we explore Penang, 3 out the 8 elected to do that by bike and the others by foot.


The bikies headed out in the vehicle to clear the city (we could easily have cycled) for 20 minutes or so before we unloaded our bikes and started riding. It was a day of ups and downs but very enjoyable just the same. The first big climb was nice and gradual but the other big one (just after lunch unfortunately) was steep for most of the climb; see the profile. That one finished at the biggest Buddhist temple in Malaysia, yep, they find the highest hill and build a temple. I didn’t find it that fascinating really as they were doing restoration and it was a bit all over the place.

We decided to ride back home, the staff were not keen because of the traffic, but it was fine. That gave us over 50 km of pretty tough riding for the day. Arrived back in time for their tea and cake on the house. Fairly ordinary cake, but what the heck it was free. After that I went to the money changer just around the corner and got some Ringgit at A$1 to 2.8. Another walk around this fascinating town and I was done for the day, opting for a rest in my aircon room with a good book.

Dinner was Chinese at a dingy little place on a corner 10 minutes’ walk from the hotel. The food was whipped up in no time at all and it was superb to say the least.

The boys were heading out to have a beer, so I wandered back to the hotel with Dogan in light rain. Not the sort of night to go sightseeing.


Early morning in George Town










Entrance to our hotel

East Indies Hotel

The walk up to and down from the dam, good for the legs

The three riders at Penang Dam

Roadside fruit stall

Lunch venue

View from the temple


Temple




Today's route

Elevation profile and speed



Dinner venue, excellent food



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