March 20th - Penang

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.”
--- James Michener

Penang is a beautiful Malaysian island in the Straits of Malacca. About the last thing I expected when I stepped off the ship’s tender onto the dock was to have a microphone and camera stuck in my face for an interview by a local TV station. They wanted to know my feelings about Malaysia. I was probably an unfortunate choice since the ATM fiasco was still foremost in my mind…. I fear (or rather, hope!) this footage will end up on the cutting room floor!

Our private guide, Marco, (yes…. another Marco!) was hilarious! He told us he was the best guide in Penang and I think all eight of us who spent the day with him would agree! (Our tours have all been fabulous! Our friend Larry worked for a company with offices all around the world and he set up these tours through his various contacts. We’ve been very fortunate to be included in the group!!)

Marco first took us to the largest temple in Penang to see what is believed to be the third longest reclining Buddha in the world. It was difficult to fit all 108 ft of this Buddha into one photograph. You must remove your shoes before entering a temple and we were amused by the sign over the shoe rack warning, “BEWARE OF SHOE THIEVES”!!

We circled the entire island and saw beaches, butterflies, a durian farm (NO, we didn’t eat any!), an area of fishermen’s homes that were destroyed in the 2004 tsunami and a resort hotel where we enjoyed a scrumptious buffet of typical Malaysian fare. We also paid a visit to the fascinating Temple of the Azure Cloud, also known as the Snake Temple. Venomous pit vipers, doped perhaps by the burning incense, lie coiled around everything: altars, shrines, incense burners, candlesticks, vases, tables, underfoot and overhead. Some people will do anything for material to stick in their blogs…. Yes, I threw caution to the wind and let them wrap one of the snakes around my neck! Although he was big, he was pretty slow and laid back…. No problem. Then they put one on my head….and I’m pretty certain this fellow hadn’t breathed quite enough of that calming incense! He was squirming all over the place and kept sticking his tail in my eye!


Yikes!!!!

1 comment:
Sarah said...
wow that snake must be photoshopped in... you two are really coming along with your computer skills!!

See you in two weeks!!

X0X0 Sade