Now we are in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. We did not do a
tour today, so we just walked around Georgetown. Portuguese sailors on their
way from Goa, India in search of spices came across Penang and gave it its name
“the Island of the Betel Nut”. In 1786, the local sultan offered Penang to the
British (those pesky British again) in exchange for protection from the Burmese
and Siamese and the British founded Georgetown on what they called Prince of
Wales Island. The island’s economy boomed with the rubber, tin and spice trade
and settlers came here from India and China. Today, the majority of Penang’s
residents are of Chinese ancestry, and the island’s multicultural mix also
includes immigrants from India, Australia, Burma, Thailand and all over
Malaysia.
In our little walk we saw the Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee
Clock, Fort Cornwallis, the Cenotaph and Esplanade, and a lot of Georgetown, as
we got lost. We went by Little India, but did not stop as we are going to Mumbai
and Cochin. It was a warm day and lot of traffic, but very few traffic lights,
so felt like we were dodging a lot of traffic. Also, you would go along and all
of a sudden, there would be no more sidewalks. We tendered over to the port in
the morning, and then at 12:30 they moved the ship over to the port. It was
different watching the ship you are on dock. We then got back on and are
resting up for our tour in Thailand tomorrow.
Here are some of the pictures.
Fishing boat
Fort
Lizard
Gate to Park – white and ornate
War Memorial Cenotaph – Big sliver thing
Queen Victoria Clock
Architecture and Downtown
No comments:
Post a Comment