George Town on the island of Penang is a bustling place, a melting pot of colonial, Chinese, Malay and Indian cultures which showcase the enduring legacy of the north-west Malaysian region’s historic spice trade. It’s one of my favourite places in Asia. I love strolling through the narrow alleys lined with a jumble of buildings from different historical eras from colonial villas to colourful Chinese shop houses and temples.
George Town has become famous for its street art. It started back in 2012 when Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic created six incredibly unique murals across the capital for the George Town Festival. These thoughtful pieces make use of existing structures - peeling window frames, antique shutter doors - and often depict young children enjoying the simpler things in life: riding a motorbike; hopping on a school bus; playing on a swing. Since then, many other artists have added their marks to George Town’s walls and, whilst they’re not all as evocative as Zacharevic’s original series, nostalgic street art has become one of Penang’s most distinctive features.
You can get a quirky crash course in George Town history, customs, food and legends by reading the text in the whimsical steel-rod sculptures affixed to exterior building walls by local cartoonists and comic book artists. One depicts a fat man climbing out of the window of his mistress’ house on nearby Love Lane, so-called because wealthy men once kept mistresses there, whilst another on Muntri Street marks out where Jimmy Choo started his career.
Street food is everywhere in Penang and George Town is no exception with hawker stalls cooking 24 hours a day. Sampling food from these many street vendors makes for a deliciously authentic experience.
The town makes a great base as it also allows you to dip into the sea and jungle if you want. You can visit Buddhist temples, Botanical Gardens or the cool retreat of Penang Hill, 830m above sea level. Talking of sea level, although Penang has beaches they are not the best. So do as I did and take a short flight over to the neighbouring island of Langkawi, which has some fabulous beaches and places to stay like The Datai, where I spent a very relaxing week - read about that here. I also managed to add into the same trip a stay in Singapore at the fabulous iconic Raffles Hotel. It’s just an hour’s flight from either Penang or Langkawi.
If you are interested in finding out more about George Town, or how it can be combined into a longer Asia trip, or would like to escape to The Datai or experience Raffles in Singapore, please get in touch and let me put together a bespoke trip for you.