It's hard to know how to answer really, but my gut instinct is to say "No, it doesn't". Maybe it's the length of time that I have been away, or because I have been moving around to different places, but even when I first arrived in Manila almost 40 days ago, it hasn't once entered my mind that I am just on holiday here. I could be something to do with the fact on a holiday you only stay for a short time before leaving, where as when I go to leave, I end up in a different city, country or hemisphere.
I remember when I first moved to South Korea in 2009, it took about two or three months before it stopped feeling like an extended vacation, and once I started to settle into their way of life, and get used to my surroundings, that's when I felt much more comfortable and started to feel more like I was at 'home'.
This feels totally different though, and maybe because I haven't spent so long in one place, or just because I've never really treated it that way, I don't really consider it a holiday.
People looking at my photos and reading what I do each day may decide to take it slightly differently though.
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After my overnight stay in Ipoh I was preparing to head to the final stop on my Malaysian journey this morning as I travelled north to the region of Penang. I remember when I first looked into staying here, it seemed to be quite a confusing destination as Penang covers both mainland Malaysia and a small island off it which is known logically as Penang Island.
Once I'd done a bit more research, I realised that most of the action and many of the sights are here on the island were I am currently staying, so made the logical move to base myself here.
Last night whilst making some last minute plans I'd made the decision to travel here by bus and discovered that there was actually a bus terminal in the city centre which I'd read could be used to catch a coach up to Butterworth which is the main access point onto the island.
As the terminal was only about a twenty minute walk away I headed in that direction as I checked out of my hotel this morning and eventually arrived with some very sore shoulders thanks to my two bags which appear to be becoming increasingly heavy - pretty sure that the tripod I acquired with the purchase of a new camera last week isn't helping.
It looked to be mostly city buses in the depot, but there were a few ticket offices which appeared to be offering trips headed to the Cameron Highlands and Taiping which are in the very north of Malaysia, and places which I was going to spend some time in originally. After looking round and not seeing a single bus for Butterworth I asked someone and he pointed me in the direction of a city bus which he said was going there.
I was slightly confused and asked him to clarify and in broken English he told me that this would take me to the terminal where I could find a bus which would take me to Butterworth.
Twenty minutes later I eventually turned up at the bus terminal I had arrived into last night, slightly defeating the object of heading to the bus terminal in the city, however it had cost me an awful lost less as a bus ticket was only 2.30RM compared with a taxi fare of 25 RM so I wasn't complaining too much. It was about noon by this point so I figured there would be several buses setting off around lunchtime and I eventually found a bus which was leaving at 12:15pm so brought a ticket and sat and waited.
The bus eventually arrived at about 12:25pm, I packed my bag on there after quickly grabbing myself a snack from a nearby bakery, and patiently waited for another twenty minutes until the bus driver eventually decided to set off. It was quite empty on the bus, so I sat at the back and spread myself out. I think I managed to make it through about fifteen minutes or so before eventually closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep, but my slumber was very disrupted with the person in front of me continually reclining their seat onto my feet.
We made a stop after about an hour and a half to pick up some more passengers, most of whom filled up the empty seats, as the rest were forced to stand in the isle.
This is a good example of something that would never happen in England as there was nothing for them to hold onto, and I'm not sure if they were even passengers with tickets or people the bus driver just decided to pick up as he saw them waiting at the side of the road to go to Butterworth.
We eventually arrived at our destination and piled off the bus. The city of Butterworth is mainly used as a transport hub for people to travel across the Penang Island so it is very close to a ferry terminal which travels backwards and forwards every fifteen minutes or so. It was 1.90 RM for a ticket so I managed to grab some coins together and put them into the ticket machine before sitting and waiting for the next ferry.
There were quite a lot of people waiting, but eventually we were let on board. There were some seats in the middle, but most people congregated around the edge where those travelling across in vehicles had parked. It wasn't a massive boat but had two levels as well as a miniature shop for people to purchase snacks.
I wasn't exactly sure I was going to cope with boat travel as I have had some interesting experiences in the past, but it was only a ten minute journey and I even managed to take some pictures and shoot a video of the journey across.
The hotel I am staying in just just outside what is known as the 'buffer zone' of George Town's UNESCO heritage centre, and when I looked the directions up yesterday it seemed like it was quite walk-able so once I got off the ferry I crossed the road and started looking for the right street to go down. I found a main road which I quickly discovered wasn't the correct one, but went down a side street and then started walking parallel to the previous road, and after about twenty minutes or so I eventually found my hotel which is located quite handily next to a cafe of the same name.
Like Malacca is it a UNESCO city so there are plenty of museums, and lots of information dotted around relating to the city's past.
It is occasions like this where I have begun to realise that I become a bit overwhelmed by trying to make sure that I see everything. Once I do my research online I look at pictures of the buildings that I am going to see so I can try and commit them to memory and recognise then when I find them in person.
With George Town there were about twenty different places which were listed on the map, and they were spread out all over the city. I decided to be as logical as I possibly could and attempted to take on George Town in a bit of a circle starting with the coastal area where I had disembarked the boat upon arrival.
Mostly I was following signs towards a fort which I had seen on the map was on the northern edge of the city centre, and after going past the impressive looking town hall, and a nice area I came to a bit of a river walk which I wasn't aware of.
It wasn't a large area but you could see over onto the mainland as well as the area slightly north of George Town which looked to be populated by many large buildings:
I kept walking along the coastline, in the opposite direction to where the above pictures were taken and eventually I came to the fort I had been looking for which is called Fort Cornwallis:
I didn't go into the fort itself as I had plenty of other things to explore, but it seemed to be in relatively good condition considering its age.
I kept walking around the fort, and eventually came to a bit of a crossroads so I headed to he left and found myself close to the jetties which I had arrived on by boat earlier. There were plenty of people getting onto and off-of the boats, I wonder if there is ever a time when they aren't filled to capacity?
Heading back down the main street I had seen pretty much every one of the main buildings which was listed on the map and spent about two hours walking around so I continued back to my hotel, took a quick break and then went back out for some dinner.
I think next time I come to a city like this where I have a short amount of time and lots to see, I am going to attempt to get on some kind of walking tour. Often I feel like I'm not really taking everything in, and when I look back at my photos in a years time, I have no idea if I'm actually going to be able to remember what all the pictures are of.
Each place I stopped at along the way today had some information about its use, or previous use, but after a while it all becomes garbled in my head, and I feel like I am just going to end up with a bunch of meaningless photos which is not at all what I am aiming for at the start of each day.
I'm not sure when this opportunity will present itself next, but I think having experienced this a couple of times, it is definitely going to be beneficial to me in order to better reflect on my trip.
There is a very tall tower here in George Town known as the Komtar Tower, and it is supposed to be where many of the restaurants and shops are located so I decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to head in that direction as I went looking for food.
Maybe it's because I've seen my fair share of tall buildings in the last couple of days, but the Komtar wasn't anything special compared with the KL Tower or Petronas Towers. As far as I know it is just a building used for offices, but it certainly towers above the rest of the buildings here in the old town:
Despite being hugely underwhelming as a structure, it was a good place to find food, and I went to a delicious restaurant where I had a great three course meal of soup, a main course, and ice cream for about £3.00.
Even though I am carrying out holiday type activities such as sightseeing, eating out and arriving or departing almost each day, I still consider myself to be a traveller rather than a holiday-maker. My first day's stay in George Town was very productive despite having spent most of the day in the bus, and I hope that tomorrow I can see more of what the city has to offer before waving goodbye to Malaysia altogether.
Replay
Iyaz (2010)
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