To make up for spending my last port in Malaysia at a mall, today I went on the "Grand Penang Tour." It was a really well done tour, and if it got back a bit late I was in no hurry since I had a night off to look forward to!
We started out visiting the Mansions of two Chinese millionaires who lived here more than a century ago. The houses were of course, lavish, beautiful, and filled with expensive antiques. The second one we saw, the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, recently won a major UNESCO World Heritage award for best project, regarding the major restoration some private investors put into the building a few years back.
After the mansions, we visited two contrasting temples, both Buddhist, but one Thai style and one Burmese. The Thai temple has the 4th largest reclining Buddha in the world, and yes, it was big. It was really interesting to me to see the urns of people's ancestors displayed in cupboards in the walls, like small gravestones stacked on one another along all the walls. Apparently, the higher up your ashes are placed, the more expensive the "plot."
We had a great lunch at the Golden Sands beach resort and some time for photos there, then our next stop was the Penang Butterfly Farm. I saw a sign claiming it was the first live tropical butterfly farm in the world...could it be true? Who wants to google it for me? :-) Anyway I love butterflies so enjoyed having a bit of fun with my camera. Next we headed on a drive around the island (about 800,000 population), with stops at a spice stall and a local village. It was really a great day and I enjoyed myself. I love feeling like I've picked the best tour. :-)
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Mont Blanc
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1 comment:
Hooray for the best tour :-) and a night off!
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