After a brief siesta at the East Indies Mansion, we set out for the Kek Lok Si Temple located at Ayer Itam, which is a good 20-kilometers from the heart of Georgetown. A commuter bus is the most convenient mode of transport around Penang Island and so we headed to Weld Quay bus terminus.
As we walked towards the bus terminus, which was a good kilometre or so away, we realised all the travel guides on Georgetown are so true - every nook, every corner and every inch is steeped in history...
And that is what drew us to Penang. Most tourists from India do a usual Singapore - Kuala Lumpur - Genting - Langkawi circuit. But for us, it was a bit different. And Penang fit the bill...
The earliest historical record of Penang comes from the legendary Chinese admiral, Zheng He's treatise on his voyages, Wubei Zhi which called the island “ping-lang-yu” (island of betel nut or pinang).
In the 1500s, Portuguese traders from Goa, sailing to the Far East, in search of spices, replenished their water supplies here. They called the island Pulo Pinaom. By the 1600s, the island assumed strategic importance as it lay at the northern entry to the Straits of Malacca. Chinese, Indian, Arabian and European trading ships took shelter here during the Monsoon. This made the Straits a fertile hunting ground for pirates.
The British started showing interest in the region during the 1700s. When the Malay sultanate of Kedah was threatened by the Burmese and Siamese armies, Penang was ceded to the British East India Company in 1786 by the Sultan of Kedah, in exchange for military protection.
On 11 August 1786, Captain Francis Light took formal possession of Penang and renamed it Prince of Wales Island making Penang the first British possession in the region. The settlement on the north-eastern tip of the island was named Georgetown after King George III of Britain.
With the discovery of tin and the already burgeoning spice trade in the region, the strategic significance of Penang as a harbour increased. In 1826, Penang, along with Malacca and Singapore, became part of the Straits Settlements under the administration of British India. Georgetown became the capital of the Straits Settlements till Singapore took over in about a century.
Today's heritage precincts of Georgetown are a reminder of the strategic importance of Penang in the yesteryears...
Every street of Georgetown seems to have a story to tell, a story of its glorious past and a rich heritage...
The buildings here reflect the British colonial architectural styles, regal and elegant...
Regal and elegant remnants of the imperial past...
As we head to the Weld Quay bus terminus, we pass by the cruise terminal...
A Star Cruise liner docked at Georgetown. Penang attracts a number of cruise liners...
The port area...
Feverishly clicking whatever we found interesting, it took us a while to reach the bus terminus, from where we head to Ayer Itam...
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