After an amaxingly hot afternoon at Kek Lok Si Temple, we headed to Penang Hill or Bukit Bendera as the locals call it, to get a view of the city of Georgetown below and skies at dusk.
Bukit Bendera is a 833 metre high granite hill, which finds its first modern mention when Captain Francis Light, founder of the British colony in Penang, first plotted a horse track from the Penang Botanic Gardens up to the top of the hill in 1788. The Captain cleared an area in order to grow strawberry, which gave the hill its first name - Strawberry Hill. However it was officially christened Flagstaff Hill, which literally translates to Bukit Bendera in Malay. The hill became a home for the Governor of Penang and the local colonialists who wanted to beat the heat of Georgetown below.
The hill gained popularity after the funicular rail right to the hilltop was constructed in 1924. Today, the hill is a major tourist destination for anyone visiting Penang, especially if one appreciates panoramic views of the city below.
Dusk is just about setting in...
Georgetown below and Butterworth (mainland Malaysia) in the background...
Kek Lok Si Temple lit up for the night!
Komtar, Georgetown's tallest building...
Dusk is in the air...
Bukit Bendera is home to a whole lot of eateries, but I have other plans. Hopefully we will get to visit Teksen, an iconic restaurant in Georgetown tonight!
Penang Bridge, one of the two bridges that link Penang island to the mainland...
The views from up here are amazing!
Time to head back...
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