We then headed towards the bus station by the ferry terminal, along the way we saw more temples and interesting buildings. We decided to get a bus to Penang Hill, where you can then get a furnicular railway to the top. As we waited for the bus we meet so people from Australia so we chatted with them. They were also going to Penang Hill. After a while of waiting, they don't seem to have a timetable so it's just a case of waiting till the bus you want comes along. The buses all seem pretty new and modern so they the journey to Penang hill was very comfortable. A single journey costs about 30p, so also very cheap.
We got the train to the top which cost a whole 80p for a return ticket! The view from the top is pretty good and it's actually a long way up. We got some food from a stall and looked at a temple and a mosque. It seemed weird to bother building a temple and mosque when there isn't really a lot else up there.
We decided to walk down the hill to the botanical gardens, the guide book said the walk would take about an hour and you can then get a bus from near the gardens back to Georgetown, where we're staying.
So we walked, and walked and walked. In total it must have taken us about 2 hours! Plus the road was really steep so it was hard work walking down. Also just over halfway it started raining and I don't mean a light shower, it really rained! We got soaked. We did however see some wildlife, a small red snake, monkeys, giant ants, a few butterflies and a couple of big spiders. Looking back it was fun to do but to be honest at the time I was wishing we'd just got the train down!
We didn't really look round the gardens but we did find out that there wasn't a bus stop there. We decided to walk to the main road where we were sure they'd be a bus. Obviously there were taxis we could have got but that would have been the easy way...
So we started walking and it started raining, again. Eventually we got to the main road and as the rain got heavier we sheltered under what we hoped was a bus stop. We wrong about this, it wasn't a bus stop, a helpful lady pointed this out and told us were we could get a bus from. However the shelter was good for not getting wet so we waited for the rain to pass. The puddles on the road though were getting bigger and bigger so every time a car came past we were worried we would get soaked. A man also offered to take us to Georgetown for about £2 but he was waiting for his son so we didn't take him up on the offer. When the rain had stopped we walked down the road to the bus stop the lady had said and after only a few minutes a bus came, we weren't completely sure which bus we wanted but figured it was going in right direction so it would do. This bus though was nothing like the mornings bus, it was old and hot and packed. We got seats next to some people, well we sort of perched on the edge of a seat, and then more and more people got on at various stops, until it was completely full, people stood anywhere they could. The bus had obviously seen better days but it seemed to do the job, even with it's wooden floor! Eventually we ended up back in Georgetown and began to recognise where we were. We got off not far from our hotel and walked back, stopping to buy a couple of samosas en route.
When we went to reception to get our key we looked really out of place from the colonial surroundings. I could see the receptionist wondering if we were really staying there! We went for a swim and then had dinner at the hotel, it was a buffet with free wine or beer. We took full advantage of the free drinks and also got our money's worth of food, this included a chocolate fountain! Which we were sat pretty close to, perfect...
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