Rock Chick

At Butterworth in northern Malaysia we drove over the bridge to the island of Penang, skirting the capital, Georgetown, to spend our first night in a small seaside town called Bukit Feringhi. Spotting a Hard Rock Cafe, we decided to call in for a well-earned drink before finding a room for the night. (Look, some people like Irish bars when they're abroad, I like Hard Rock cafes, ok?)



We couldn't help noticing the gleaming new Hard Rock Hotel next door, opened just a few weeks previously. After a couple of drinks I went and enquired how much a room for the night would cost. We decided it was way beyond our budget, and agreed to settle for another drink before moving on. After another drink, we checked in. (Sorry kids.)



I can't tell you how much I enjoyed my one night in this palace of luxury - Elvis was in the bathroom, the Beatles were above the amazingly comfy bed, and great music played all the time. The ground floor rooms led straight from their patio windows into the pool, the pool lay next to a manicured beach; what luxury!



After one night in Bukit Feringhi, we moved on to Georgetown to a cheaper, more sedate, but well-appointed traditional hotel where we made ourselves very comfortable for four nights.



Georgetown was a noisy, crowded, chaotic place, and we loved it. Although the sun was very hot, we forced ourselves to go out each day on foot to absorb the sounds, sights, and even the smells. Colonial buildings reflected the former glory of the British Empire years, and you couldn't turn a corner without stumbling on another colourful Hindu or Buddhist temple, a stunning mosque, or even a Christian church.

Like Melaka, Georgetown has World Heritage status, awarded in part for the ability of its citizens, over hundreds of years, to live in racial and religious harmony, with its places of worship side by side.

We particularly enjoyed our walk one morning along the old Chinese jetties, where different clans live happily the way they've lived for hundreds of years, in wooden one-room homes on stilts over the water. Never mind sanitation, their main concession to the twenty-first century seemed to be a motorbike in every yard and a satellite dish above every door.

Our routine in Georgetown became so pleasant we were reluctant to leave, however Cambodia was calling, so we drove to Kuala Lumpur airport, gave back our hire car, and caught our flight to Phnom Penh.