Into Malaysia and on to Penang

Friday, December 6 - A wet road as the sun rises and we leave the Andaman Sea where we have spent the last night in Thailand.

From here it is through lush thick woodlands to the border with Malaysia.

Farewell to our Thai support crew on the Thai
side of the border - Ursula with 'Tick'

Rae on the Malaysian side of the border

 A few kilometres from the border, we're treated to a steep 3-km climb, fortunately accompanied by some good views and then followed by a lovely descent

We will spend the balance of this day plus the following two days riding to Penang where we will spend a rest day. Along the way is generally well-kept green countryside, roads in good repair, busy towns, and many friendly waves as we pass by...

tree-lined roads...

 

...occasional views of the shore...

...and coastal towns...

...and wetlands full of shore birds.

Both a surprise and a disappointment, considering how well-kept everything is, was the amount of garbage dumped at the side of the road... 

 ...and being burned openly... 

The rest day is in Georgetown on Penang island...

arriving at the ferry terminal, Penang island in background

As usual, we crowd the bikes on amongst cars and scooters

Georgetown has a colonial past, evident from these photos... 

clock tower with Fort Cornwallis behind at left

Saint Georges church, almost 200 years old, the oldest
Anglican church in Southeast Asia

City hall, presently under restoration

As a free port in its day, Georgetown attracted other ethnic communities - the Chinese community outnumbers the Malays and there is also a significant Indian presence.

Chinese signs prevail here

'Little India'

We had time to wander around a bit...

people of all appearances including this chap
who was in the grounds of a Hindu Temple

...and wouldn't this be a nice bicycle for this trip?

Just along from our hotel was the Eastern and Oriental Hotel, the first of the grand hotels built by the brothers who later built Raffles in Singapore. It's nicely situated on the water...

 

We had our evening meal here - Ursula with her glass of wine and dessert, the photo taken with a heavy downpour behind her over the water with the setting sun providing the yellow lighting.

Another day of rest behind us... only two more to go... Kuala Lumpur next... tomorrow is back on the ferry and back on the bikes - and when I say tomorrow, I really mean December 10th - when all of us cyclists arrive places en masse, we really put a peak load on their internet, so this isn't posted until later.