Hippies, Freaks and Fish Head Curry

There are many forms of backpacking. I believe the correct epithet for my find of travel (enough of a budget to stay in nicer accommodation and not skimp on food and sights) is "flashpacking". Chinatown in Georgetown, Penang showed me the "Asia on $5 a Day" type of backpacking. It was quite a shock to the system let me tell you! Chinatown it turns out, is the visa run bolt hole for the hippies and the freaks from Thailand. I arrived late in the day and had called ahead to a guesthouse I'd seen advertised in the Cameron Highlands. I paid $13AUS for a room with bathroom which in reality was an airless box with double bed (no sheets) and a cold shower over the toilet which wasn't fully partitioned off and a small louvered window overlooking an alley. While it was clean to say it lacked atmosphere is being kind. But I had no choice to stay at least one night. It was here however I would meet the people that made my time in Penang bearable. The next morning I did the guesthouse shuffle (a common occurrence in Chinatown) and found a new place a few doors up where I got a room that was better appointed and had a balcony for just 1RM more than the previous place. I could even see a tree from my window! So here I made camp and spent my days sightseeing and my evenings in beer and conversation watching the steady stream of late arrivals looking for a bed. To be on a budget is one thing but to arrive late and reject a perfectly good guesthouse for the sake of a few dollars I don't understand. A heartfelt thanks to my drinking compadres - voices of sanity amongst the clamouring herd.

So, Penang. Colonial architecture? Sure, but Ipoh's is much more impressive. Fort Cornwallis? Hmmm - a bit underwhelming. A restored Baba Nonya house? Beautiful to be sure but bought and restored by an antiques dealer who made it a stange hybrid of the original inhabitant's family history and possessions interspersed with his own antique collection. The Kek Lok Si temple consisted of souvenir stalls lining the stairs, an overcrowded pond of turtles and a huge statue of the Godess of Mercy that is reached by a small funicular that looked like the Great Glass Elevator out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! And I broke a mirror.

But there were some positives! I continued my exploration of food. Dim sum for breakfast, yam cake, murtabak and Ais Kachang - a crazy mixture of shaved ice, coconut milk, dark palm sugar syrup, jelly strips. red beans and corn kernels. It sounds horrid but I assure you its quite nice and refreshing! Best of all was the cooking class. It started at 7.30am at the wet market. I had the hangover from hell but after roti telur, coffee and fresh soy milk I was feeling human again. The morning markets were fantastic. Fresh coconut milk being made, curry pastes being assembled, pickled fruits being bought and lots of amazing fruit and veg. Nazlina our teacher was great. In the fish section one of the group pointed out some fish heads and I mentioned I wanted to try fish head curry. So that was what we bought and made. The class was held alfresco in the grounds of the Islamic Museum and we all had a hand in preparing the ingredients. The fish head curry was divine and accompanied by rice, stir fried sweet potato leaves, omelet and sambal belechan which is basically pounded red chillies mixed with toasted shrimp paste and lime juice. A bit too strong for my palate but interesting all the same.

I did manage to get out of Georgetown to Balik Pulau on the other side of the island where I had an incredible laksa and a wander through the villages. I got to Batu Ferrenghi on my last day where I finally found the strip of beach hidden from the road by huge resorts. I did confirm one thing, I need beach time. But first an eight hour bus trip to the east coast and Kota Bharu.