Selamat Datang: Penang National Park

One last day in Penang before heading to the Perhentian Islands off the east coast of Malaysia on a night bus.

I spent this last day in hiking in Penang National Park on the north western tip of the island. The local bus from George Town took over an hour, while a guy I got talking to on the bus, a former engineer of Sri Lankan descent who worked in Cardiff, insisted I had a cup of tea with him.

Later in the day I met a guy from Finland who gave me some directions to the lighthouse I hiked to in the park. To be honest it is not worth mentioning most of the people I bumped into and had impromptu conversations with on this trip. But the two people I met on this day were very laid back and at home living in Penang.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Town,_Penang#International_recognition

Anyway I hiked through the national park choosing to head to a lighthouse built by the British that stands on the north western point of the island. The trail took me through a lot of jungle but also along lots of beach where I could walk barefooted with the waves splashing over my feet.

It was a hot and sweaty day.

When I signed the guest book at the lighthouse I saw that I was only the visitor that day, though a small group of Chinese school children (the school holidays had just started) were heading up the final track to the light house as I was going down.

A side from some monkeys and a loads of butterflies there wasn't a great deal of wild life. However when hiking alone it is amazing how close you can get to creatures and how randomly and unexpectedly you can suddenly find yourself standing very close to one.

After getting back to George Town in the evening I took and overnight bus and woke up in another part of the country all together.