The wild side of Penang

Penang is a very tourist oriented place, as I have alluded to in previous posts. But, it is still possible to find some more remote areas, free from the throngs of visitors. In fact on the west side of the island, you would hardly guess there were 2 million people living here


This is a Chinese fishing village. These kids were very eager to impress with their English Vocabulary, things like "Hello" and "Goodbye". Really cute.


Penang also has a national park. This is what the forest looks like. Very dense and dark, aided by the fact that it was a little overcast. Still, a really neat place to hike with monkeys crashing through the trees and lots of birds that I couldn't see.


Sooooo, the next time I go hiking in a jungle, I am going to wear shoes.....


and finally, a really big lizard. not a crocodile, but a monitor. This guy was probably 5 feet long or so.

My time here on the island is drawing down, and I am actually looking forward to getting back to Bangkok. I like it here, but can do without all the noise and litter of the tourists. It's a little surprising. But not before going to the main city on the island, Georgetown.