Georgetown: Colonials and Curries

Our first stop in Malaysia was Georgetown on the island of Penang, in the north-west of the country. We ended up flying as there were very cheap flights available, but i wished we hadn’t as we bumped along for the hour and a half journey – Gem claims it was all in my imagination but at one point i was fairly convinced we were doing a nosedive to oblivion! Apparently this wasn’t actually the case and we arrived perfectly safely.

Georgetown was one of the three British Straits Settlements (along with Malacca and Singapore) in the area, and was founded in 1786 by the British East India Company to control trade through the area. The town is full of old British colonial buildings, and a lot of the original buildings from the time still survive. Our hostel was in a traditional shophouse with high ceilings and wooden floors; it was lovely. Click here to read more…