Monthly:September 2012
Despite the showers that kept rolling through, this market in Georgetown, Penang continued. The colorful umbrellas served alternately to provide shade from the sun and protection from the rain. The rain though, had reduced the number of people on the streets so at this particular time, the ratio of vendors to buyers was tilted to the vendor side of the equation.
Of course, my visit was over 20 years ago, but I doubt Georgetown has changed much in that time. It was certainly a very walkable town. It’s mostly regular city blocks so easy to navigate and full of scenes such as this one of an alley. It had rained earlier in the day so the streets were wet, the skies were grey providing a wonderfully soft light eliminating the harsh shadows that would normally be present at this time of day.
There are keep out signs and keep out signs. This is one of the most unambiguous I’ve ever seen. What I like about it is the multicultural aspect. The center graphic speaks for itself, emphasized by the command in four languages, one in each corner. I don’t actually remember where this was but I think it was somewhere in the vicinity of Fort Cornwallis protecting the north-east corner of Penang Island and Goergetown behind it.
It was, as you can see, a grey day. The large vessel and the large cranes lurking in the haze are in Butterworth. Apparently, Penang Island and its main settlement, Georgetown, were the first British settlement on the Malaysian peninsular and date back to 1786.
I guess you could get to the Phi Phi Islands by sea plane but boat is the norm. And that’s the normal way to leave too. I took this image as the ferry carried me back to Phuket. The sea was relatively calm but the occasionally the boat would crash through the swell as captured here as I watched the island disappear in the wake of the boat.
On the way back to Koh Phi Phi Don from Koh Phi Phi Ley, having cruised by one of the caves from which the locals harvest swifts’ nests for birds nest soup, we got some up-close views of the base of the limestone cliffs. The cave action is clearly undercutting the rock over the course of the years.
