This is one of the 'must do' things in Penang and a short bus ride takes us to the Penang Hill Funicular. If you look carefully in the second photo, you can see the funicular track up the hill.
We know this is 'school holiday' time in Malaysia (don't tell your school pals in the US but the children here are off from mid-November until early February!) and I think half the families in Malaysia have come to the funicular! The operators cleverly don't let you see the whole line because it would deter all but the hardiest from waiting it out. The lines snaked around . . .
and around . . .
you get the idea. It took over an hour to get to the actual funicular car; we kept telling ourselves it was worth it. We got a wee bit nervous when we saw two offices near the top: one said 'Halliburton' and the other 'Flagstaff'! Huh??
The actual ride takes about 2-3 minutes and the ascent is dramatic and very, very steep. There are only two cars which explains the awful wait time and we read that this is the newly-renovated funicular - can't imagine what the old one was like. We both find it hard to complain when we see a display of sedan chairs used to transport the British to the 'crag' (think that's about half way up) using coolie laborers. The mind reels . . .
The view from the top is indeed impressive. We are looking down at Georgetown and the straits over to the mainland.
The 'lock thing' has obviously caught on here.
And it's Penang so there's food, lots of it. We reward ourselves with a mango ice which is a huge treat of flavored shaved ice, sliced mango, topped with mango ice cream.
Yet another long line for the return journey and we're back home. Tomorrow is our last day in Penang . . . it's been a lovely, fun-filled time here.
We know this is 'school holiday' time in Malaysia (don't tell your school pals in the US but the children here are off from mid-November until early February!) and I think half the families in Malaysia have come to the funicular! The operators cleverly don't let you see the whole line because it would deter all but the hardiest from waiting it out. The lines snaked around . . .
and around . . .
you get the idea. It took over an hour to get to the actual funicular car; we kept telling ourselves it was worth it. We got a wee bit nervous when we saw two offices near the top: one said 'Halliburton' and the other 'Flagstaff'! Huh??
The actual ride takes about 2-3 minutes and the ascent is dramatic and very, very steep. There are only two cars which explains the awful wait time and we read that this is the newly-renovated funicular - can't imagine what the old one was like. We both find it hard to complain when we see a display of sedan chairs used to transport the British to the 'crag' (think that's about half way up) using coolie laborers. The mind reels . . .
The view from the top is indeed impressive. We are looking down at Georgetown and the straits over to the mainland.
The 'lock thing' has obviously caught on here.
And it's Penang so there's food, lots of it. We reward ourselves with a mango ice which is a huge treat of flavored shaved ice, sliced mango, topped with mango ice cream.
Yet another long line for the return journey and we're back home. Tomorrow is our last day in Penang . . . it's been a lovely, fun-filled time here.
No comments:
Post a Comment