Georgetown is a great place to wander about, looking at the old British and Chinese architecture. I hang out for a bit in the active Kuan Yin Temple and sample some of the street food. So hot here though! I'm noticing the heat more after the relative coolness of the hill station. I need a shandy and a ginger beer to cool off.

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I'm walking, shambling along endlessly besides hot, dirty roads full of noisy traffic, a victim of bad buses but not complaining. For no reason I wander into the National Mosque, but there's not much to see and it seems to make people uncomfortable. OK, up towards the Botanic Gardens, still a long way off, but this time I catch a break from the hectic streets when I spot a small lane leading to "Cemetery No 6." Almost hidden from the road, the cemetery is surprisingly large, with lovely trees and logs of great old gravestones and statuary. Nothing like a quiet old cemetery to lift the spirits of a weary traveler. They'll be time enough for eternal rest before too long.

Turns out I enjoy the cemetery more than the Botanical Gardens, which are fine but nothing too special and plagued with chanting schoolkids and nasty monkeys.

I'm tired and consider a quick visit to a nearby Indian temple followed by a bus ride back. However, I've learned that a jungle path starts from just beyond the Moongate near here that leads all the way up to Penang Hill. Attempting the climb when I'm already exhausted is too foolish to resist.

Not surprisingly, I have to stop for a rest not long after starting the climb, maybe only a fifth of the way up. A young Chinese guy on his way down expresses concern over my condition, since I'm completely drenched with sweat and look like I'm about to pass out. Smiling, I assure him that I'm OK, not bothering to explain that I'd been hiking for four hours before I started climbing. He advises me not to rest too long or I'll get sleepy.

I take his advice and maintain a steady climb. An American expat I bumped into told me that I'd see a road not long past the #5 camp. However, just beyond this point I spot a jogger scooting up a tiny side trail. Like Alice chasing the White Rabbit, I can't resist the chase. Tired as I am, I've caught a second wind and continue climbing, faster than before.

Well, I can tell you that this is definitely not the easiest route up to the top of Penang Hill. This small trail gets very steep and is eroded in spots. I pass some intriguing ruins that resemble Roman columns and an area with many pitcher plants and ants the size of my little finger. OK, I just looked this up and I'm guessing the ruins were of a house that belonged to Raffles. The mountain here is named after his wife Olvia. There are amazing views from the top of the hills, stretching from well beyond the bridge to the south and extending to include the entire north side of the island.

The White Rabbit has descended along a different path, but with the luck I've had with the buses here I decide to backtrack to where I've seen them stop. Back at the #5 stop, I meet a garrulous old Chinese guy named Winston. He shows me old photos of himself running with a club up the path I just took. He's also a bit of a snake expert. He tells me he caught a coral snake very close to where we are talking. The Botanic Gardens once called him and a friend in to take a coral snake out of their Lily Pond (one of the best sections there BTW). His friend was bitten and unconscious within 15 seconds. He survived though. Winston says this guy ("a horse" he says) survived 38 poisonous snakebites. He also said the pit vipers at the famous Snake Temple to the south are defanged (what a scam!). Finally, he says that the Australian animal guy on television (Chris?) doesn't know the first thing about handling snakes.

Soon after leaving Winston, I chat with three other guys descending the hill. It suddenly starts to pour, so we all start hurrying down before we go down in a water slide. I wind up getting out far ahead of them and stand pathetically in the rain waiting for a bus.

Turns out one of these guys, Liu, has a car. Liu says they are going to eat and invites me along. We end up at a hawker stand type of place. Liu drops me off closer to town afterwards. Much later, after sitting with the Swiss girls for a while and then after hearing German Thomas's horror stories about Thai mini-buses, I sipped a Malta and felt I'd had more good luck than bad this day.

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Early Sunday morning, pleasantly drizzling, I wander the deserted top end streets of Georgetown, admiring the old buildings, feeling the sea breeze, and keeping a watchful eye on the large rats and many stray dogs. I sit on the Esplanade for a bit, looking up at the Thai coastline, where I've already made plans to depart for.

Swinging back, Little India is just starting to wake up, sending tempting smells and lots of color my way. Back in Chinatown, the wet markets are in full bustle, spilling into several of the streets, clogging up car traffic but not the persistent motorbikes. Men hack up fish while stray cats scramble for the entrails. Chicken and pig carcasses drip from swinging hooks. A man assiduously cuts up live crabs with a scissors. I guy reaches into a bowl of swimming goldfish to snatch one for a customer. Flies sit on spices and dried fish. Clothing is pawed over. I buy three mangos and two star fruits for 3.60rm, much cheaper than Cameron Highlands.

Now for breakfast! The small dim sum shops tempt me, but they are already full up. I'm always happy with a roadside mee goring. I ask for a large one and get a little bit of everything mixed with the noodles: squid, dofu, egg, potato, bean sprouts, chili, and something chewy I can't discern, all topped with lettuce, hot peppers, and of course the lime wedge. I never eat at a stall that doesn't have the lime wedges.

Later, for contrast, I amble about the Komtar shopping complex, whose huge building seems only half occupied. It has the only empty Starbucks I've ever seen! A security guard's footsteps echo as he paces a nearly deserted fourth floor. Few sites are as doleful as a nearly deserted mega-mall!

Late afternoon, the streets are as deserted as Komtar now that the market has closed. The only thing left to do is some temple hopping. The best two I visited were the small but ornate Yap Clan Temple and the much larger and more ostentatious Khao Kangsi Clan Temple. The latter scared me a bit with it's admission fee that included a stack of cheesy postcards, but the main building is extremely interesting, decorated with ceramic dragons, tigers, elephants, and temple people. Two raj type guardians stand at the base, followed by a happy and sad buddha (the guard says one is rich and one is poor) and incredibly detailed scenes on the walls. Don't miss the wonderful paintings on the back wall.