#ryanwilltravel

Although I am in Cambodia now, I still have a lot of catching up to do since my last blog about Penang.

Our first actual day in Penang started with a nice surprise. By chance we were bunked with a friend we met in New Zealand while working at Indevin. After a quick chat we parted ways for the day. First we headed to the Kek Lok Si temple which was pretty amazing. The architecture was very impressive. RM$2 each way will get you to the top of the Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas or to the statue of Kuan Yin. We opted to go to the statue and again, I was very impressed. The view of Penang from the top was also impressive, despite the moderate level of smog covering the city, it gave it a mysterious ambience that left one feeling a bit tingly inside. Then out of nowhere came the rain, but it only lasted a few minutes. There was a cool Liberation Pond with what seemed like hundreds of turtles all crammed into it and one VERY large turtle off on his own. After exploring the lower temples and making our way back into the town we headed to the Snake Temple. From our understanding, this temple is crawling (or slithering) with snakes in a sort of stupor due to the amount of incense burning on an almost constant. The closer we got, the more the excitement mounted! When we arrived to the temple, we were met with an impressive front and a sign off to the right giving a little description of the temples origin. When we entered the temple, the only snakes we saw at first were a very large ball python and another decent sized constrictor. When we walked outside to the back of the front  temple we were disappointed to find there were no other snakes, besides the three we saw in a cage. It was very unfortunate for us considering the time it took to get there and everything we had read about it. On the bright side, we got to see a lot of Penang by bus which was a plus for me. So we made our way back to the Red Cabana Inn to relax in the air conditioned room and cool off a bit before heading next door to the Red Garden market for more beer and food. We walked to the ATM to get a bit of cash and ran into our new room mate and old friend from New Zealand, who like us was ready for some beer and food. The three of us walked back to the room to drop some things off and drink a small bottle of watermelon vodka. Several large beers, yellow curry, fried omelette with cuttlefish, dim sum, sushi and a plate of barbecued chicken feet later, it was time for sleep. Another traveling day ahead of us, we were happy to get into some comfortable beds and a cool room. I would recommend the Red Cabana Inn to anyone who is in Penang and looking for a moderately priced place to stay that is very nice, and well located. The rooms are extremely clean, the bathrooms are really nice, the showers were amazing. The air conditioner rocked as did the wi-fi and they also serve breakfast every morning, which is just toast and butter. Coffee and tea is fee all day and there is a filtered water cooler in the 'lounge' area which is really awesome if you carry a bottle with you.