Today I had a travel buddy to explore Penang a little further, we hopped on a 101 bus to try and do a loop of the island. They are extremely frequent and very cheap too, with the 50 minute trip 12km costing only 4 ringit (about 80p) So it’s simple to just hop on and do the loop of a tiny island right? Wrong! I wasn’t feeling very well so about halfway had to jump off the bus as i started to turn white and run to the loo, the overhang of my Bangkok Illness and Gin last night wasn’t a great combination added in with no breakfast this morning. I was a walking disaster zone! Not a great start to the day
Lily Pond at the Tropical spice garden Penang Island
I was OK after a quick feed, chicken fried rice, prawn noodles and some ribs were just the thing i needed but never knew. We were safe to continue the journey, but wait… “i’ve heard about that place on the sign, can we get off here?” was the cry from the cake lady. So we had an explore around The Tropical Spice garden, it’s a great little place to hunt around. Full of all sorts of plants, herbs, flowers and spices with a bit of back history about how they are grown and taken care of. There are all sorts of wildlife to spot and avoid. On the list to spot is
Kittens at the Tropical Spice Garden Penang, they were so teeny tiny they were unsure on their paws. Very cute!
everything from teeny feral kittens (so cute! barely coordinated enough to walk and chasing after their Mummy!) and delicate butterflies to big Iguanas on the avoid list. They are a bit scary looking to me but found in back gardens in Australia apparently… eeeeek! What am i going to do?!
Secret door to the Tropical Spice Garden, Penang
The garden is set into a hill just off a winding road so there is quite a hike to get up to the heart of it. There are winding tracks running throughout that you can weave your way through. With stepping stones across streams and ponds. As well as the most relaxing swing seat that throws you out over the higher level. I was close to losing a shoe it was going that high and fast!
They have a beautiful shop full of various food, health and beauty products that are made from the plants grown on site. I could have happily bought up most of it for gifts etc but was good, only dosing up on citronella. Despite the fact that i was hosed down in citronella oil when i walked in to the spice garden (forget Chanel Allure Sensuelle, Citronella is my new signature scent!) i was being mauled by mosquitos in the gardens. It
Pretty flowers in my favourite colour at the Tropical Spice Garden Penang
doesn’t matter what i put on they seem to find me very yummy go to town on my poor skin. It’s awful, and i am having the same nasty reactions to them every time i go to a new place as well. My saving grace is white tiger balm, i’m on pot number 5 in 4 weeks now… they are doing a roaring trade out of me 🙂 So i was keen to get out of there.
We jumped on the next bus to get to the bottom of the island but by the time we got to the interchange it was over an hour to the next one. The choice was to wait for a bit or go back and hang out at the beach? It was a no brainer really, we went to the beach to relax for a bit. Batu Ferringhi beach is not the nicest, the sand is very coarse and it’s littered
Shelter from the storm…
with men plying horse rides on some very poorly treated horses as well as the standard water activities banana boat etc. But, the view from the end of the beach at the River Stone Cafe at the end of the day is really very beautiful. Even on a stormy day like today there was a beauty in watching the sun rays disappear and be eaten up by the grey clouds swamping them in the grey.
I was safe under the canopy of the bar taking it all in and wimping out an evening out with my new friends. I’m an old lady, i need my rest! So i had a cheeky dinner at the famous Tek Sen on my way home, some more double roasted pork and prawns then was ready for bed.
A very tired and sandy cake lady signing off for a night of peaceful sleep, pass me the hot water bottle! 😉
Baci a tutti x x
