Temple of no less than 10,000 Buddhas

North of Ipho by a 4 hour train ride is Penang.  Penang is the smallest state in Malaysia consisting of two parts, one part is in the peninsular Malaysia and the other part called Polau Penang or island of Penang.  Penang is the only predominantly Chinese state in Malaysia with the most important city being Georgetown.  Because of it's location, in the important straits of Melaka, it used to be called the Perl of the Orient because of it's port.  Now a days there is still a port that's busy but it's really known for it's beaches and good food.

This is one of the major tourist destinations in Malaysia for the colonial Georgetown which is designated as a UNESCO world heritage site and the fantastic beaches.  I really had a good time walking around the colonial Georgetown and you can tell right away why it's a world heritage site.  Georgetown consists of a lot of narrow streets that are lines with buildings that are Victorian in their design which are now being renovated because of the world heritage site designation has brought the tourists.  Because it's old the streets are narrow and it's the only place in Malaysia that I have witnessed traffic jams.
 

Renovated Town Hall

Fort Cornwallis established in the 17th century.

Chinese Temple where they are burning incense.

    
Gastronomically speaking, my trip so far has been a success and Penang was no exception. Good food at a very cheap price, you can't get much better than that.

The best part of Penang that I really liked is the visit to the Kek Lok Si Buddhist temple (The Temple of Supreme Bliss)  which literally has at least 10,000 Buddhas and is set of a large hill overlooking parts of Georgetown.   If that wasn't enough they have a 100 ft tall Bronz statue of Kaun Yin who is a Bodhisattva known for her compassion, this was gift by the King of Thailand.  Most of the statues in the temple are of the many Bodhisattvas who are people that ascended to Nirvana.  I couldn't get good pictures because Kaun Yin was closed off due to construction.

This monument combines the Buddhist traditions of Chinese (bottom), Thai (middle) and Burmese (top),

All the walls are covered by these mini statues of Buddha.

I also caught a cold in Penang so I couldn't go to the beach like I had planned but just stayed at the hotel and tried to hydrate the cold away.  I bought the ticket to Bangkok and after the train getting canceled all last week it's finally running so I will update when I get there.