If there's one thing I wanted to do in Penang, it was go to the top of Penang Hill. It's a hill. I like being at the top of hills. So. I Googled it. I Googled the walk path ("there is a fork in the path. The left path goes to a hut guarded by fierce dogs. Take the right path"), I Googled where it started from (the moongate), I Googled how to get there (number 10 bus), I Googled where the bus stops were. I had everything. I even found a bus stop that was closer to where I lived than the start of the route.
So I started to walk. It was a nice day, and I was enjoying wandering through new parts of Penang (turns out Penang is like really nice when you get out of the tourist bits). I saw a number 10 bus heading in the opposite direction - a good start! About 143 steps later, I realised that I was walking down a one way road. The bus would only be heading in the opposite direction. I'd walked too far for the bus stop I was aiming for... Not to be deterred, I had a quick look at my phone (I didn't have Internet access but I'd left everything open so I could still see it - I was organised.) which showed me that if I kept walking a little bit, I'd get to a bus stop, so I kept walking. And I found the bus stop! It even said number 10 on it, which was pretty impressive considering most of the ones I'd seen before had no signs at all. The Internet had said they came every half an hour. The sign said every 45 mins. No drama. So I sat and waited.
And I waited.
Another woman turned up.
And we waited.
She asked me how long I'd been waiting for. I said 30 mins - it felt longer. It probably was longer. She told me Malaysian buses are lousy and I should go to Singapore. I'd get a bus in 5 minutes in Singapore. (I can only assume she was from Singapore, hence the bias). She asked me where I was going. I told her. She said this bus doesn't go that way from this stop. I was pretty sure she was wrong - it was a one way street (again!) and I was pretty convinced the bus went down it whichever destination it was heading to.
A bus turned up!
She asked the driver about the botanic gardens for me (the start of the route). He said it was this way (I knew she was wrong), but the next bus. Another 30 minutes. By this point I had been at the bus stop for over an hour. I was hungry and it had got to early afternoon and getting hot. I didn't wait for the next bus.
Instead I wandered round the centre, I found a cafe, I ate, I cooled down, I found a hostel for tomorrow night. I chatted to my friends (yknow, on the Internet because the hostel I'm staying in at the minute is not conducive to making friends). I went for a wander along the seafront at dusk (the sun sets in the wrong direction...), and I headed to the Danish Indian restaurant I've been eyeing up. Mostly because it claims to be Danish and Indian which confuses me. I've just finished eating (more food than I've eaten all week) and I still don't understand. It's a great spot for people watching though :-)
It's been a good day despite the lack of hill. Perhaps I will try tomorrow. It is a public holiday tomorrow though so I don't hold out much hope for the buses. Perhaps I should go to Singapore. I'd get a bus in no time there!
On a separate note - Mum, I used the words deterred AND conducive in this blog! Check me out!
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