Another day of relaxation and making the most of our stay both at the hotel & being so close to the beach.

Post breakfast we had a tour around the wider hotel grounds with the aid of the hotels shuttle buggy service!

Although we’ve been here for 4 days, we didn’t appreciate that we could make use of nearby tennis courts, golf course and spa, however given the heat and the cost, we didn’t trouble ourselves with any of these extra treats and instead enjoyed the simple things such as a sun lounger and the use of the pool.

The grounds of the hotel are however very impressive and it was pleasing to note that when they built the hotel back in the mid 1970’s, they were able to preserve the large original trees that stood on the site planted almost 250yrs ago by the first merchants arriving on the island.

The greenery and views are calming and beautiful, making our desire to leave the hotel that much less.

We meandered along one of the many paths through the grounds, which ran parallel to the water front and kept stopping to take in the view of the sandy beach and coastline in the distance.

Before we knew it, lunch had been and gone and it was already early evening. Another day had passed reading by the pool.

Andy went off along the beach and managed to catch another sunset, this time with a paraglider heading out for a final run before darkness descends.

For reasons unknown the local men appear with horses around sunset, presumably to try and convince tourists they want a photo on horseback. Whilst we both love horses, it wasn’t apparent that the Chinese tourists are, as very few seemed keen to get close, never mind want to ride them.

As this is our last night on the island of Penang before we fly up to Langkawi, we headed out for drinks and a bite to eat at one of the beach restaurants. Tiger beer as ever was the first thing on the menu, with Andy keen to get his thirst quenched before making any decisions on the food.

After deliberating about what to eat, we stopped off at a couple of street vendors, one of which was selling vegetable spring rolls. There was a large queue which drew us in and when at last they arrived in their little box with a chilli dip, we can honestly say they were the best we’ve ever tried. So much so, Andy went back and ordered another one!

Tomorrow we are off back to the airport and a short hop of 70 miles north to Langkawi. We’ve enjoyed Penang, especially Georgetown and have really appreciated the chance to have some downtime before we start our next big trip in Thailand in a few days time.