Colorful, more colorful, Georgetown!

Our 3-month journey is actually coming to an end soon. We have now reached our eighth and penultimate destination: Malaysia.
Slowly - and although there are still many interesting places, experiences, food and people waiting for us - we are starting to feel the return home. Phrases like 'it's no longer 2 weeks' or questions like 'what will you do first when you get home?' are becoming more frequent.
We also had some skepticism about Malaysia. We knew that the country is very advanced in terms of infrastructure, but after our experiences in Myanmar, we were a little apprehensive about dirty and rundown cities.

Our first stop in Malaysia is on the island of Penang in the northwest of the country. It can be reached by the former longest bridge in the world from the mainland of Penang.
With Georgetown, we have discovered a colorful place in every way. In no city before on the journey could we experience such a visible cultural diversity. Most of the people here are of Chinese, Indian, and Muslim descent. This constellation can be found all over Malaysia. The remarkable thing about Georgetown is the particularly peaceful coexistence of these cultures.
In our travel planning, we had to exclude India for reasons of time and route. Nevertheless, we still had the chance to pick up important cultural peculiarities and literally felt like 'Little India'. This district can be found in Georgetown, as well as in other major cities such as Kuala Lumpur or the city-state of Singapore (our final destination). After having had borderline experiences in cities in Myanmar, we are now even glad that we did not visit India on this trip - some documentaries clearly convey the severe conditions in this country (in terms of poverty, high crime rate, tons of littered streets and rivers, hygiene, etc.).

It is also very interesting for us to get to know the 'Chinese' here in Malaysia from a different perspective. Compared to the completely Western-fremden culture of the Muslims and Indians, the culture of the Chinese seemed more similar to ours. And that may even be an understatement. They were so friendly and accommodating here, and we felt comfortable and welcome. We experienced people in China who do not smacky while eating and who ask if we have already taken our pictures from a place so as not to push in. Perhaps the Malaysian Chinese have adapted to the friendly and civilized behavior of Malaysia over generations.

We spent two nights and effectively 1.5 days in Georgetown, as the city is very manageable. As we have done in the last few blog posts, we would like to show you our impressions with the following pictures:

In Little India there are still many family businesses like grocery stores or small businesses for home furnishings (rugs, tiles, etc.).

P.S.: Max is sunbathing.

Here you can find both Hindu temples and...

Chinese temples (and mosques).

Georgetown is especially known for its street art. Here are some beautiful murals :)

... and often entire houses are painted in bright colors. We like it!!

Throughout Malaysia, Teh Tarik (black tea with lots of condensed milk) is a popular tradition. We think it's delicious - despite the excessive sweetness.