On Thursday morning 9th Sept I got up early and decided to get a train to Penang, however I had missed the real early one so opted for a Bus. Unfortunately finding the right bus turned out to be a drama and after walking miles with a heavy pack finally found what I thought was the right spot. This turned out to be a shuttle to a station way out of town, which was full of touts trying to get you to go on there bus. This was all contradictory to what was in the lonely Planet as I thought I could get the bus from the city. Anyway I finally got one to Penang for 35 ringgit, around $12 Aussie dollars.
There are some touts trying to sell to Butterworth which is on the mainland but then you have to get a ferry over to Georgetown Penang,so pay further ringgit for this leg so going straight to Penang seemed the best option. The ferry from Butterworth over to Penang was the only option up until 1985, when the Penang bridge was completed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang_Bridge
After a 5 hour trip on the bus to Penang I arrived at a bus terminal but it was not Georgetown where I thought it would drop me off. The lonely Planet either gave me a bum steer or I think I just got the wrong bus so turns out I’m on the other side of the city so I had to get a taxi into Georgetown for a further 25 ringgit. So the few dollars I thought I was saving by cutting out the ferry actually cost me a good deal more.
Anyway after a nice ride taking in the sights via taxi I finally arrived at my new digs.The Hutton Lodge - http://huttonlodge.com/
