Our Great Adventure: Day 89 16/12/2014

Over breakfast we sat contemplating the saying 'never but off till tomorrow what you can do today' as we watched the rain pour down outside the guesthouse! After about an hour it eased a little and we decided that we would head for Penang Hill anyway, after all we should be used to the rain and given we're leaving tomorrow and it would be a shame not to go to the top. We got the local bus from just around the corner from the guest house and it took about 30 mins to get to the base of the hill and the funicular railway. Our original plan had been to walk up but given the rain we opted for the more luxurious and lazy means of transport and squashed into one of the carriages on the funicular railway. The ride to the top is steep and fast and we were soon disembarking (in the rain). The hill was once a fashionable retreat for Georgetown's elite and at 821m it is cooler and provides great views on a clear day. However it's all now a bit tacky with tourist stalls and souvenirs. We wandered around in the rain to see the Hindu temple and Muslim mosque that are both at the top and then headed to David Brown's restaurant for afternoon tea. It was good, if a little odd eating sandwiches and scones presented on a three tier cake stand and drinking English breakfast tea, but not as good as The Balmoral. It was probably our most expensive meal we've had in south east asia! Still you need a treat every now and again and we are both feeling a bit deflated and needed a pick me up. On the way back to the funicular we spotted long tail monkeys in the trees. They looked quite hilarious with their white ringed eyes. Back down we had a long wait for the bus back to town. With a bus journey to Cameron Highlands booked for tomorrow we decided to avoid a curry and went to a near by bar/cafe for pasta dodging the rain showers.