Street art Penang, Chowrasta market, Chulia Street Night Hawker, what else can we do in Penang? Of course, there would be less memories if we do not spend time in Kek Lok Si Temple and Penang Hill.

Located in the southwest part of Georgetown for about 10km, this two places can be reached by bus through the bus station in Georgetown.

So take the bus heading to Air Itam, this bus will directly go to this place.

Kek Lok Si Temple

It is the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia and one of popular place for the pilgrims from Asia. One of the main building is the Pagoda, which has 30m heights or known to be seven storey Pagoda.

The statue of Guanyin or the Goddess of Mercy, located above the hill near the Pagoda. It is claimed to be the tallest statue of Guanyin in the world. The statue has its pavillion with 60m heights.

You can also enjoy the view of the city from the hill of Guanyin statue.

Kek Lok Si Temple has several large prayer halls and pavillion to pray. This temple still being used by monks, pilgrims for assembly and praying. They also have some souvenir shops selling statues of Buddha or some accessories.

When I visited here, there are some spots that still under construction. To reach the top of the hill, you can go up through the stairs (if you have spare time and good condition), but they also prepare some transportation to go up, but of course you have to pay extra cash.

It is interesting place to visit, and such a beautiful place with impressive architectural style. And also it is a huge complex area, so I recommend to go in the morning or after midday.

Penang Hill

Another place to go near the Kek Lok Si Temple, the Penang Hill. Located just 3km from the temple, Penang Hill also has its own popularity.

Penang Hill consists of numbers of hills, with the highest at 833m above sea level. This top of the hill can be reached by railway.

So, in order to go to the top of the hill, you have to purchase the railway ticket from the lowest station. You just need to prepare your identity card for local or passport for foreigner.

You will also get the receipt from the purchase, do not throw it because it has the number of batch and when will you can enter the station. The ticket costs 30RM each person.

Long before the Funicular system established, the only way to go up was by travel in foot or horseback, or carried using sedan chair.

It is really refreshing to see the stunning view from the hill. And I think the best time to go up here is before sunset. So you can enjoy some romantic ambiance during the sunset, of course if you go with your husband 😊.

It was also amazing view at night, when the city’s lights appear in the distance. And I think it is really worth it to go here.

The negative experience from this place is that you have to wait too long to go down. You can wait until 2 or 3 hours, just to wait your turn to go down by the train. And there is no way out besides using the train. I think the management has to fix this problem to give the best service for the tourists.

But apart from that, I really enjoyed my time in Penang with my husband. The city gave us unique, amazing experiences. And I would like to recommend this place to visit.

And this is my last part of Backpacker’s Itinerary post. And I hope you can enjoy my posts, and also will be useful for you. Thank you for reading my stories.

Keep caring and loving 😊