Georgetown, Penang Island

Google maps: Georgetown, Penang Island, Malaysia

After fun of the Thai islands we followed all the backpacking crowd down south and got to Malaysian island of Penang. Georgetown does not sound very Malay and it really is not - it feels more like Chinese, but then once you cross the street it becomes Indian to only few meters further become English colonial to end up Malay on a next corner. You can eat coconut rice (nasi lemak) or Indian masala dosa for breakfast, then for lunch or dinner noodles fried or in soup malay, chinese or indian style, Indonesian satay or Thai curries - and you have plenty of hawker food places to choose from. And then you have Unesco World Heritage sites neighbouring vibrant port city with intriguing murals scattered all-around (see photos).

But what really made me think is how all this different cultures come seemingly effortlessly together and complement each other. There were some major clashes in the past, especially when Malaysia was developing its own post-colonial identity, but Penang kept its uniqueness.  Big cities have their Chinatowns or Little Indias but here in Penang all these cultures are equal partners and not just an awkward distraction. Truly multicultural. This is how I always thought Sarajevo had been, but I just came too late to see it for myself. I hope in Penang it is here to stay for longer.Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia...