Pedestrian Guide: Walking in George Town, Penang

First, those who know me will understand that I usually walk everywhere regardless of the climate, so the first thing to cover is how friendly to walking is George Town.

Now, this is not even close to my first visit to Malaysia, so I was more than aware that the traffic can be interesting/crazy at times, so what about walking around?

In a previous visit to Malaysia, I spent time in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, and found it to be not too bad for walking around, with pavements on most streets and many street crossings.

The same is not true for George Town; in my wanderings around, I found that pavements are not the norm, but the exception.

At the very least, I have seen some double yellow lines on the shoulder, which seem to be where you walk.

Not that I have seen many people walking around, and most do seem to be walking in the street.

Crossing the street is interesting, as there are very few crossings. An example of this is right outside my hotel. There is a large shopping centre right next door, but there is no crossing. You need to take your life in your hands to cross the street.

For me, this is not unusual, having experienced traffic way worse than it is here in George Town. For example, while I was in Kuala Lumpur, crossing the street at a crossing was a case of running and hoping.

The countdown timers on the lights seemed to me to be about how long you have to have a lower risk of dying, rather than how long you have to get across the street.

The main problem was the motorbikes that just did whatever they liked, ignoring red lights, weaving around people trying to cross at a red light.

Just check this out, it's a classic example of madness, with a motorbike going the wrong way down a busy street. And yes, they almost got too close to me getting past.

In Kuala Lumpur, the city has had to put up large steel barriers to keep the motorbikes off the pavements, which, given how crazy the traffic is, is a very good idea.

While George Town does have these motorbikes, they are way, way better than they were in Kuala Lumpur, as they do not tend to ride on what pavements there are, and so far they have all avoided getting too close to me, which includes the above encounter.

That's a big plus for George Town.

If motorbikes, insane traffic, and interesting street crossings were not enough, there are the deep open drains.

Now, while I have seen these in other countries, the ones here are some of the worst I have yet seen.

The above photo shows some of the easiest to see drains. In other areas, they can be hard to see; some have basic coverings, others have cars parked so close you cannot get past, and yet others are basically open sewers.

Yes, I said some have basic coverings, but do not let this confuse you. I have seen these covered with wood, others filled with trash. Be careful, and you will be fine.

For the sake of completeness, the crossings have countdown timers not just for how long you have to cross the street, but also for how long until the following light change is due.

Just look at the above shot, which shows the wait for 69 seconds before the light changes. When the countdown ends, it changes to an animated green walking figure and counts down until the light changes.

Interesting, and something totally new to me, never seen that anywhere else. Maybe this is something that should spread, as it should improve safety.