10 Amazing Foreign Vacation Destinations You Haven’t Considered
10. George Town, Malaysia
George Town is the capital of the state of Penang in Malaysia, named after Great Britain’s King George III. It’s a bustling, colourful, multicultural city, full of tumbledown shophouses, impressive colonial architecture, and countless trishaws ferrying tourists and locals alike around the maze of broad streets and narrow lanes. Ancient trades such as rattan weaving, joss-stick making, woodcarving, and fortune-telling still go on, in scenes which probably haven’t changed in a century, while the soaring skyscrapers of modern George Town gleam blankly overhead.
George Town is the most diverse city in Malaysia. There are many ethnic enclaves in the city, mainly located in the downtown area, in the UNESCO heritage zone. Little India is the most famous ethnic enclave, as it serves as a main financial center of the city. Chinese and Indian temples, neoclassical reminders of the British colonial past, and a plethora of old-fashioned little shops sprinkled across the city make George Town a fascinating place to wander. Most visitors to the nearby islands stay in the city, which has countless hotels, restaurants, and all the usual urban facilities. Those looking for the beach head to Batu Ferringhi or the less developed Teluk Bahang, a little further west.
