Also known as Air Hitam or Air Itam, this district moves away from the flash and colonial glamour of Georgetown, Penang’s capital and revisits an older, less urbanised way of life.
The two main attractions here are Kek Lok Si Temple, and Penang Hill with it’s funicular train. Ordinarily, neither of these things would excite us, and to be honest, we didn’t really have very high expectations going into this area. However, both attractions proved well worth the 30 minute Uber out to Ayer Itam.
Kek Lok Si Temple
This is a sprawling Chinese Buddhist temple, with multiple prayer halls, gardens, a towering pagoda, and an immense statue of the goddess Kuan Yin. Unusually, there is no enforced dress code, photography is allowed even in prayer halls, and guests have access to almost the entire grounds and facilities.
The temple is a true labour of love, with intricate detailing on all surfaces, from the walls to the floors to the lofty ceilings.
In the middle of the temple is a garden in which a towering pagoda rises. The pagoda is 2RM to enter, and you can climb to the very top for beautiful views over Ayer Itam and Georgetown, as well as the rest of the temple.
Alternatively there is the incline elevator to the statue of Kuan Yin (12RM return) for similar panoramic views. You can walk up and down to and from the statue but each way is 2km and the climate is hot and humid.
We caught an Uber to the temple which stopped in the driveway at the very entrance to the temple, but took the pedestrian route back down which zig zags through a covered path lined with stalls selling souvenirs. You’ll also pass by a Turtle Pond although this apparently will be moving location by Chinese New Year 2017.
Ayer Itam Market
The market consists of two streets lined with hawker stalls and larger Chinese groceries/pharmacies, and a few bakeries. We visited Choy Kee Confectionery and sampled the pandan lotus salted egg and lotus century egg pastries – 3.80RM each and deceptively filling, as they were sense and packed with oils and fats. The pandan lotus salted egg was both our favourite, due to the mix of textures and flavours. On the other hand, the century egg pastry didn’t even have any apparent pieces of century egg in it.
We also tried curry mee from the first stall outside the market for 4.50RM – the bowl came laden with pigs blood jelly and tofu puffs to soak up the curry broth. While the flavour of the broth was fragrant and packed with spice, we didn’t much like the pigs blood jelly. We had actually hoped to try the famous Lok Sisters’ Curry Mee; however they close at 1pm so make sure to get there early. Their stall is located on a small side street on the left hand side of Jalan Ayer Hitam as you head uphill from the market (keep the market on your right). It is just before a church, and apparently the two old sisters sit on the floor while conducting their business.
Air Itam Laksa was up next, widely regarded as one of the best assam laksas in Penang. The laksa we’re used to in the west is made with coconut milk and curry pastes, making it very rich and heavy; assam laksa however used fish paste and fish stock, making the soup much lighter. In fact, if you’re like us and have only ever experienced curry laksa you wouldn’t be able to recognise it as laksa.
This was neither our first nor our last bowl of assam laska, and what we have come to notice is that there are actually not very many noodles in each serving. Instead, much of the bowl is taken up with generous amounts of toppings, such as mint, red onion, fish, cucumber, chilli, and some form of Asian greens. Air Itam’s serving had a good balance of toppings, but the standout was definitely the broth which had a distinct sardine flavour, delicately balanced with a small amount of vinegar – unlike other versions we tried around Georgetown which were way too heavy-handed with the vinegar and ended up far too sour.
Penang Hill
A little way further into Ayer Itam is Penang Hill, which is not actually a single hill but a collection of high hills into which 50 or so bungalows were built in decades past as cooler retreats for their owners. The climate up here is much cooler and far less humid than Georgetown as the capital is nestled in a valley, trapping heat and humidity above the city.
Foreigners will need to pay a slightly higher price of 30RM for the funicular train that will take you up and down the hill (15RM for students). Following a packed ride up, you’ll be greeted with amazing views over Ayer Itam and Georgetown, extending all the way to the water and Butterworth on the mainland (Penang is an island). That is, if it’s not too cloudy. We were fortunate enough to get largely unobstructed views, although later in the day there were times when the view was completely gone, disappeared under a thick blanket of rain cloud.
The top of Penang Hill is full of other attractions however, which we actually had no idea of prior to arriving there. To be honest, most of the attractions are quite gimmicky touristy things like caricature artists, a brightly coloured tacky “Love Walk”, love lock bridge, expensive cafes and good courts, and stalls selling cheap little souvenirs, but there are also hiking trails, a Hindu temple and Islamic mosque, and the Monkey Cup Gardens.
You can hire a buggy to take you along the paths, but we recommend hiking as it’s a very easy road to the Monkey Cup Gardens. Along the way you’ll find more vantage points to look down over the valley, and you’re sure to run into some monkeys along the path too. If you decide to hire a buggy, you can ask the driver to stop whenever you want for photos or a look at the view so if you’re pressed for time you won’t be zooming past the sights without having a chance to appreciate them.
Alternatively, if you intend on visiting the Monkey Cup Gardens, they provide a free pickup truck service for customers. You can hitch a ride in the backseat or the tray on the back, and it ferries passengers both ways.
Entry into the Monkey Cup Gardens is 12RM, and includes a guided tour through the gardens before you go off to explore by yourself. Don’t be fooled by the name though – there are no monkeys here. Monkey cup is local term for the pitcher plant, a carnivorous plant with leaves shaped like pitchers, and which hold a mixture of water and enzymes to digest insects which slip in. The guide will walk you through the garden, explaining where the various varieties of pitcher plant come from, as well as the origins and characteristics of other carnivorous plants like the Venus fly trap. The plants are beautiful and can get quite large – we were lucky(?) enough to see a pitcher which had ensnared an entire rat inside.
Ayer Itam lacks the flash of Georgetown’s British and Chinese colonial buildings and modern malls, but still has loads of old-school charm, great food, and beautiful sights. And when the Uber is only 12RM from the middle of Georgetown’s UNESCO World HeritAge District to the entrance to Kek Lok Si, there’s no excuse not to visit.
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