Balik Pulau is the main township on the southwest part of Penang Island. The name Balik Pulau means "on the other side of the island". It has the last patch of paddy fields in Penang Island, and that is where I shot the above photograph for Penang Travel Tips and AsiaExplorers. Balik Pulau is traditionally popular among the people of Penang as where they will get the best fruits. This is where Penangites throng every durian season when the fruits are in abundance. Many swear that Balik Pulau durians are still the best anywhere in Malaysia. AsiaExplorers has a page specially devoted to Balik Pulau Durians here.
Of late, Balik Pulau has also built a reputation as a food haven for the locals, who come for the famous Balik Pulau Laksa and Pasembur at the Balik Pulau Market, the Laksa Janggus at Kampung Perlis, and the Hokkien Mee at Kampung Kuala Jalan Bahru.
The hills surrounding Balik Pulau Town (also called Kongsi) are clove and nutmeg plantations, in addition to the durian estates and fruit orchards. Clove and nutmeg were introduced to Balik Pulau by the East India Company in 1794, after the British founded their settlement on Penang Island.
Once a quiet hamlet, Balik Pulau has seen much housing development, spilled over from the expanding metropolitan area of the west coast of Penang Island. The road leading towards Balik Pulau is now being upgraded by smoothening some curves and the building of a few bridges.
Finding Accommodation in Penang
If you're going to Penang, you now have the option of finding accommodation in a hotel, or look for one in hostels and guesthouses. To book a room in a star-rated hotel, use the Penang Hotel Guide for Budget Travelers. To find accommodation in a Hostel or Guesthouse, use the Penang Guide to Hostels and Guesthouses. Each link provides detailed listing of the type of accommodation you can expect in Penang. Be aware that you get what you pay for. If you need a certain degree of comfort, then a star-rated hotel may be an ideal option for you. On the other hand, if you are able to forego a bit of creature comfort, then hostels and guesthouses are clean, safe, and incredibly good value for money. For accommodation in other destinations, visit Hotel Guide for Budget Travelers or Hostels & Guesthouses Accommodation Guide.
Balik Pulau is where you find the last remaining paddy fields in Penang.
The new Balik Pulau Mosque
The view of Balik Pulau from the viewpoint at Jalan Tun Sardon.
Let us keep you updated on everything related to Penang. Just copy and paste our link to your website or blog.
Here's the latest updates from my websites ...
Thank you very much for visiting Penang Travel Tips! My name is Tim. I am the writer of this website. I created it to share with travel enthusiasts information that I have assembled about Penang, which I hope is useful to you, and is as accurate as I am able to put together.
Penang Travel Tips combines my knowledge of Penang with talking to people, asking questions, taking photographs, snooping around, and lots and lots of research. I hope that through Penang Travel Tips, budget travelers can explore Penang on their own. This is one of over a dozen websites that I write - you can click my thumbnail photo above to randomly visit any one of them. All my photos are available for commercial printing - find out the photo usage rights here. If you wish to share your photos on this website, upload them to Panoramio (www.panoramio.com) and send the URL to me for consideration. I would love to display your photos here. Also, if you have additional information about the places I have written about, please write and tell me about it. If I include your information, I will provide an acknowledgement within the page.
I want to thank all of you who have written to me providing support and encouragement, and thanks also to those who helped me make the information more accurate. If you'd like to correspond with me, send your mails to my address as shown below:
