🇨🇭 Zurich → 🇲🇾 Penang · 1 week

Eat Penang asam laksa at the original Ayer Itam market stall near the Kek Lok Si temple — it's a 40-minute bus ride from Georgetown but the tamarind-fish broth version here is markedly different and better than the tourist-area copies. Go before noon.

The street art trail in Georgetown is best navigated with the free George Town Street Art map from the Penang Tourist Centre on Jalan Tun Syed Barakbah — the Ernest Zacharevic murals along Jalan Armenian and Jalan Ah Quee are the anchors, but the hidden clan jetty art is the real discovery.

Khoo Kongsi clan house on Cannon Square is one of the most extravagantly decorated Chinese clan temples in the world — arrive when it opens at 9am before tour groups, and look up at the carved roof dragons that took craftsmen 19 years to complete.

Take Rapid Penang bus 101 to Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera) — the funicular ride and summit views are the postcard, but the real gem is the 130-year-old colonial bungalow walking trail at the top, almost entirely deserted on weekday mornings.