16 December 2005

Inaccurate Travel Info

I have a Cambodian friend coming to Malaysia next week and he'll be stopping by Penang where I'll be responsible to take him around. How we actually met is an interesting story better left for another post. But in order to equip myself with more tourist-oriented Penang knowledge, I have started visiting various travel guide websites. After all, if I were to take him to places where most locals go, the travel itinerary will look like this:
  1. Prangin Mall

  2. Gurney Plaza

  3. Bukit Jambul Complex

  4. Return to 1 and Repeat
But it is interesting to see how travel websites portray Penang, and some information can be quite incorrect. Take, for example, AirAsia's travel info for Penang. The first sentence reads "Penangites leap at the opportunity to remind visitors that Georgetown, the capital of Penang, is home to one of the largest numbers of pre-war buildings in Asia."

See? That's the kind of information I never knew, and I'm sure most people I know will not "leap at the opportunity" to tell you about pre-war houses. Leap towards free stuff maybe, but not such trivia.

I urge all readers to check out popular travel websites like Lonely Planet and see what is being written about your state or country. You might just learn a thing or two, regardless of its truth value.

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