Guess where this is?

[lecter]

Nope...

[KvHagedorn]

Dilapidato, Chile?

[Brian Ellis]

Originally posted by lecter
It's the Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort in Penang On a side-note, Penang would be worth a visit, no? Does it preserve a lot of its former colonial charm?

You are right, but that's like saying it's the Holiday Inn in California. Penang is a State, not a town. The capital city is Georgetown on Pulau Pinan (Penang island) but Fort Butterworth is on the mainland part of Penang. The Rasa Sayang is at Batu Ferringhi (transl. Foreigners' Rock) on the north side of Pulau Pinan.

Yes, Penang Island is worth a visit of a few days. If you want the old-world colonial life, you can stay at the E&O hotel in Georgetown, at a price http://www.e-o-hotel.com/eohotel.htm This is run by Sarkies, the same guys as Raffles in S'pore. There is still a colonial air around parts of G'town, but there is much to see there. At Batu Ferringhi, there are many hotels at all price ranges. Possibly the Holiday Inn offers you the best value for money, provided you make sure you are in the beach-front part and not the annexe over the road. The Mutiara, which is the most expensive (comparable to the E&O), was one that was hit worst by the tsunami (50-odd dead and 30-odd missing in Penang, last I heard), but it is already back in business.

Penang is different from most of Malaysia, because it is Chinese by majority and there is therefore a large number of Buddhist temples and fewer mosques.

[lecter]

Is that even a place?? I know it looks the part, but seriously, who would ever name a city "Dilapidado"?

[Brian Ellis]

Asia??

[lecter]

Asia it is...

Just checked out the E&O...'tis veeery tempting for a romantic weekend

[Brian Ellis]

Could the river be the Ganges? I'm thinking of the Haridwar region in Uttarranchal, where I have seen scenery like that, although I'm pretty sure it is not Haridwar itself.

Alternatively, could it be the Mekong?

[lecter]

it's not a river that can be seen, hence not the Ganges or the Mekhong...a tiny clue: I had to crop the picture since immediately on the right a very unique and famous landmark could be seen.

[Brian Ellis]

AH! Am I in dire straits? In which case, is one, t'other or both sides an island? Could it be round and about HK?

[lecter]

The background is indeed an island...and you are VERY close to where it is

[Brian Ellis]

Macao?

[lecter]

Precisely. I took that picture from one of the hill forts, the famous Sao Paolo church facade was what I cropped...

As a side-note, it's a fantastic place, really the one city in Asia besides Bangkok (from what I've visited so far) where I could actually live...all those little alleys, picture-perfect parks, the whole Mediterranean feel of the place-pure bliss

[Brian Ellis]

Plenty of clues in this one

[Goc]

Errrrrmmm... Somewhere in Africa?

[Brian Ellis]

Nope: I admit the flesh tones are darker than I would have expected: maybe the original author had increased the contrast. Concentrate on the person in red for a better idea.