A lifetime trip - A traveller's journal part 2

Assalamualaikum w.b.t (Peace be upon you)

Ok, sambungan part 1.

1 March,
The next destination in Cairo is the Saladin's citadel. The citadel is located about 10 kilometres from the Cairo University. This citadel was much bigger than the Qaitbay citadel in Alexandria. The surroundings and the original buildings, walls etc were still intact and preserved (Not well preserved though..). The first thing you'll see from afar is the mosque of Muhammad Ali inside the complex. Admission fee is 25L.E per person. The staffs were not so friendly, so be careful. Inside the complex, there's a military museum, police museum and a grand mosque, stood still at the heart of the complex. Honestly, there's nothing interesting inside the National Police Museum besides old uniforms, weaponry and insignias. I recommend you to spent some time in the Military Museum. But I'm quite disappointed with the exhibits on display in the museums. The diorama and most importantly, the lighting inside all the buildings. The lighting is really really sucks! At some places, only a single lighting bulb was installed. Plus, it could get really dusty inside the building, so it's practical to bring along mask or just a simple handkerchief with you. Negara padang pasir kan....Outside the National Military Museum, there are rows of fighter jets, tanks, missiles and artillery on display. For those military freaks out there, this is your chance to portrait yourself with all those tanks and jets. I know, because I'm a military freak too. Oh yes, don't forget to bring along your water canteen along to avoid your body from dehydration.

Saladin's citadel

2 Mac
Went to Nabteet village, a rural area at the outskirt of Cairo to dispatch some stuffs to my friend's family in Egypt. The trip took almost an hour and a half to reach there. Perjalanan dengan menaiki teksi dari stesen Abud menyebabkan kami dicekik oleh pak2 Arab dengan bayaran 100L.E. Semasa harga tambang dirundingkan, pemandu tersebut bertanyakan soalan default kepada setiap pelancong asing,

"Where are you come from?".
"Maalizia (sebutan dalam Bahasa Arab untuk Malaysia).Why do you asked?"
Pemandu menjawab, "If you're from China, I'll give you a free ride."
Kawan saya tak puas hati, terus mencelah,"Kenapa pulak. Setiap orang kan sama tak kira bangsa."
Dengan yakin pemandu membalas,"Sebab kereta ni buatan China".

(Tiada adegan jatuh kebelakang dengan kepala terdongak. Ini bukanlah anime)

*Aku puas mencari bukti ''Made in China, tapi stereng dan design kereta tersebut terang2 menunjukkan ini kereta BMW. Nak marah, nanti tak dapat naik. Nak gelak, kesian dengan tahap ilmu mereka. Saboorrr je laa*

Sudahlah tak tahu arah jalan (tapi berlagak tahu. Nak dekat 7 kali berhenti, tanya jalan), setiap perempuan yang kami temui sepanjang perjalanan pasti tidak akan dilepaskan peluang oleh si pemandu ni. Ada satu insiden yang menarik. Pemandu teksi ini sedang sibuk memandu sambil melayan lagu2 Arab. Tiba di satu jalan, seorang kanak2 (tadika kot) melintas secara tiba-tiba. Terkejut, si pemandu terlanggar kanak2 malang itu, walaupun dah emergency brake. Terpelanting ke belakang budak tu. Nasib baiklah ada beg sekolah yang menghalang budak tu dari melakukan 'sommersault'. No head injuries, thank God. Ikutkan hati, nak je lari, cari teksi lain. Tapi kami tak sejahat itu lagi. Lepas settlekan problem dengan orang2 sekeliling, driver kembali menyambung menghantar kami ke destinasi. Orang Egypt ni sifat dia memang taknak mengaku kalah. Egyptian Pride kononnya. Sudahlah salah diri sendiri terlanggar budak tadi tu. Kita yang penumpang ni pun dimarahnya.

"Kalau dah nampak budak tu tadi, kenapa tak suruh berhenti!". Dimarahnya kita balik. Bagus kan budi bahasa mereka. Orang Arab.

Arrived safely at the Nabteet village after an hour and a half long journey. It's a typical rural area where children play football with bare foot, donkey's dung were everywhere, rubbish and so on. Alhamdulillah, rumah orang yang dicari senang dijumpai. Semangat kejiranan kawasan kampung. Egyptian hospitality, we were served with foods and tea. Even though that was our first time to meet each other, they treated us as if we have long known each other for a long time. Very nice people. There, we experienced a lifetime ride on a donkey. Even I'm surprised how strong the donkey is. We stayed there until maghrib and was sent back to Cairo, for free! Kita tolong orang, orang akan tolong kita balik.

At Nabteet village, enjoying sunset with my friend, blogger, al-fareast

3 Mac
Hari ni dimulakan dengan sama2 menghadiri kelas pathology, kelas tentang organ2 badan (kot). Seperti biasa, lecture agak mengantuk dan membosankan. Time praktikal, kami dibenarkan menyentuh organ manusia paling penting dalam badan setiap manusia, jantung. Tapi jantung tu taklah normal. Mungkin berpenyakit sebab berwarna gelap sedikit. At first memang menggelikan. Berat jugak jantung ni. Yelah, student engineering yang dah biasa dengan gear dan skru, memegang organ jantung... Dalam 1kg lebih kot. Nampak live, depan mata apa yang dipanggil artificial heart. Bukan tu saja, dapat pegang lagi injap2 di dalam jantung tu. Dulu time sekolah menengah, belajar ikut buku je. Mana satu atrium kiri-kanan, ventrikel kiri-kanan, injap sabit. Sekarang dah rasa dengan tangan sendiri. Memang bangga. Dari kelas itu juga, penulis baru tahu. Organ2 diawet di dalam bahan yang dipanggil formalin. Memang ada organ tangan, hidung, kaki. Tapi penulis tak mahu mengambil gambar, bimbang disyaki apa2 oleh doktor dan pensyarah disitu.

After Zuhur, went to the "must see before you die" one of the wonders in the world, the Giza pyramid. The best time to visit pyramid is after Asar, between 4 to 5.30p.m sebab teduh sikit, taklah panas membahang. Ada cerita sedih yang berlaku sebenarnya di piramid Giza ni. Sesampainya kami di tempat parking motorsikal, kami ditegur (read: dirembat) oleh seorang pakcik tua yang menawarkan kami trip ke piramid dengan kuda atau unta. Bagaikan diPUKAU, kami menurut saja tanpa banyak soal (read:tawar-menawar harga). Since horses can be found in Hokkaido and Malaysia, we decided to ride on a camelback, but were being told, it was quite expensive than the horse. No choice, we agreed to ride horses until the pyramid. We agreed to pay 350L.E for each horse. Inexperienced, we thought that was the best price. Entahlah kenapa, kami langsung tak membantah. Perjalanan diteruskan and for the first time, I rode and steered the horse by myself! It's quite easy for the first time as the horse doesn't gallop too much. It's like an exercise for your back. At the pyramid area, the guide did asked me whether I and my friend want to take picture on a camelback or not. Malas nak melayan, penulis mengambil kesilapan besar. Mengiyakan semuanya. We thought the camel thing was included in the price we paid earlier. We THOUGHT! That was the mistake. Confirm your payment first before agreeing on something, especially when dealing with the Egyptian. By the time we return, we were both asked for another 200L.E for each camel. Luckily, we still have money left.

p/s: Nak tengok sangat hidung Sphinx yang patah kena meriam tentera Napoleon Bonaparte. Tapi masa melawat dah habis. Sempat tengok dari jauh je lah. Memang betul, patah hidung. The modern Egyptian Arabic name is أبو الهول (transliteration: Abū al-Hūl; English: Father of Terror).

Happy faces on the horseback...before we know kami telah dicekik!

We thought the "mencekik" was over, but no. Another tips (locally known as Baksheesh) was demanded by the guide. Dengan hati yang berat ditambah dengan sumpahan2, kami hulurkan jugak 100L.E seorang. Harga student. Totally, we spent 650L.E for the trip around pyramid. Bodohkan? Kami rasa memang kena pukau kot. Tengoklah kat mana. Piramid. Pusat 'energy' yang jahat kot. Dari zaman Firaun pulak tu. Takpelah, nak buat macam mana. Bukan rezeki kami. Tapi penulis segera teringat tentang niat penulis sebelum keluar dari rumah ke piramid. Niat penulis: Nak naik unta dan kuda. Kebetulan, memang di piramid kami naik unta dan kuda, serentak pulak tu. Kalau difikir-fikirkan kembali, niat tersebut Allah kabulkan dengan mudah. Ramai orang kata, Mesir ni macam Makkah sikit. So kenalah jaga mulut dan tingkahlaku di sini. And Alhamdulillah, setakat ini semua niat penulis dikabulkan Allah. So, too any travellers who wants to travel here, go with a good niat (intentions).

4 Mac
My friend and I took a bus from Cairo at 1:00 a.m and headed to Sharm el- Sheikh, one of the famous tourist attraction in Egypt. The place is famous for it's beaches. To go there, either by yourself or by tour packages, be sure to bring along your passport. The location is near to Sinai border, just next to Israel, so the security is very high. Some checkpoints even has an armored car. Arrived at the bus station at around 7:30 a.m. As you get off the bus, a bunch of taxi drivers will wait for you, their 'victims'. Be extra careful, and negotiate the price first. Our taxi took us to Sunset Hotel with a fare of 30L.E. The hotel is a 3-star rated hotel, complete with swimming pool and basic facilities. We only have free breakfast (buffet) and dinner (buffet), and free tour to the nearest beach and town. For 3 days and 2 nights, it costs us 640L.E per person. Student price la katakan. Service, makan OKla. Buffet for breakfast and dinner.As an Asian, I could feel and see some kind of double standard here. If I'm a white guy from Europe or America, the service would differ. Well, I guess it's everywhere.

5 Mac
A trip to Sharm El-Sheikh will not complete without visiting the beach. We went to Rass om el Seed, one of the famous beaches in Sharm El-Sheikh. Free shuttle service between hotel and beach was provided. As we arrived at the beach, lots of people from Russia and Spain mostly were already occupied the place. The surrounding...tak nak cakap la. Ramai yang berpakaian, tetapi telanjang, sesuai dengan sebuah hadith Nabi. OK, tolak tepi semua tu. Tipu sangatla kalau kata tak TERtengok. Air laut memang jernih. Crystal clear. Boleh nampak ikan berenang2 dan batu karang. Some area were full of rocks and corals. Memang sakit la kaki. Really, you should go and see the beaches at least once. The long journey from the Cairo is worthy. Once again, another incident with the local Arab. The Double Standard. From my observation, the Arab staffs will try to give a good service to the 'white people'. They will talk with sweet words, smile and could be really helpful. But when an Asian ask for their help or services, don't expect you'll get the same service and hospitality from them. This is a true experience. Now I understand something. If you read at the internet about certain hotel you're looking for a stay, some comments will say,"The staffs is very friendly. Highly recommend." or "A 5 star hospitality from the staffs. Looking forward to come here again.". What I can conclude is, those comments were from a white people, American, European or Russian. I bet no comments from Asian will be like that...except from Japan and China. Maybe. This is not racism. It's a reality in Egypt.

8 Mac
Today is my last day in Egypt. Ya, aku try tak buat ayat sedih. Pengalaman di Egypt, banyak yang aku boleh simpulkan, banyak perkara baru yang aku belajar. Eeeiii, banyak la. As for the last trip, I went to visit one of the 'must see and go' in Cairo, the oldest university in the world, the Al-Azhar University. That's the plan... but since there's a problem, the visit was cut short to visit the Al-Azhar Mosque only. Still, the quite and calm surroundings inside the mosque really worth it as my last trip in Egypt. As a symbolic gesture of my last homage to this mosque, I prayed Solat Sunat Tahiyyat-ul-masjid'. The design of the mosque is quite similar with the mosque in Medina, with an open air in the centre. One of my friends told me, the reason why the mosque was designed so is to remind the scholars and the ulama's (pious person) about the Holy Mosque in Mecca. Here I attached some of the view outside and inside the mosque.

Outside

Inside (credit to amirdad)

That's all folks. Next trip will be in Turkey insyaAllah. Siapa2 yang membaca blog ini, singgah kejap ke, 'ter'singgah ke (sebab google benda lain, tapi 'ter'sampai kat blog ni), doa2kanlah saya selamat sampai ke Turki in one piece.

Epilogue
Angkat je lah epilog (walaupun takde prologue). Let's sum up and do some review upon this trip.

1. Egypt is a really nice country ever! Ok, that's a big lie. The tourism industry has a good future. A country good for travel, but not for reside.
2. Be EXTRA careful throughout your stay.
3. Friendly neighborhood and people (read: only some people). The people could be really insistent sometimes.
   
4. Don't believe what you see in TV about Egypt, until you come and see for yourself. You'll be surprised. Clean and good smell city. Really.
   
5. If you ride a bus in Egypt,especially for the first-timer, don't forget to ask (read:shout) the driver to slow down before you get off from the bus. Why, the bus will only slow down a little, maybe won't even slow down.
6. It's better to have friends in Egypt, before going going to Egypt. Pretty useful when bargaining prices.
   
7. Common people only know certain countries in the world. America, China, Japan , Korea, Brazil and maybe Malaysia. Maybe. So when they greet you with a "Ni hao", just pretend to be a Chinese. Though it could get really irritating to hear it many times.
8. They hate to lose and hate to admit their faults. Be patience, as we know their education levels and most importantly, 'Egyptian pride'.
9. Getting around will be a lot easier if you know how to speak Arabic and a good bargaining skills. Once you get inside a shop, even just to look around, they will expect you to buy something from their shop. If you don't, you'll get a stare from them. How to avoid that is quite simple. Just say you'll take a look at another shop and MAYBE will come back to their shop. That'll do.
10. Don't mess around with the police, especially regarding sensitive issues. According to my friend, Egypt is technically still under Martial Law as war could erupt anytime with the neighboring country, Israel.
11. Egypt is the first country to double or multiple the price for tourist that I've been. Most of the countries in the world will give special price or discounts for tourist, but not in Egypt. The double standard and bias are still a problem.
12. Egyptian really loves tea (which they called, cai/shai) and fresh juice. Almost everywhere in Egypt you can find a shop selling fresh juices.
    

Sekian laporan dari saya, Kaherah, Mesir. Will continue with the trip from Turkey.