Egypt Gateway...

At last, I found the right time to 'run' my fingers for the sake of polishing and unleashing my writing skills. Besides, I want to share with you my experiences as The Next Globe Trekker-The Malay Version. Hehe...Ponsikou ( Thank You in Dusun ) to Jaime Yeoh ( a good friend of mine- Lobang hidungnya dah kembang la ) after challenging me to create a blog of mine. ( Yelah, ketinggalan zaman katanya. Maklumlah, I tinggal kat Tawau Bumi Peladang ).

So, the moment of truth has come. On 22nd Nov 2008, at last my dream came true. I set off onboard Egypt Airlines. Thanks to Ustaz Ahmad Nawawi (017 2297596). Dia lah yang menguruskan pakej dari KL-EGYPT. Saja sertakan no. hp dia, who knows, u guys interested.

From Tawau, I went with my friend, Miss Rokiah Arsad a.k.a CC at the school. At the KLIA, we met 1 more person who would join us. She was Kak Hendon Nawawi ( a pensioner of Majlis Perbandaran Klang ). Barulah kami berkenalan. What a surprise!!!. We met Datuk Sharizat Abd. Jalil and Datuk Suhaimi Ibrahim at the airport. ( Malaysian supposed to know these 2 guys. Sapa yang tak tau tu memang dungu politik. Hahaha ). We were at the same plane you, heading to Cairo. Dorang ada meeting katanya. Kalau I meeting, paling2 kat BMG room je lah.

We transited at Bombay for 1 hour after 5 hours flight from KL and continuing 6 hours unbearable boring flight. Nak tau pasal apa boring gila?. Pasal takde tv kat depan kerusi yang kita boleh pilih program yang kita nak tengok. Thank God the foods served frequently, satisfied my taste buds and a lot of choices. What's more important was, the cabin crews look muy guapo/a ( handsem/ cantik gila ) to my lasered eyes. Hahahah.

23rd Nov 2008
Yeah, at dawn we touched down at the Cairo International Airport after 12 hours gruelling flight. In Malaysia, Airport is a free-smoking place but not here. Pegawai yang imegresen yang merokok. Dan bagi orang yang elergi pada asap rokok macam I ni, plus with 'unstable progestron hormon condition', mulalah pening. We were greeted by a tall, fair and handsome. If you looked into his eyes, you noticed green, blue pupil. But the beauty of his eyes hidden under frameless spectacle. His name was Islam.

We stayed at the Cairo Khan Hotel. Couldn't wait to reach the hotel and having nice, hot shower. Bau badan dah "acem".

At about 10 am, we proceed to visit the Pyramids area. I couldn't believe my eyes standing before the great pyramids. I thought, others felt the same way too. Excited beyond words!. You could tell from how they pose for photos, climbed the block etc. I pun tak nak lepaskan peluang.
Balik hotel lewat petang. Lepas mandi, terus tertidur. Maghrib masuk jam 4.56 pm dan Isyak pada 6.17 pm. Awal kan?. We misses our dinner sebab ketiga-tiganya dah Zzzzzzzzzz.............

24th Nov 2008
We started the day today dengan melantak. Maklumlah, tak makan malam. Lepas tu, jalan2 sekitar downtown cari "plug", memory card. At 1.00 pm, we heading to Amr Ibn Al-Ass Mosque ( the 1st Mosque in Cairo ). Masa melawat tu masuk waktu Asar. Ada seorang Pak Arab sound dalam Lughatul Arabiah, "Sembahyang itu lebih baik dari menangkap photo". Kami tahu selepas ditranslate oleh Adi, another tour guide yang berbangsa Indonesia. Alah, kami taulah bila nak sembahyang. I 'off' dan yang dua tu dah jamak takdim. Apalah!!!!
Egyptian Museum was our next destination. Sampai je, tgk angle terbaik untuk photo shoot. Apa lagi, posing la. I was amazed once got inside the museum. Barulah nampak the huge granite statue of pharoahs, the sarcophagus etc. We were companied by one of the museum officer. He was the one who responsible to answer zillion of questions from us.

Melangkah ke tingkat 2 muzium. Lagilah tertelan air liur bila melihat keranda sebanyak 4 lapis yang bersalut emas. Tingkat ni khas untuk harta-harta peninggalan Tutankhanum sahaja. Nak curi2 ambil gambar, tapi banyak CCTV. Not allowed to take photo inside. Tak pasal2 sebab terlampau ghairah ambil gambar, buat hal pulak di tempat orang. Malu kalu keluar berita.

Tonight we spent the night on Sleeping Train. From Cairo to Aswan, the journey took 12 hours. What an experient! Dinner and breakfast would be served.

25th Nov 2008
Arrived in Aswan. We were greeted by a black man. We asked among ourselves, "is he our tour guide?". And no one could answer that question. We were escorted to our van and soon, a not-bad handsome guy approaching us. He asked us couple of questions such as where are we from, bla..bla..bla..And he introduced himself as Said. And he was our tour guide in Aswan. My heart beated so fast and i was overjoy it was him, and not the black man. Hahaha. We straight drived to High Dam and took several poses there. I asked Said to take photo with me and guess what he said, " I feel lucky to be taken photo with a beautiful girl today". And I reply back, "I feel even luckier". While facing the Lake Nasser, i pose as if i am the "America's Next Top Model" and guess what was his comment?. "She likes to take photo". Well, what can I say...


We spent some time at a perfume shop, owned by al-Fayed and bought Papyrus. What's good about this perfume was that, it contained no alcohol and 100% pure essense of Papyrus.
Next, we proceeded to Botanical Garden which is situated at the Elephantine Islands. We go there by Felucca ( bot la senang cerita ). Before check-in Cleopatra Hotel, we strolled down the road looking for fride magnet, key-chain and other souvenier.
At 7.00 pm, we were out again for Sound and Light Show at Phillae Island. Ke'jakun'an sikit masa first time tengok Hieroglifik kat dinding. Macam satu lagi mimpi jadi kenyataan. Yelah, sebelum ni tengok hieroglifik ni kat gambar je, sekarang kat depan mata. Yang bestnya, masa masuk pintu masuk, beg kami tak diselongkar pun. Orang lain, beg dorang kena selongkar. Jadi, I pun tanyalah si Said. Katanya, sebab beg kami tak diselongkar ialah kerana kami bersama-sama tour guide yang paling glamer dan hansem kat Egypt. Hampeh punya jawapan. Lepas tu baru lah dia betulkan, sebabnya ialah kami pakai tudung. Ohhhh, barulah boleh terima akal jawapannya.

26th Nov 2008
We woke up at 3.00 am today. The time taken to Abu Simbel took 3 hours by land. Semua kenderaan yang membawa pelancong kena konvoi. Mungkin sebab keselamatan kot kena konvoi. Maklumlah, Abu Simbel terletak berdekatan dengan sempadan Sudan. Puasnya hati bila dah sampai sini. Memang inilah tempat yang I teringin sangat nak pegi. Sebelum ni, tengok dari Channel Discovery je.

Balik tu kami dapat tau kami bermalam kat Princess Amira cruise. What a vacation?. Felt like the rich and famous onboard. Hahaha..

27h Nov 2008
So we sailed to Kom Ombo (Golden Hill) to visit Kom Ombo temple. Shortly after that, we sailed to Edfu to visit Edfu Temple. Dari cruise ke Edfu Temple, kami naik kereta kuda. Hari ni macam mood Said tak berapa baik. Orang keluarkan kamera nak rakam penerangan dia pun dia pandang semacam. Lepas dia tahu penerangan dia nak dirakam, barulah dia malu-malu unta. Actually, he sore troat. Dan dia nak orang dengar penerangan dia. Macam budak2 sekolah pulak dia treat kami. Lepas dia bagi penerangan, dia tanya soalan. Biasanya, kami terkebil2 je.

@Edfu Temple

Hahaha...Yelah, English dengan slanga Arab. Kena dengar betul2 baru faham apa dia cakap. Teringat pula macammana dia dengan susah payah menyebut VENTILATION. Sampai terbelit-belit lidahnya.

What a sad moment. The time to wish goodbye to each other. We gave him a pouch as a token of love from us. Uwwaaaaaa.......Nampaknya naiklah aras air sungai nil disebabkan air mata kami.

28th Nov 2008
Terasa sunyi, sedih dan muram hari ni. Maklumlah, bukan Said lagi menemani kami. Tour guide kami hari ni ialah Ali, seorang anak muda yang sangat kurus dan sangat tinggi, rambut keriting.
We started the day passing the West bank of Nile at Luxor. Stopped for few minutes at Colossi of Memnon before straight to Valley of the Kings, which was the place where 62 pharoahs burried here.

At 2.00 pm, we visited Temple of Queen Hatshepsut ( the most precious woman). The only temple built for queen. We encountered Egyptian school kids doing their Study Trip. Best betul dorang ni. Friendly, energetic and very co-operative. Bukan sekadar budak-budaknya, cikgunya pun sibuk bergambar dengan orang Malaysia ni. Sehinggakan minta tandatangan Kak Hendon?.

29th Nov 2008
Boring sikit hari ni. Menghabiskan masa lepak kat atas dek Princess Amira. Cuma menunggu untuk check-out dan tunggu sampai jam 8.00 mlm untuk naik train ke Cairo. The journey took 9 hours from Luxor to Cairo.

30th Nov 2008
About 5.00 am, we reached Cairo. Islam lagi yang menyambut kedatangan kami. Masih menginap di hotel yang sama. Hari ni ronda-ronda kat Citadel, Mohammed Ali Pasha Mosque dan Gawhara Palace. Semuanya terletak dalam kawasan Kubu Perang Salib. Lepas tu, lalu Univ. Al-Azhar, Masjid Imam Shafie dan Masjid Hussein (Cucu nabi Muhammad yang dipenggal kepalanya. Kepalanya masih ada kat dalam masjid ni. Masa ni masuk waktu asar, jadi tak dapat tengok sbb org nak mengerjakan solat).

Ali Pasha Mosque @ Citadel

1st Dec 2008
Jalan2 kat Crystal Asfor, Soldier Memorial and Anuar Sadat tomb. After that, to Maadi City Centre and City Stars Centre. We were given 3 hours shopping at City Stars Centre. But after 1 hour, three of us dah tak bertenaga lagi untuk berjalan. So, we just straight to the airport.

2nd Dec 2008
Malaysia, here we came!.