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Arabian Experience : Sahara

I am normally the type of person who could just go with the flow. Organizing my life into neat little boxes and to-do lists definitely didn't bring me any comfort : made me feel trapped inside, no freedom at all. This life- I was constantly fitting pieces of puzzles together, attempting to mould whatever my present condition was into the ideas of what I'm gonna do next.

On January 2014, a friend of mine spontaneously invited me to go for an adventure to north-western part of Egypt. It borders Libya. Specifically, we're gonna be playing in the middle of Sahara.

My mates and I were in Siwa, looking for the best way to Sahara. After a bit of research, we found that we could take a tour with a 4-wheel drive through the Egypt-Libya border. It was a day-adventure with only 100le with all the meals provided. Without a doubt, it was truly an unbeatable option.

On the day that we were scheduled to leave, we were brought by a minivan in the early hours of morning into a place that were full with 4-wheel drives. Once we were placed inside the wheels, they brought us all into the Libya border to enter the Sahara Desert.

Our first stop was the oasis. There's a medium-sized oasis in the middle of the desert with a miniature hot spring. The oasis coloured by the minerals in the water. It was contrasted with the colour of the sand. The fact that it existed in the middle of the desert was mind-blowing.

We continued our journey for a few miles ahead and stopped to play sand-boarding. Being from a country that didn't have any desert to practice our sand-boarding skill on, we really screwed our bodies with countless hard falls on the sand. Just name the positions of the fall, we experienced it all, I think.

We spent a few hours playing and drinking chai that was served by the tour. The chai was delicious, much to my friends' chagrin. They didn't like the strong taste of the herbs in that chai.

We spent much of our time later with racing across the desert, the jeeps will race amongst others. We experienced the high-speed racing on the sand, and we loved it.

The journey by 4-wheel drive was truly incredible ; we experienced so much, from the oasis, drinking chai in the middle of the desert to racing across the desert, and never had to worry about where we would be back into town and whatnot. The fact that everything was provided- and it was a very reasonable price- allowed us to enjoy this adventure to the core, and to getting know the people that we met along the way.

Go to Siwa and find a company that would help you to arrange a day trip; there is simply no better option to cross the Egypt-Libya border.

"Guys, we still got to explore Siwa, right?"

The eight of us nodded in unison.

Matrouh, Siwa & Sahara Adventure

14:01
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The Motherland : Malaysia

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"This is your Captain speaking. We will be descending into Kuala Lumpur International Airport shortly. Please fasten your seatbelt. Thank you."

I squealed in delights as I heard the announcement. I looked into the window as the sky was blanketed of darkness with hint of stars and the land downward were shining with city lights. The flight that was originally from New York and made their transit for hours at Dubai International Airport via their carrier, Emirates Airlines didn't weaken my spirits and enthusiasm as we're descending into my motherland : Malaysia. I didn't endure almost 28 hours of flying home to just feeling relentless or exhausted. I was ecstatic.

Hello Kuala Lumpur, I'm home.

Finally.

I moved overseas as a student in Egypt as my course of study requires six years or more to complete my medical school. Starting in 2010 and still on-going, I mostly spend my time being in Egypt and travelled around the world instead of going back home. I've been home two or three times for the past five and half years I've been staying abroad.

By the time I stepped out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, I was raw. I closed my eyes and felt the night wind softly slapped my cheeks and I felt an almost unbearable tug to spread my arms wide and yelled I AM FREAKING HOME. My homesickness was cured in an instance.

But unfortunately my parents can't fetch me up at the airport because they were out of country so a ride to KL Sentral via KLIA Express will just have to do. And it was 11.30 pm.

I got to meet my family, close friends and people that I've encountered my whole life. And the foods, ouh that was so awesome. Every Malaysian would agree with me on this : Malaysian foods are the best.

Unpredictable and diverse would be the words that I would choose to describe Malaysia. You really can't ever define what 'Malaysia' is, as it's so many things to different person. I always tell people who come to visit that they can have any kind of Malaysia experience that they want, it just depends on what they into. You can go to Penang or Kelantan for the foods, or you can go to Malacca or Langkawi if you're into history. Or maybe you can explore Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam and be inspired by the street art and the creativity which is so vibrant there. it really depends on what you want to see - because it's here.

"Attention passengers for Etihad Airways flight bound for Doha, the check-in counter is now open. Thank you."

Well, that's me.

Au revoir, Malaysia.

12:02
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Heaven on Earth : Interlaken

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It was on October 2013.

"Babe, Interlaken is not far from here. You wanna go?"

Suehanna nodded with her big smile. The late autumn season looked ethereal in Besancon, with temperatures kept ranging under 10 degrees. Later on, we went to KemWel that was owned by EuroCar for a rental. Blessed with an international license, it was easy for me to just go, showed them my license and voila, there's your rental. We need to pay around 150 USD to rent the car for four days. I would say that it was a sweet deal since we got automated-gear Ford Focus as a rental.

We took off from Besancon around noon. The journey was supposed to take three or four hours. But we went through some problems and we arrived in Interlaken at night. Driving in Europe is much easier than in Cairo. The people were extremely polite and no honking. In Cairo, one has to honk for one to go through their journey. It was devastated. I'm dreading the moment whenever I have to drive in Cairo.

At the border between France & Switzerland

When we arrived at the Swiss border, I expected the security there to inspect us and went through our car like when I was driving in the UK. But, Alhamdulillah, we didn't even have to show our passport and even license. I just cracked my window, put a small smile and stop the car. The guards came up at me and they thought I was an Arab. They looked into the car and waved, signalling me to just went on. Thank you Swiss border.

Our journey took almost 350km in one way. As soon as we crossed the border, I took a highway from Lausanne and Payerne to follow the route to Geneva and Zurich. Suehanna took action as my co-pilot whereas Mia and Halimatun were resting on the back seats. We went for a stop near Payerne to pray and took coffee break.

I resumed my driving in silence as I monitored the route. In Europe, one has to monitor the car's speed to avoid in getting a speeding ticket. And in Swiss, the highways didn't have many lamps as Malaysia did. I even have to used beam light of the car. But all in all, we finally reached Interlaken by eight pm. And I was slightly exhausted.

Welcome to Happy Inn Lodge, Interlaken

We spent our days in Interlaken with exploring the town and we did some activities. To get to know a new city, I like to wander through the streets and public spaces using all of my senses to absorb my surroundings. I went to Geneva and Zurich a couple years back, the cities were awesome. But Interlaken brought the standard much higher. In Interlaken, I was particularly struck by the sights of the absolute picturesque nature.

The next day, we went paragliding.

"Who will be riding with me?" A Japanese man by the name Miki suddenly asked. He began the process of untangling the ropes attaching to the parachutes to the harness.

I had gone paragliding in Prague, two years earlier, and wanted my friends to experience the same thrills : flying through the air, wind whipping our faces, eye to eye with the Alps. I personally wanted to go for skydive just like I did in Dubai but our budget was quite tight, so paraglide will just have to do. Seeing Switzerland from a different perspective was entirely refreshing, yet unnerving.

"We walk, and then run!"

Miki and I tethered together, and Miki held the parachute ropes in his hands, ready to take-off. On his count, we walked, and leaped skyward ; pulled by the parachute that caught in the wind as we flew.

As we flew over the valleys and mountain, unease gave way to dubiety and later, quiet joy. There was a pure glee surged inside me as we flew. The sunlight illuminated the Alps and the farms, homes, hotels and livestock that dotted under my feet.

After almost 40 minutes in the air, we were getting ready to land. The land downward seems closer, the homes and the surroundings getting bigger in proportions.

“Feet up!” Miki shouted. I kicked my legs out in preparation for our landing. Touching down, they raced of their own accord, trying to catch up with the speed at which we were landing.

We spent the rest of the days by wandering around town, getting to know the locals. We also went up to Piz Gloria, the place was widely known as James Bond's set and there was an exhibition inside the restaurant that displayed posters and things that related to the James Bond's movies.

"Let's go back home. I have class the day after tomorrow."

"Alright."

12:01
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Summer Break : Upper Egypt Adventure.

Ancient Egypt

“Nash, take me with you?”

I smiled.

“You’re gonna love the places.”

Every year, I seem to crave an adventure or two, and recently, my wanderlust took me to Luxor, Aswan up until Wadi Haifa in Sudan.

It’s midnight. Catching the 2:00 am train from Ramses Station, Cairo was more a matter of staying up late than waking up early. I arrived at the station with a friend, fellow medical student, Uja with plenty of time before our scheduled departure. We sat at the bench in the station anxiously awaiting our second-class coach train to start boarding. The anticipation of the adventure ahead was more than enough to keep us awake in the early morning hours, and we both figured we’d have plenty of time to rest on the train to the Upper Egypt.

When it came time to board, we carefully stepping around the sleeping passengers, we explored the other corridors of the train. We passed sleeping couples, families, solo riders, and exchanged friendly nods and smiles with our fellow passengers who were still up as the train sped through the predawn hours. Finally, Uja and I settled in our seats. We stared out of our respective windows from this new vantage point as our familiar, but fleeting city whipped past. I looked at my travel companion, her excitement was palpable.

The train took us past big cities and jagged terrain before opening up to beautiful landscapes, treating us to view of vast stretches of desert and small towns. The ride to Luxor was simply breath-taking. Luxor is thirteen hours from Cairo so when we arrived we were fortunate enough to still have the whole day ahead of us.

Uja and I, along with other passengers disembark at the station around 11 in the morning and when the train continued onto Aswan, we were left alone to explore the town. We spent the morning establishing our base camp at the hostel, and getting ready to explore the city of temples. We walked around the city, capturing moments that we made along the journey and embraced the 44 degrees heat. We met Mohamed by the pier. He wore a dark, long abaya, a traditional Arabs clothes. We spent some time talking, while our eyes feast upon the idyllic sunset. Some of the most insightful points during our day were getting his musings, wisdom, and thoughts concerning the temples and cities of the dead that were located in the Upper Egypt.

The rest of our trip went this way: we moved when we felt like it, and stopped when something captured our attention. The following ten days were spent trekking and ran through the cities of the dead. We roamed around in search of all the famous vistas we had grown up seeing in pictures and books. We were almost eaten alive by the scorching heat, we outran a sandstorm, and we photographed iconic temples formation. As expected, Kom Ombo and Abu Simbel were my favourite temples.

I’ve been a fan of Steinbeck for nearly five years and I love his thoughts on taking trips: “A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.”

All in all, the Upper Egypt is a scenic and diverse places; it is being slowly, almost-begrudgingly, renovated to cater to tourism after the revolutions (both on 2011 and 2013), but still manages to maintain its rugged landscape and cultural beauty. Whether it be desert, temples, or cities by the Nile, Upper Egypt has what you need for a low-key but absolutely memorable getaway.

08:19
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