Travelog Alexandria, Egypt Part 1

Salam and hi,

Studying for finals is hard when you have internet within your reach. You may attempt to do online questions on your laptop but your finger is itching to open instagram on your iPhone, while the iPad which was meant to help you by showing medical Youtube videos has betrayed you by showing your favourite Korean movie scenes instead. Sigh. Your books? Well they are opened all the time regardless. My my my. My lack of concentration and focus is worsening lately.

Anyways, I want to write down about my experience in Alexandria in this post. From Mansoura, it took about 3-4 hours driving to get to Alexandria. Luckily, we hired an Indonesian Ustaz who speaks Arabic, who drives Toyota Avanza van (I really thought this ustaz is an elderly who works as tour guide in Egypt. But guess what, ustaz ni umur 25 i think? err mude nye). It cost us 715 Le Per day in Alexandria and 600 Le in Cairo.

Arriving in Alexandria, the first place we went to is our Hotel. We booked Hotel Siesta Alexandria. For three nights, 1 double room and 1 triple room cost us GBP 229. The hotel was not too bad except for finite amount of hot water in the bathroom and lack of heater in the room. It was freezing cold at night. Mind you its still cold in winter although its Egypt. huhu.

Le window

Le sofa

Pictures of the lobby in Siesta Hotel.

Then, finished checked-in and settling down in the room, we went to Alexandria City Centre. It is a really huge mall in Alexandria. We only wanted to eat some simple food in a clean place, so the ustaz brought us here. We decided to eat at the food court since its usually quick, cheap and clean.

I chose chicken kebab and some rice. Cost me about 30 Le i think.

This is pinat's seafood platter and rice. Bit more expensive than mine

This is Azree with his food. Think its the same as mine

They got pizza hut, KFC, Baskin robin, Carl's Junior etc. Plenty of western food branches I must say.

Us without nazam I look chubby here lalalala~

Us right in front of Alexandria City Centre. Thanks ustaz for capturing this picture. hehe

We decided to change our itineraries since we were 3-4 hours behind of our itineraries. So, instead of going straight to Alexandria National Museum, we skipped the museum and went to Fort Qaitbey aka Benteng Qaitbey Alexandria and Pharos Lighthouse Alexandria first.  This is because, according to the ustaz,  this place look better during sunset. He's right though. hehe. These places are included in the ancient 7 wonders of the world. They are significant in Egypt history.  A must go!

I like this pic. Such a peaceful place.

Some of the stalls on the way to benteng Qaitbey

Souvenirss

Me and my other half with the background of Fort Qaitbey. Its actually an imposing castle fortress. The real one was destroyed due to natural disaster (earthquake) or war? Not sure. haha Don't quote me on this.

Enjoying the sunset view in front of Fort Qaitbey

Some more picturesque view of Fort Qaitbey

Since, it almost dark, there's nothing much to see anymore. So the ustaz brought us to Stanley Bridge before we went to dinner. Why it's called Stanley bridge? I have no idea. According to ustaz, a guy named Stanley build this bridge haha Hafta check the fact.

Here is the Stanley Bridge. A normal looking bridge with the view of Mediterranean sea at its side. Since its one of the tourist attractions, a must go jugak.

Nothing to do here

For dinner, we went to Hosny restaurant. The name of this restaurant reminded me of my classmate who have similar name. haha. This is a seafood restaurant. Quite a posh one I think? We went here primarily because they have Wifi. Ha. Time to update Fb, Instagram and twitter (although I don't have twitter)

Hosny restaurant

Le fishes with goggly eyes

The meja makan

Nazam looked happy here but in reality he was actually struggling to connect to the Wifi when we were all managed to connect to the router easily. Tough luck when internet doesn't like you

This is the actual face of a satisfied customer.

Ordered a grilled fish kongsi 5. Sedap gila a. Rugi tak amek sekor sorang

This is ala prawn nasi goreng. They have side dishes too. Sedap but a bit melekit nasi die

And that's how we spend our first day in Alexandria.

Later Part 2, 3, 4, 5.....

Efi

Travelog Mansoura, Egypt

Salam and hi,

I'm so hangat-hangat tahi ayam bila nk tulis blog. Mula-mula semangat, lepas tu bila malas menjelma habis berabuk blog. not good not good

This post is a bit like my mini-diary when I was in Mansoura, Egypt.

So here we go:

2am: Arrived at Cairo airport. Surprisingly ramai sangat orang dekat immigration die. We were confused for a bit bila a French man yang beratur belakang kitorang suggest kitorang bayar visa tiket at another counter. Dia cite yang die da beratur lama, then bila sampai kaunter immigration diorang suruh die pergi beli visa and beratur balik. Poor guy. So, nazam and my hubby pun pergi juga lah beli visa ticket. I couldn't remember how much we paid for that. The think is they only accept GBP pounds, euro and some other currencies but not Egyption pounds. Very inconvenient! blergh. While waiting for our turn, we managed to witness few dramatic quarrel scenes between some foreigners and immigration officers. Its hilarious because they were both shouting in languages that both of them didn't understand. As a bystander, I just mind my own business. Its 2 am guys. Thankfully, our immigration process went smoothly but the visa ticket. Apparently we don't have to pay for them because we are Malaysians. They gave a refund thanks kakak kaunter.

3.30 am: From cairo airport, we were then dijemput oleh apip and ain (adik kami) ke Mansoura. Naseb baik diorang baik hati jemput kalau tak memang susah nak cari transport at that time. Dengan tak faham bahasa arab, senang kene tipu dan perjalanan yg amik mase almost 3 jam. Diorang booked van and driver, harga 250 Le. So bahagi dengan 5, sorang bayar 50 Le. Bersamaan RM25. Kira murah la tu untuk perjalanan jauh kan. I couldn't remember much of the journey cause I was knackered. I just remembered that the driver drove so fast and braked thousand times due to the bumps on the road.

6.15 am: We arrived at Mansoura. Home sweet home. Walaupun bukan rumah kitorang. hehe. Sembahyang subuh and tido. Like a boss

10 am: Bangun tido. Had shower, breakfast, bincang-bincang nak jalan mane and

10.30 am: The excitement began. kiki

breakfast strawberry gitu

Gambar blur skit. This is in front of ain-apip house door

here's the couple ain-apip hehe

11 am: Tour guide kate jom jalan university mansoura. Daripada rumah dalam 10 minit jalan kaki je dah sampai. University diorang besar jugak. Amek beberapa jam jugak nak cover satu university ke separuh je?

Pintu gerbang university

Stadium diorang pun besar

Ni diorang punye school. Mansoura-manchester programme med edu

Us in front of kedai jual buku medic. Murahh. Depan cover macam original dalam rupenye sume photostate haha

1.00 pm- 5.00 pm: Dah habis melawat University kitorang jalan-jalan keluar pulak. Lapar sebab dah tengah hari kan. Kitorang decide nk g beli makan bungkus, and then makan dekat tepi Sungai Nil. Bunyi cambest kan. ngeh

Power mini bus ni. Orang-orang Arab pun power. Banyak orang boleh sumbat

Ni saje je letak sbb budak tu comel

Pemandangan biase di Mansoura. Bangunan tinggi, banyak kereta, banyak orang dan bising dengan hon. 

Lunch kitorang: Kebab hehe

Tapi sebab tak jumpe gamba sungai Nil yang kat Mansoura tak boleh nak letak. huhu. Then dalam perjalanan balik tu, kitorang sempat singgah kedai kek La Poire Mansoura. Sedap kek die. Recommended untuk try kek situ. hehe. 

5pm-7pm: Lepas sembahyang sume dekat rumah, kami klua balik untuk cari buku-buku Pinat yang ayah die kirim. Memorable moment dalam perjalanan ke kedai ni ialah bile kitorang kene naik van angkut diorang. Murah sangat tapi kalau orang cam kami ni rase bahaya gile bila naik van ni. Dah lah laju, pintu takle tutup sesak dalam van tu. Kalau takde lelaki memang jangan harap lah nak naik haha. 

Saya sempat beli satu quran terjemahan bahasa malaysia. best sebab ada warne-warne untuk tajwid :)

Jalan ke kedai buku agama and quran. Siap tunjuk good lagi orang tu :p

7pm-9pm: Kami teruskan aktiviti dengan mencari makan malam pulak. hoho. Sebab egypt famous dengan nasi mandi hadramawt and ramai recommend suruh try koshary, tour guide kami pun dengan baik hatinye bawak kami ke kedai makan 2 ni. Btw, aiman and kausar pun join dinner ni. Memang meriah kedai kecik ni penuh dengan kitorang je ;D Lepas makan, diorang bawak pulak ke kedai jus buah. Semua buah ade cakap je nak ape.

Ini ialah koshary. Nasi campur macaroni campur tamoto sauce skit and bahan-bahan lain. Sedap. Murah pulak tu. 2 Le je bersamaan RM1 dan dalam pounds 20 pence je. Kenyangg kalau makan. 

Ini ialah nasi mandi hadramawt (ayam). Standed nasi kaler kuning dan ayam roast. Makan dengan set side dishes dalam 20 Le = RM10, atau GBP2. Kat UK mane nak dapat nasi murah caniii wuuu

Ni antara salah satu side dish die. 

Ni pulak nak masukkan dalam blog sebab ade baby comel name Amna. Muke amoyy habis. hehe

I choose pomegranate juice, tepi tu husband puny carrot susu. Memang rase pure jugak lah juice2 diorang ni. 

Ni waffle coklat diorang. Comel je siap ade stick lagi macam ice cream hehe

 9pm: Malam tu kami tumpang kereta AimanKausar drove by Apip ke tempat-tempat best Mansoura. Salah satu nye ialah balai polis yang baru di bom sehari sebelum kami sampai. Ramai polis and orang kat situ. huhu. Then diorang bawak ke satu jalan kat Mansoura ni. Jalan tu macam happening malam-malam sebab banyak orang jual barang like jubah, manisan etc. Tapi sebab dah dalam kereta, saya best je tido. ngek. tak tau pun cane rupe jalan tu hewhew 

Bombing punye berite on 23rd Dec 13. Kami sampai 24th Dec. Alhamdulillah selamat 

 Dan seterusnya, sampai rumah saya pengsan lagi. Orang lain pun same kot?

Till then~

efi :)

Egypt itinerary 2013

Map view of our itinerary. Pardon the multiple tabs in my safari her

26 Dec 2013 (Khamis) Mansura to Alex

06:00-07:00 Bertolak dari Mansura

07:00-09:00 Tiba di Alex

09:00-12:00 Benteng Qaitbey Alexandria (Resembling an imposing castle fortress, this citadel was built in the 1480s by Sultan Qaitbey (Sultan Al Ashraf An Nashr Syaifudin Qaitbay dari dinasti Mamluk) on the site of the Pharos Lighthouse, to protect the city from the crusaders who used to attack the city by sea) and Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria (ada byk history pasal alexandar of great dgn tmpat ni)

12:00-2:00 Makan tengahari

2:00-4:00 Check in hotel mandi2, solat, berehat

4:00-6:00- Alexandria National Museum (More than 1800 archaeological pieces are exhibited chronologically from one floor to the next: the basement is devoted to Prehistoric and Pharonic times; first floor to the Graeco-Roman period; second floor to the Coptic and Islamic era that highlights artifacts raised during recent underwater excavations)

06:00-09:00 Dinner kat restaurant Balbaa dan lepas tu jalan kt Stanley Bridge (cantik ms sunset or late at night and make sure x time tu x crowded)

27 Dec 2013 (Jumaat) Alex

08:00-09:00 Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa (It's worth going early in the morning when no one else is around (before the tour buses arrive). The catacombs date from the Roman period and were allegedly discovered accidentally when a donkey fell into one of the underground tunnels.Deep inside the main shaft there is a series of rooms where the remains of the dead were kept. Now all that can be seen are the rectangular niches. There's a triclinium room, where feasts were held for funerals and on each death anniversary. Most of the walls are bare rock, but there are also some elaborate wall paintings) p/s: pakai kasut yg bole kotor2

09:00-12:00 Manshiyyah Market (jubah2 and tudung2) dan solat jumaat kat Mosque of Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi.

12:00-2:00 Makan tengahari

2:00-4:00 shopping Khalid market

4:00-6:00 Montazah Palace Gardens (Royal gardens and palaces of King Faruk. The king was the last Egyptian monarch.) p/s: jom picnic kt sini? ada pantai(bole swimming), taman dgn istana kt sini. tp org komplen ckp kotor

06:00-07:00 Corniche (The Corniche is a glorious 3km walkway along the harbour dotted with restaurants, markets and historic sights- ni mcm sea side walk. ada a horse with a carriage ride jugak. so kena jalan petang2 time sunset la kan baru view superb. a taste of Alexandria. tp kena be careful sbb pencuri penjahat byk kt sini

7:30 Dinner kt restaurant Yahalla (tak pergi. gi Hosny restaurant instead)

28 Dec 2013 (Sabtu) Alex

08:00-09:00 Roman theatre (Built in the 2nd century AD, this Roman amphitheater has 13 semicircular tiers made of white and gray marble)

09:00-12:00 Alexandria library (Bibliotheca Alexandria- an eleven-story, cylindrical-shaped building that houses more than eight million books. The Library of Alexandria is a replacement for the ancient Library of Alexandria which was burnt down in history.  I believe the original is now under the waters of the Mediterranean sea where more and more archeology is being discovered) dan Masjid Busairi

12:00-2:00 Makan tengahari

2:00-4:00 Alexandar University and kedai buku2?

04:00-06:00 San Stefano Grand Plaza (structural complex including a Four Seasons hotel, apartments, offices, a shopping mall and a marina) and cafe

06:00-09:00 Dinner seafood and balik rehat and packing utk esok

29 Dec 2013 (Ahad) Alex to Cairo

08:00-09:00 bertolak ke Cairo

01:00-03:00 check in hotel, lunch dan solat

03:00-06:00 Kubu Salahuddin dan Tahrir Square

06:00-07:30 Dinner at Al azhar park (The park offers a beautiful view over Cairo and the Citadel, especially at sunset. There are cafes, a restaurant and a lovely pond… it’s Cairo’s Central Park! They built Al Azhar Park about 6 years ago literally on a mountain of garbage. A nice move to improve the looks of the city, and to give people a quiet place to relax. p/s: restaurant ni mahal sikit la tp view cantik nmpak sunset kt pyramid and the whole cairo

8:00-9:00 Masjid al Azhar dan Masjid Hussein (klo sempat)

9:00-10:00 Bayt el Harawi in the area to the south of the mosque of Al-Azhar, was built in 1731 and occupied until 1920. (at night, where can watch free shows such as sufi dance and tannoura (whirling dervish), concerts with typical Middle Eastern instruments.

30 Dec 2013 (Isnin) Cairo

08:00-10:30 Gizeh Plateau (three great pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure as well as the Sphinx and numerous mastabas, tombs, and mortuary temples). dan naik unta/kuda

10:30-12:00 Musium Cairo Ramsis (Firaun)

12:00-2:00 Makan tengahari

2:00-3:30 Cairo tower (Cairo Tower is a concrete 187 m (614 ft) high tower. It was built in 1961. Its design is unique, recalling the lotus flower shape – how Egyptian! From the top terrace you can have a 360° view over Cairo and also eat something at its revolving restaurant. Cairo Tower is on an island called Zamalek, so you will be surrounded by the Nile, with its feluccas and floating restaurants that make it almost as trafficked as a street)

03:30-06:00 Shopping Khan Khalili (jubah and souvenir)

06:00-09:00 Nile Cruize, Dinner, café etc

31 Dec 2013 (Selasa) Cairo to Manchester

Must be at airport at 5