Perburuan

Bunuh roh itu.

2010-04-04T05:33:00.000-07:00

Aku meditasi dalam keriuhan kebingungan
Terjun, kata Mereka. Terjun!
Maka Aku Terjun.

Fluks masa dan ruang menelanku
-dalam kelajuan cahaya itu aku terapung

Seram-Sejuk-Pedih-Nikmat-Gelap-Terang

Tembakan bintang-bintang pancawarna lurus memancar kelilingku
Di sini mulanya carikkan roh dari jasadku
Tapi aku gelisah dalam kengerian berat graviti ini
Kerana, ada ketenangan

– Memori.

Singulariti titik-titik keindahan, kebebasan
Jelasnya – seakan supernova sekelip mata
Kelirunya – akan seperti terbitnya cahaya Oksidental

Ku rapatkannya ke dada dan senyuman tersimpul
Tercerna jua ia dalam kekesalan yang mahaberat

Maka tercerailah aku dari rohku itu
Terledaklah ia dalam rusuk busukku yang kosong

---

Tapi Aku terus hidup.
Atau ….

Cairo

2009-11-09T02:10:00.000-08:00

The Pyramid and Sphinx.

Donkey rides are so touristy but maybe necessary if you want to venture a little bit further into the desert.

Khan al-Khalili. Restored to its former glory.

The gate to Khan al-Khalili, the Islamic Cairo.

The Nile is abuzz with colours and life at night. Spent almost every night walking along the river.

The big mess of a city.

One of the most important museums in the world!

The buildings in Khan al-Khalili are so beautifully restored. I love these wooden boxes.

Unlike the typical Arabian Old city, Khan al-Khalili has a quiet order to it.

The Greek Orthodox Church in Coptic Cairo.

The oldest university in the world - Al-Azhar. Yes it's not Oxford.

Magic.

The AlAzhar university seem to have preserved some of the mediaeval learning methods of the Islamic era such as one-to-one tutoring - this can be seen around the courtyard.

The view from my hotel.

When I got off the bus in the outskirts of Cairo, I felt relieved. I've arrived at my final destination in the long tour of Europe and Middle East.

The Red Sea crossing between Aqaba in Jordan to Nuweiba in Egypt was slow and eventful (our ferry was drifting along the coast of Nuweiba aimlessly. There was something close to a riot on the boat as people were sick and tired of being left uninformed). In Nuweiba I had to wait for the bus to get full, I was getting a bit impatient and kept on going to the bus operator hassling them to start the engine. The tiredness of travelling since 5am was taking its toll on me.

I got to Cairo at 3am the next day. There were several taxi drivers trying to get me into their taxis but the competition wasn't so fierce and I was too tired to be cutthroat with my haggling. Paid a little bit more than I should for taxi to town but when I realised how far away I was from Downtown Cairo, I didn't mind. At 3am, Cairo was a serene place. Maybe it's good that I was spared the chaos during that desperate state of mind. I couldn't handle anymore stress!

By next morning, Cairo had awoken to its famous chaotic personality. The city streets roared with millions of cars, people and donkey carts. The shops and the sellers added to the symphony of light, color and noise. It was a truly exciting place. Downtown Cairo, where I stayed, was a beautiful district built in the late 19th-century in the image of Paris. Now the glamour is all but lost as the upper classes left for suburban dreams in the periphery of Cairo. But life goes on. The Beaux-Arts axial street plans had morphed into what seemed like a wide and colourful grand souq devoid of the orderliness and serenity of the European city of the 1930s. I have a soft spot for chaotic (but choreographed!) big cities with a mix of contradictions like London, Berlin and perhaps Istanbul so I fell in love with Cairo almost instantaneously. However this city is not for the fainthearted.

There are a lot of scams here. Whatever you're trying to buy or wherever you go, you have to take that extra precaution to double check what you're getting for and how much! You also need to learn to say NO in a decisive manner. On the way to the Pyramids, my taxi was stopped midway by a strange guy who then went on to say the road to the Pyramid is closed and somehow explained that I need to come with him on a donkey or something. By then I was more than prepared for such scams, I said no despite the aggressive persuasions and told the taxi driver to drive. Had he not driven me where I wanted to stop, I wouldn't have paid him a penny. Obviously the road to the Pyramids was fine and I got there without any problems. This kind of scams are so common in Egypt nowadays they have it in the travel guidebooks.

By now I have mastered how to deal with the sly and cunning ways of the Arab sellers. (If they say it's 100pounds, I'll say it's 2pounds, much to their disbelief). I let them assume that I either have the soft heart of the easily bullied Europeans or the moneyed and overly trusting Japanese tourist. Little did they know that Malaysians are ruthless hagglers and we are masters of deceit. We rarely let our sentiments or feelings known, so it's harder to deal with us. (Give the price, say NO! and walk away pretending not to care. Never smile).

What frustrated me the most was that I couldn't make sense of the streets in Downtown. I always got lost. In fact I got lost everyday - even with a map! I usually navigate with landmarks rather than remembering the streets. My brain function somehow dedicated less power to the lefts and rights in the directions. This worked in all other places so far but Downtown Cairo was probably the most confusing place for me. The streets all look the same, sound the same and have more or less same shops. The landmarks at each end of the road are the same as well because they all converge into one (somehow!). To make things worse, a lot of Arabs seem to have the problem of not being able to admit that they don't know something (especially the men). So I sometimes was sent to a wild goose chase all over the city. I was so angry with myself sometimes I lost the mood to do anything and just ended up sitting in any tea shop or internet cafe I saw.

There's always something to do in Cairo. Although not built during the Pharonic times, Cairo is an ancient city rich with history. The famous Pyramids are quite close by but they're in the neighbouring city of Giza. I did the Pyramids on my first day where I met the Aussie who came with me to Syria. It's very touristy here, needless to mention, but I was glad the tourists (euphemism for uninterested tour groups) stayed close to the Sphinx and left the rest of the vast area untouched. I took a horse ride (touristy! had to, it was really hot that day) to the area further into the desert to have a view of all three pyramids.

Egypt definitely understands the importance of its heritage. You can see how the regeneration projects in the historic areas are reaping the benefits from not just tourism but better quality of life for residents. I was surprised with the level of development in Egypt, it seemed like the country is growing quite rapidly. Compared to Syria and Jordan, constructions seem to be everywhere. Khan al-Khalili, or the "Islamic Cairo", was sensitively restored and now a pleasant strollable area. While retaining the clutter of the goods and chaos of the traditional Arab souq, it was devoid of the pollution and rubbish also typical of Arab cities. There are so many historic and beautiful mosques, madrasas and hamams in the whole district, you wonder no more why Cairo is called the city of thousand minarets.

I went to a district referred to in the guidebook as the Coptic Cairo, where the older part of Cairo is. This area has a thriving Christian population so instead of minarets you'll see a lot of churches, very old churches that claimed to be biblical sites. I especially loved how the "Islamic" architecture is used in some of the churches. (The newer ones adopted a more European style). Maybe there was never an Islamic architecture as such once upon a time. It could've been the Muslims who adopted the architecture of the original (and perhaps more technically superior) pre-Islamic inhabitants. It provoked an interest in me to find out more about those early days of cultural exchange.

Also in the Christian area was an exquisitely designed Old Synagogue. The decorative style is Arab but the form is undoubtedly Jewish, with its mezzanine floor and a raised central platform for the holy books. Nowadays it's been left to the mercy of the tourists and no longer used by the Cairene Jews. Many of the Jews had to leave Egypt during those hostile years with Israel. I share Naguib Mahfouz, the Egyptian Nobel laureate's lamentation of the departure of the Jews from Egypt - what a different world it would've been should the Judaic-Arab culture continue to flourish here. (And what a different world it would've been should Palestine was never betrayed by the Europeans).

Egyptian food is probably the best Arab food I had so far. Better than Moroccan, and a hundred times better than Lebanese. Here beans take centre stage, with delicious dishes such as the koshary (tastes almost Southeast Asian!) and fuul. When I was in Jordan I was raving about the food there to everyone but I quickly forgotten about it once I was in Egypt. The koshary in particular was excellent. It's a mixture of rice and pasta served with friend onions and garlic, and then topped with a tomatoey sauce. To add a little kick to it, I added a healthy dose of (very very very) spicy chilli oil. When I was first served it, I was quite unimpressed with the way it looked but when I had it I knew I'm going to have to learn how to make it once I get back.

Cairo however isn't Egypt. Egypt is a vast country, and I hadn't ventured anywhere outside of Cairo. Even then Cairo was too big to be explored in a matter of days. I enjoyed Cairo. I loved the spirit of the people, the warmth and smiles, the generosity and also the occasional tug-of-war with the shopkeepers. My only regret is not to have more time here to travel along the Nile all the way from the south to Alexandria in the north. I've missed the important city of Luxor this time. But again, these missed opportunity means that I will have to come back.

I left Cairo with a heavy heart. But smiling.

Petra

2009-11-02T09:05:00.001-08:00

The Treasury greets one into the whole site, so the magic lasts for the whole day.

The Treasury - A testimony to the wealth of the Nabateans and also of the cultural power of the Ancient Greeks.

In the portico looking towards the siq.

Compared to the rest of the other surviving buildings, the Treasury followed the Greek tradition closest - the proportions and the sculptures were almost perfect.

The native Nabatean style. Not sure whether these are dwellings or small tombs.

The Roman street.

The Lion Tomb.

The monastery. It took me an hour or so to climb the hill to get here but when I saw this, it felt great.

In the horizon - the Negev desert of Israel. I wish I can fly!

No visit to Jordan is going to be complete without Petra. This ancient city definitely lived up to the hype. Everyone who's been raved about it so much so it made me a little bit nervous about whether it really is as good as it sounds. The Malay phrase "Indah khabar dari rupa" (Sounds better than it looks) kept on playing on my mind, readying me for a disappointment. But of course it didn't disappoint. This place is so magical. It's literally a whole city built into canyons and rock formations. The crowds of tourists and the souvenir stalls (in the style of traditional Bedouin tent) didn't bother me either, it's great to have a lot of people and tents around. It made Petra seemed like a real living city.

Most people here stayed more than a day to explore the whole area (it's massive). The first day doing the essentials, the following days for hiking off the beaten tracks. There was so much to see there, to take it all in on one day is physically impossible. I only did the essentials because I only had one day there but even then it took me 12 hours. It was so tiring, few hours of that was resting at the viewpoints and cafes dotted around the site.

When I visit Jordan again, I'd definitely come back to Petra. It's not like going to the Colosseum in Rome (only do it once in a lifetime!). Petra can be explored as two things - one as a mystical dead city, another as a great hiking area. Both ways will provide inexhaustible number of sights and attractions. My next visit to Petra would be to explore the more remote parts of the site, including the Tomb of Aaron, claimed as the location of the Prophet Haroun's grave and the much talked-about Little Petra.

The Dead Sea

2009-11-02T08:07:00.000-08:00

The Amman Beach, Dead Sea.

The obligatory "Look-at-me-I'm-floating" picture. (The West Bank in the background)

On my last day in Amman, I felt a bit better so I decided to take the first bus on the day to the Dead Sea. It wasn't the easiest route as I learnt from going through the remote villages and changing the bus in a junction-town. The bus then dropped me in the middle of nowhere when I categorically refused their exorbitant demand of an extra 5JD to the public beach. A local came off with me, probably felt sorry for me. We walked a couple of kilometres in the intense desert sun until someone picked us up and took me to the public beach.

The Dead Sea is great. I loved it. It was really strange that I couldn't swim properly because my body was not used to that kind of uplift. I wished there were others with me that day. It felt lonely swimming on my own. But oh well. There's always next time! I remembered reading about the Dead Sea when I was really small in this book called "1001 Fantastic Facts". I've always wanted to come here.

Amman

2009-11-02T07:28:00.000-08:00

A the hostel in Damascus, a Canadian managed to convince me to come with him to Amman. I was planning to go on that day but not that early in the morning. He said the border formalities would take ages (which it did) and was shocked to learn that I was planning to go at night. As it turned out we met other people who were going to Jordan that day. So getting a shared taxi to Amman was easy.

Our taxi driver was a right dodgy one. It seemed like he was using the opportunity to smuggle all the duty free stuff into Jordan. At the Syrian border he bought cartons of ciggarettes (more than allowed) and bought more when we got to the Jordanian side. To make sure he hadn't miss out on anything, he bought a big bottle of whiskey as well. He even slipped some money in his passport for the border guards. The ciggarette cartons were unpacked and stuffed into his socks. The remaining was given to us so that we pretend it was ours. The whiskey was not his, he said. "Pretend it's yours". He was hoping to keep up the pious Arab facade for the general public. Everything was done in a systematic fashion, with an efficiency I thought could never occur in the Arab World.

Once in Jordan, he refused to drive us to our hotel and dropped us off instead in the middle of Downtown Amman. He was really rude about it - he got out of the car and took our stuff out. To add to the insult he was asking more money than agreed in Damascus. We argued and argued by the busy roadside. When we counted all of our money, we didn't have enough to even pay him the (cheaper agreed) fare. As a retaliation, we just left him there while he cursed us with a spat on the floor. Spit all you want.

Unfortunately, things didn't go too well for me in Amman. I was down with a fever and a cold which rendered me hostel-bound for 3 days. I didn't explore Amman as much as I wanted as well. It could be the curse of the taxi driver but I think it was most likely my indiscriminate eating in Syria. I began to feel unwell a week before in Aleppo. (An Aussie who stayed in the same hostel in Aleppo told me he became ill since Aleppo too - we met today at Pyramids in Cairo after almost 2 weeks).

I don't mind the illness too much but it was the fact that I had to cancel my attempt to get into Israel/Palestine that pissed me off. I've had it on my mind since I started this trip so it was pretty disappointing to be just few kilometres away from Jerusalem but stuck in my bed. Maybe it's divine intervention. Oh well. Come to think about it now, I would had to endure a great deal to enter Israel and the Palestinian territories. Malaysia and Israel don't have any diplomatic relations. (Useless passport!) In fact, Malaysia hates Israel's guts. So God knows what would've happened if I did go. But like my previous failure to get into Tibet last year, this would be a reason for me to come back to this beautiful region.

Damascus

2009-10-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Omayyad Mosque. Dream come true!

Exquisite mosaic work. The Omayyads have employed Byzantine craftsmen in many of their buildings.

Depictions of heavenly gardens.

Inside the mosque - tomb of John the Baptist (Prophet Yahya)

A typical Damascene courtyard house.

Sayyida Ruayah Mosque's architecture has the extravagance typically found in most traditional Persian shrines.

The tomb of Sayyida Ruqayah.

The man sitting on the chair recited a poem which sparked mourning cries around him.

The Damascene stripes.

The taxi drivers, usually evil creatures.

The Christian Quarter in the Old City.

One of the many restored villas, now a tourist restaurant.

Peanuts of all sorts!

The gate to the Temple of Jupiter, now the Omayyad Mosque.

Souq Hamidiyya. Built by the Turks, shelled by the evil French (holes on the roof).

Poetry night! I want to learn Arabic now.

Me and my favourite building in Syria.

After Aleppo, it's difficult to like any other place anymore - the authencity of its Old City, it's less touristed, I was greeted by a constant chain of smiles, people talk to me all the time and I felt loved! I got so used to being teated like an honoured guest when I got to Damascus, it felt hostile. By any standard Damascus, being Syrian, was friendly but it had been a major tourist hotspot for a long time so foreigners are not exactly a rare sight. In fact the hordes of tour group that stream into the city must've been an occasional headache for the residents. I immediately missed Aleppo.

Damascus however was not an easy place to dislike. Even with this mild dash of hostility, the city is packed with icons of history. This is after all one of the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. My Lonely Planet sums it up with a beautiful description by Mark Twain:

"Damascus has seen all that has ever occurred on earth,
and still she lives.
She has looked upon the dry bones of a thousand empires,
and will see the tombs of a thousand more
before she dies.

...Damascus measures time not by days
and months and years,
but by the empires she has seen rise
and prosper
and crumble to ruin.

She is a type of immortality."

The souqs here are bigger than the ones in Aleppo and with the influx of Iranian pilgrims, it was much more lively. My first day in Damascus was just about the souqs- I just walked for hours absorbing the energy and scents so that I will remember it. The Lonely Planet map for the Old City was so bad as well so that helped me to wander off from the main thoroughfares and into the more secluded parts. If it wasn't because I carried a backpack, I would've bought a great many things from the souqs - Arabic lanterns, frankincense, divan stools, carpets, backgammon set. The craftmanship is excellent here and where there aren't that many tourists, you can get handmade carpets as cheap as 15 Euros! My haggling skills are now honed from previous travels and the Syrians are much easier to negotiate with than Moroccans or the Chinese.

The Omayyad Mosque was my favourite place in Damascus. Like Hagia Sophia, it's one of those buildings that I've read so much about and seeing it for myself was unreal. I went early in the morning where the Iranian pilgims have already started to converge and the Byzantine mosaics shined its best. There are so many pre-Islamic elements in the mosque (remnants of Temple of Jupiter, Byzantine craftmanship, almost basilical in form) it certainly doesn't look like the kind of mosques that I'm used to.

The tomb of Hussein is located in the mosque courtyard making it one of the most important pilgrimage sites for Shia Muslims. I've never been to a Shia mosque before so it was certainly an experience for me. Some of the Iranians (who were in a more sober mood at the time) were amused to see me bewildered and enchanted by the collective chants and the heartfelt wailing of their faithful. It was the same when I visited the Sayyida Ruqayah Mosque just few streets away. This time it was almost exclusively Iranian. The power of the mourning overwhelmed me. It was hard not to be moved by their sadness. Inside there was a man who recited a poem and he did it beautifully. Everyone around him knelt and cried with all their heart. There was such melancholy. It is interesting that the memory of the Massacre, that happened few centuries back, was preserved with such immediacy. Everyone cried like it happened yesterday. After a while I decided I need to get back with the living. I left the mosque feeling depressed so I went back into the maze of souqs to lift my spirits back up.

Damascus is such a great place to study architecture. On my third day, I did a tour of the palaces and villas of the old Damascene upper class. These houses were not just a testament of the kind of wealth the city once had but also the craftsmanship of the masons. I especially loved how they create patterns on the facade using coloured stones inlaid into the stone work. It seemed like everything was so interconnected they must've had an integrated plan for all aspect of the building. Or maybe it was just a tradition that was refined by centuries of trial and error.

But Damascus is not complacent with its place in history. The arts scene is lively. I never had much time to explore more of this side of modern Damascus but I did go to one poetry recital night. It was my first full-on encounter with modern Syria. Unlike the case in most places, it wasn't an exclusively middle-class affair. That night, taxi drivers, women in tank tops or with full hijabs, communists, stalinists, old men, young people rubbed shoulders in that cramped underground bar. I truly regret not learning Arabic. Poetry is a potent medium in this part of the world. With stinging political commentaries, atmosphere was great that night. I felt a certain tension as well knowing full well that this place could get raided anytime!

Aleppo, Syria

2009-10-28T07:56:00.000-07:00

The courtyard of the Omayyad Mosque at dusk.

Lively and authentic souqs selling absolutely anything you need in life.

The more touristy souqs are smaller and few and far between. But still beautiful!

The butcher's lane.

Architecture students!!

Oh yeaah!

The tomb of Prophet Zachariah in the Omayyad Mosque.

Maronite Church in the Christian Quarter.

These wooden boxes are amazing. I did so many sketches of them.

The Armenian Church

The view of the Mosque from the hilltop Citadel.

The Citadel.

New friends!

Very very friendly people. I love Syrians!

All the moms pushed their sons to us for a photo which we willingly obliged!

Dumped by the busy roadside in the middle of the city, the group of us travellers must've looked bewildered and lost. Trying to orientate ourselves in this sudden chaos after hours on the bus was proving difficult. We were hoping to arrive at a bus station (with a Tourist Info! How naive.) and find a place to stay for the night. We weren't even sure whether we're in Aleppo but the sensory overload - noise, dirt, chaos and massive traffic - confirmed our arrival in an Arab city. One thing for sure no one expected to be dropped off like this.

But this is Syria.

Where the hospitality of its inhabitants are age-old tales passed from travellers to travellers. We were immediately rescued by one person after another (within minutes). The locals pointed us to the right direction and assured us with a smile as big as Arabia itself - "Ahlan wasahlan".

Aleppo to a lot of Westerners is a deeply conservative city but that analysis didn't occur to me until someone actually said it. Yes there are people donning traditional dress but hey they could be physicist or a socialist for all I know. Someone wearing modern Western clothing might hold a traditional worldview (caste system, arranged marriage, honour above all, tribal allegiance etc). Is that conservative or not? The term conservative to me is confusing.

The highlight of Aleppo for me is the tomb of Prophet Zachariah. I was just walking around the Old Town aimlessly when I saw the Omayyad Mosque. I went in, prayed and sat down in the cool shades admiring the elegant architecture of the courtyard. I saw people converging at one corner and I asked someone what they're looking at. When told that it was the tomb of the Prophet I felt a kind of blood rush. I was moved. This was the first time that I actually see any kind of manifestation from the Quran and the prophetic stories. I was really moved by it. I stood there and just stared at the simple grave adorned with rich green textile. I was at peace.

The Aleppine souqs are breathtakingly beautiful. The mediaeval architecture fused with the messiness of the goods creating scenes that took me centuries back. Best of all it wasn't a museum toy town for tourists but an authentic part of the urban fabric. It's a functioning high street. Maybe a good comparison would be Fes in Morocco but there the souqs are more like alleyways. In Aleppo it was an interconnected grand bazaar covered in countless domes. And unlike the Moroccan souqs, there was absolutely no hassling or pushy sellers. I loved the souqs here. I spent hours and hours just walking around getting lost in the labyrinth. Kudos to the enlightened municipal council whose philosophy is to preserve the authenticity of life in the Old City. That would ensure this won't go down as another tourist trap. I went to the regeneration museum to learn more about their plans and was really impressed. Penang and Melaka should learn from Aleppo.

The Christian Quarter was another interesting area in the Old City. I've always been curious about the Christian Arabs. Now that I've learnt a bit more, they're all more intriguing. All of the different churches are concentrated in almost one street in Quarter - Armenian, Maronite, Greek Orthodox and Catholic. Each has its own interesting history in the Arab world. In the Armenian Church I spoke to one lady who showed me around and told me the history of the Armenians in Syria. The Armenians in Syria are mostly descendants of the Ottoman genocide survivors in the early 20th century. She still mourns the loss of Western Armenia (Today's southeastern Turkey) to the Turks and refused to use the Turkish names for these "occupied" areas. I then told her the story of the Armenians in Penang that surprised her. Even told her to come visit Penang.

Aleppo was such a great place, I'd come again for it just to be lost in the souqs or meet up with all the friends that I made here. Even if I didn't do the sightseeing, I would've still enjoyed Aleppo for the sheer friendliness of the people (free falafels, free baklava, everybody wanted a photo with me, I was greeted with songs and the Arab dance in the hammam etc). But Syria is fast modernising. Things seem like it's going to change. But let's hope it will never change the hospitable character of the Aleppines.

I LOVE ALEPPO.

At the Turkish-Syrian border

2009-10-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

On the way to Syria, me and a couple of other guys that I met almost caused a homicidal mess in the border town of Antakya (aka Antioch). Like any border towns, this one is as dusty, swarmed with touts, and have an atmosphere of being nowhere. A black market currency exchange guy came up to us and offered an excellent rate, hence siphoning the opportunity from his competitor, a legit guy. The legit guy cried foul and started to abuse the black market guy. Once we got our money changed, we let them be. But within minutes, the arguments became physical - the two started to push each other. The legit guy went into his shop to return only with a knife ready to plunge it into the black market guy. In a matter of seconds, whole community of touts, bus drivers and bypassers intervened and rescued both of them from themselves. Nothing happened apart from them two exchanging vicious abuses - but from a healthy distance.

This is where freemarket economics makes perfect sense. We had the best deals for absolutely everything. The competition was fierce, all we had to do was to make a gesture of displeasure and we get a price reduction. In the end we paid next to nothing for bus tickets and other things. Not sure whether I should be proud of myself.

And then it's the Syrian border checkpoint. I was slightly anxious because I was one of the only three in the bus who didn't have a visa applied beforehand. All the horror stories picked up from travellers sure didn't make it any better. As it turned out, it was a piece of cake for me. Malaysians get free entry to Syria and no other questions apart from a smiling "Ahlan wasahlan". Whereas the Kiwi and the Aussie who were with me at the time had to pay a hefty USD100 for entry. Years of having to deal with hassles of all sorts from a lot of countries I visited before, I felt like the Malaysian passport had finally became useful!

For once the bright red passport was viewed with envy.

Capadoccia, Central Turkey

2009-10-28T06:48:00.000-07:00

The view from my hostel's terrace. Absulotely surreal.

From Istanbul I took an overnight bus to Goreme in the famous Capadoccia region in Central Turkey. It was actually a spontaneous decision that I made when I realised that I actually stayed longer than I should in Istanbul. I was behind my schedule. Left Istanbul with a heavy heart because I was really getting comfortable there. But the journey had to continue or else I'd miss my flight from Cairo.

One of the hundreds of hidden and forgotten dwellings that dots the landscape.

Apparently just a generation ago, men who wish to attract a bride must be able to lure a pigeon into one of these pigeon houses.

On the bus I met two Brazillians from Sao Paolo who made the torturous journey seem quick and pleasant. We spent a great many hours just talking and laughing (when everyone else was trying to get some sleep). I was inspired by their joie de vivre attitude to life (they lost their luggages, almost missed their flight to Istanbul etc. but they were more amused than worried about it). Reminded me of Elina who in the same way exudes the kind of infectious optimism. Also Usman had he been there, he'd launched into a lecture on spontaneity and how I'm such a stress head.

The Goreme Open Air Museum

That's my cave-room! A DEN.

Capadoccia is famous for its cave townships and surreal landscape. Some of the towns here were carved literally out of the rock formations creating a unique sci-fi otherworldly place. The history of the region is complex and vague which adds to the intrigue. The frescoes in the cave-churches echoes the ancient cave temples/synagogues of Western China (Gansu and Xinjiang). I wonder whether there's any relationship between them.

I really enjoyed my visit here. Met an American guy and we ended up renting a scooter. It was great to explore this area with the scooter because we stopped at some of the abandoned cave cities along the road where there were no tourists. But when it gets windy, the dust was unbearable. Anyone going to Cappadocia should do the scooter!

Where can I find good internet connection!!??

2009-10-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. I haven't been able to update this blog for a while mainly because I can't find a place with good internet connection. In Turkey it was quite difficult to access certain websites and looks like it's the same in Syria. Oh yea, Syria! I'm in Damascus now. From Istanbul I took a bus to Capadoccia in central Turkey and then from there I made my way to the border town of Antakya. I've stayed in Aleppo, Syria for a 3 days and totally loved it. Now I'm in my second day in the fabled city of Damascus. Im updating the blog now. So watch this space.

Istanbul

2009-10-20T03:48:00.000-07:00

I thought of Istanbul as perhaps a sort of a triumphal arch or a great ancient monument to mark the beginning of the East. It's so beautiful it was painful to leave. Entering from Greece, I was taken by the awesome scale and grandeur. Its geographic location accentuates this feeling - the Bosphorus splits the continent into Europe and Asia and the seven hills (just like Rome and Sheffield maybe!) are crowned by magnificent domes of the Ottoman and Byzantine days. Staring into the busy waterway, I felt like this was where the energy of this city reveals itself - the constant movement of people, goods, ships, as well as the sounds and clattering from the vehicles, commerce and kebab shops. It's one of those scenes that stops you and makes you feel alive.

The clamour of commerce by the Bosphorus.

The Blue Mosque - the most elegant mosque I've been to. Makes the modern ones in Malaysia looks outdated.

History had been greatly generous to this city. Being the capital city of two most advanced civilisations of its time meant that Istanbul is well-endowed with monuments that rival any of that in Rome and Greece. My favourite was definitely the Hagia Sofia. I've read so much about it and to finally be there inside its vast central space was surreal. Damaged even before the Ottoman conquest, it's now only a shell of its former glory. The restoration works have revealed some of the golden mosaics that have been plastered over so its former grandeur wasn't completely gone - I could still imagine how over the top this building once was.

Hagia Sophia.

Only a shell of its former glory.

One of the most interesting mosaics I've seen. On the right is the Empress, heiress to the throne who married about six times (I think..) so the face of the Emperor and his name on the scroll held by the Empress had to changed everytime. In her last marriage she was like 60 or something like that but in the mosaic she remained a youthful queen.

I love the atmospheric corridors in the Hagia Sophia.

Mosques in Istanbul are an inescapable sight. When the muezzins all over the city call the azan, the city's European credentials willingly evaporated. You can easily forget you're in a city that prides itself as European, although this might come back to you once the azan stops. It really is quite European. Most Istanbulites are very European, and I don't mean it in the superficial way like how they're adopting the Western dress sense. It's something more than that. Alcohol for example is part of the urban culture, perhaps even Turkish culture. Religion is viewed with the same skepticism, if not sneer, so evident in the West.

Fishing on the bridge is a 24-hour hobby in Istanbul.

Taksim - the decidedly European side of Istanbul

In many ways it's similar to Kuala Lumpur (and the Klang Valley cities). Both cities are Western-oriented cities with shiny modern buildings and shopping malls. Both claims and pursue the Western dreams and aspirations. But despite that self-belief, the reality is that they are inescapably very Eastern. In KL for example, walking through the older districts you'd see the beautiful chaotic markets of distinct to Asian cities. The baju kurung, Friday prayer traffic jams and the saris are like undercurrents of the subconscious rebellion against the Westernisation process. In Istanbul, it is pretty much that.

My visit to the Istanbul Modern Art Museum confirmed my suspicion. Here in the bastion of the elite cultural life, the message is simple - we Turks are Europeans. Apart from a painting depicting a scene of religious festival (no more than as a manifestation of the many Eastern superstitions), the paintings are all scenes from the lives of the Europeanised upper and middle classes. But a walk through even the most European area like Taksim, you'd feel the ambience of the East, the flavours and spices absent in the West, scents from nargileh bars and Turkish tea. The mosques are well-attended not only by the older generation but also the young.

Kindness :)

Inside the Topkapi Palace, a balcony that overlooks the busy waterway (Bosphorus).

In any way, whether it's Eastern or Western or both, Istanbulites are a friendly bunch. All the travellers here have remarked the same thing: the genuine welcome they all felt. People here are happy that travellers from far flung countries flock to their city and appreciate their rich heritage. Everywhere I went, I was greeted with a smile and a gesture of welcome. One example was when I asked this lady for a lighter, I was actually asked to accept the lighter as a modest gift and to top it off her daughter then gave me her sweets. They were lovely and it was not to be the last generosity I encountered in Turkey.

The Topkapi Palace

The Ottoman Sultan's private room.

That said, what let me down was that the way monuments were presented in Istanbul are abysmal. Few have audioguides to help you understand and the only way to get good information on site was to join a tour group - I hate tour groups. Tickets are so expensive (more than anything I've paid so far in my trip) it makes you think that these monuments are treated more like money making machines than a cultural treasure. This is especially true for Topkapi Palace. You need to pay extra to see the Harem. The audioguide service was the most expensive in Europe and without any doubt the worst. Some of the audio included unerased mistakes and repetition of sentences (like "This is a school for. This is a school for"). Most of the information given was self-evident anyway and never elaborated - to give an example it was always along the lines of "This room has beautiful tileworks and the view is amazing" or "This corridor had witnessed many important events. Goodbye". A Swiss that was with me said it was the same for the German language version.

I have no time for Orientalist fantasies on the Harem so I wasn't all that wowed by it. The most interesting part for me is the Relics Gallery where holy relics from all over the Ottoman Empires were kept. I'm not that convinced by it, as some of the exhibits are just downright illogical - the staff of Moses and fragments of the skull of John the Baptist to say few. But one that I might consider more believable are the swords of Prophet Mohammed and his robe where they claimed to have a succession of narrators and official records. Even then to think such relics to have special powers is just beyond me. Or maybe I was just so pissed off with the stupid man's voice on the audioguide.

In one of the alleyways in the Sultanahmet area.

I stayed in the Sultanahmet area, the Old Istanbul. The hostel was great and I really enjoyed my stay there. There was something about the atmosphere and set up that made everyone friendly. The rooftop bar has a great view of the Blue Mosque (and Hagia Sophia if you stretch you neck a little bit) so every breakfast was bliss. I was tired of travelling alone so it was great to finally meet other travellers who would join me to see the sights. But this also meant that I went out a lot at night for those atmospheric nargileh cafe/bars - I also spent a lot more money here. The vibe at night is electric, it was lively. The money I spent on tea is ridiculous but I can't stop having them. I learnt how to play backgammon and seem to have got it, I think.

I think from the length of this post, you'd probably figured that I really had a great time here. I really did.

I will come back for Istanbul.

p/s:photos will be added later. internet here is wayy too slow

Happy Deepavali!

2009-10-17T06:27:00.000-07:00

The Southeast Asian connection

2009-10-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

From Athens I took a train to Istanbul via the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Can't help but to notice the stark difference in temperature. In Athens I felt like it was still summer but here it was cold and windy.

The most interesting part of the train ride was when I realised I was sharing the same coach with a group of Singaporeans. I heard people speaking in English but I was thinking how odd the accent was. When I tuned myself in properly, I realised it was Singlish (or Manglish) and what made me sure was that distinctive howl of a Southeast Asian when they laugh. As I expected it was a group of ladies from Singapore (One Malaysian-born and another Indonesian-born) who are on a little lady adventure in Greece and Italy.

Instantaneously we connected with each other. And our laughters soon roared in the train. They were so kind to me as well. I felt so at home right there in that train. One lady probably felt so sorry at me (maybe I was looking a bit malnourished at the time) she gave me some money. LOL. I was so embarassed by this but she insisted that I take it. They're such kind people. Made me miss my part of the world.

Southeast Asia rocks!

The girls from Singapore. Extremely adventurous, well-travelled bunch.

Athens

2009-10-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

I expected the worst when I read the Lonely Planet's description of the city as "choked with traffic" and "a city few fell for". I don't know where these guys been to but the Athens I saw was nothing of that sort. It was a pleasant and strollable city.

I stayed in the area called Omonia which is notorious for its reputation of being a rough area but seriously I've seen rougher places than this. Basically it's just an immigrant area and you know how people are like when they describe these places. To me, it's great. It such a lively place. It's not Singapore squeaky-clean I can tell you that but it's just as dirty as any average Sheffield street. I had roti and chickpeas everyday for breakfast here so I've got no complaints.

The gate to the Acropolis

Old and New.

Athens is quite similar to Rome. Ruins and archaeological sites are literally everywhere but there's one that will be on every traveller's itinerary: the Acropolis, the symbol of Athenian civilisation. I loved how everything was close by and concentrated around the ancient centre. The old town area, Plaka was touristy but I loved the atmosphere of the small streets with cafes.

The museums in Athens however put the ones in Rome to shame. Here it's well presented and the curation is world-class. The history is easier to understand as well because it was more homogeneous and mostly focused on pre-historic and Ancient Greece. Rome on the other hand was way too complex to understand. Best of all I've been getting free tickets for showing my expired student card (I was broke by then so I had to be dishonest!).

The Acropolis dominates the Athenian skyline and rightly so.

My birthday at Parthenon.

The National Archaeological Museum is a must for any tourist. I finally got to see the famous Mask of Agamemnon and the crazy gold treasures from the Mycenean civilisation. Trying to place this into the context of some 2000-3000 years ago is disorientating for me. I come from such a young country. Malay civilisation is (probably) not as old or at least they haven't found any 7000 years old cities in the dense rainforest. But in any way I was just stunned by the sophistication of Ancient Greece. The Acropolis Museum was another beauty (Tschumi please come to Malaysia and redesign our museums!). Anyone going to Athens should not miss this. I loved it, let's say it again!

Zeus - I never get why they like to depict naked people!

The Mask of Agamemnon

Plaka, touristy but nice.
Plaka

Where I had my birthday meal.

It was my birthday as well when I was there and what a great place to celebrate (on your own lol). This is after all the birthplace of western civilisation. (Okay that might be slightly random connection). I had a really nice meal in the Plaka area, where I spent hours just watching time went by.

Patras and the road to Athens

2009-10-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

Arrived in the Greek port city Patras at around 2pm. I was still tired from the night before - I couldn't sleep that well on the ferry deck. It was quite noisy and there was a bunch of Italian guys having a lively chat for hours. And plus, I just couldn't sleep on the floor because the whole ship was vibrating.

In Patras I met three Algerians who were on their way to Athens. Curious whether I was Korean, Chinese or Japanese, they spoke to me and I obviously told them I'm Malaysian which excited them - I was the first Malaysian they've ever met. They didn't speak any English so we communicated in a mixture of Arabic and French (Usman will laugh if he reads this). I knew neither of those two languages but I do know about 20 words from Arabic and 10 from French which I recycled again and again. It was hilarious.

Patras, Greece

It's good that I spoke to them because they were extremely helpful and were concerned that I might get lost as getting to Athens from Patras wasn't a straight-forward affair. We had to change from the train to coach and then take a suburban rail to the city. It took several hours before I got to the main Athens station. One of the Algerian guys took me to my Metro stop first before going his own way. It was extremely kind of them.

What striked me as peculiar is how sociable the Greeks are. They don't sit quietly in an awkward silence on the train. People seem to strike conversations with complete strangers here which was great. I spoke to one Greek from Crete who told me her life stories there and then (her Mom in hospital and how she loves smoking).

---

I got to my hostel and I fell asleep almost instantaneously.

Update

2009-10-13T02:37:00.000-07:00

Hey guys I haven't had the chance to update but I will put up the photos of Athens very soon. Today I'm leaving for Istanbul in about 20mins. It's going to take me about 20 hours or so, and I feel tired from walking all day yesterday. But hopefully I won't miss my stop and end up in Romania or something.

Ihsan.

Coldplay

2009-10-11T13:42:00.000-07:00

Moving on

2009-10-10T03:03:00.000-07:00

Today I'm leaving Rome to another ancient city - Athens. This is going to be long journey. The plan is to take the train to Bari an Italian port city on the Adriatic and at about 8pm today I'm going to take an overnight ferry to Patras in Greece. The next morning hopefully I can catch the first train to Athens where I'll be celebrating my brithday.

Wish me luck.

Ihsan

Rome, the eternal chaos

2009-10-10T01:31:00.000-07:00

Rome - the eternal city, built on seven hills, and definitely wasn't built in one day.

Arriving in Rome from organised super modern Germany was a bit of a shock. I've been to Italy before and have known the Latinate laid back ways from previous visit. The Termini station's chaos actually reminded me of the station in Beijing. The throngs of people moving in different directions around me was disorientating. The shouts, the heat, the beggars, the rush. But on the other hand, the weather was beautiful and leaving the train station I saw a huge Roman ruin and remnants of the city wall. So I was eager to explore Rome.

About 2000 years ago they built this.

One of the triumphal arches in the Roman Forum

Colloseum was the natural first stop in Rome but the entrance ticket was so expensive I didn't get an audioguide. I regretted this later because there was so much going on inside the Colloseum and the nearby Roman Forum; you need some explanation so for me it was almost like staring at meaningless marble blocks. There is a museum within it but it was more like someone's 3000-page dissertation spread into the walls. It would've been dark when I finish it. So I skipped it altogether after reading few wall panels. But the building was so inspiring for me. The structural engineering was amazing (lol I can't help it). Images went through my head as I was looking at the complex theatrical systems, the stories of the Roman emperors and gladiators.

The Roman Forum

Piazza Navona was built around the ancient Roman circus.

My grandma had told me about her travels in Rome when she was doing her Eurotrip when she was a student so going to Rome almost felt like some sort of pilgrimage to the visions that she had put into my head. Especially true was the Spanish steps, no more than a public area with steps going up to a hilltop church but it was her stories that made it a special place for me. I can't wait to get back to Malaysia and tell her that I've been there too!

The Trevi Fountain

Throw one coin into the Trevi Fountain, and you'll return to Rome. Second coin will make your wish come true. But if you're unconvinced by this, you can be rest assured that at least the money will go to the Red Cross.

Millagros the Venezuelan, Ellen the Shanghainese, Ihsan the Malaysian

Piet Mondrianesque pigeon feeder

The dome of the Pantheon

In front of the Pantheon. A childhood dream come true!

The Spanish steps.

The steps overlooking the posh shopping street.

I love the fact that you can get drinking water all over Rome for free! And it's icy cold.

The whole city is overrun with the military police, the carabinieri. They are definitely not to be fucked with. I saw them beating up a homeless guy near the train station. I was told by an American guy that this is all to do with the recent controversy by Berlusconi. I haven't read the news for so long now, it seems like there are so many crazy events that just happened (tsunami, earthquake and now Nobel Peace Prize to Obama for doing nothing and waging an illegal war).

The Vatican

The extremely sumptuous interior borders on being profane but then again this is the most important church in Christendom.

The scale, luxurious materials and light are extraordinary.

Priest.

Nuns in the collonades.

Like Berlin, it takes a lifetime to properly explore Rome. It's a multifaceted and fragmented city, each area has its several layers of history and each building is a mask of an older one. It's very difficult to properly understand the city as a tourist especially if you only have few days.

I really enjoyed Rome and one day hopefully I'm going to come back.

The train from Goslar to Rome

2009-10-10T01:22:00.000-07:00

From Goslar to Rome was quite exhausting. Goslar is a small isolated mountain town so I had to take the train to the nearest big city which was Hannover. So the plan was simple - Hannover-Frankfurt-Milan-Rome. But my train in Goslar was 30 mins late and when I got to Hannover, the train to Frankfurt was cancelled like most trains on that day, so it was mayhem in Hannover train station. (I thought Germans are punctual!). Finally managed with my rudimentary German to get another train to Frankfurt via a change at Fulda. Despite travelling at 250kmph, these super trains only got me there about few mins before the train to Milan departs. By the time I got on the train in Frankfurt, I just collapse on my bed and woke up next morning in sunny warm Italy.

Goslar, Germany

2009-10-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

Goslar, a small town in the Harz mountains in the middle of Germany. It's great to stop finally visit somewhere quiet and serene after Berlin. I've always liked visiting villages and small towns, something in them that conjures those romanticised quaint images. The weather was a bit of a letdown, it was cloudy and grey so my photos didn't reveal the real riotous colours that permeates the streets and facades.

Goslar was definitely not used to mass international tourism, the tourist info didn't speak English so this was the first time that I had to speak German. And I actually like German. I used to think it's harsh but now that I've learnt it a bit, it's growing on me. My efforts at trying seemed to draw friendly smiles but maybe I sounded ridiculous or I've been saying the wrong things. But in any way it was a necessity to speak German, no one speaks English here.

There's a lot of Muslims here so here I end my painful vegetarianism. So Goslar was a good day out.

i

Berlin: Part 2

2009-10-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

The Bode Museum - possibly the only Baroque building that I can actually like.

Bode Museum café

The Pergamon temple in the Pergamon Museum

2000 years ago my ancestors were probably hunting wild boars with poison darts but in Greece they made these.

The Ishtar Gate of Babylon in the Pergamon Museum

part of the processional wall of Babylon

Libeskind's Jewish Museum - a monument of architectural arrogance and scar on Berlin

Berlin Hauptbanhof, the best train station in the world!

Berlin

2009-10-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

Berlin.

I accidentally arrived in Berlin on a very auspicious day, 3rd October - the German Reunification Day - expecting a cold modern city with the usual boring museum with plundered treasures from other nations and sausages sausages sausages. How ignorant and stupid I've been. Berlin is by far the best city in Europe that I've been to. Apart from the plunders from their amazingly well curated and interesting museums, almost all of my preconceptions have been wrong. It was definitely not boring or cold and sausages were no where to be seen (instead I found Thai restaurant on almost every station).The new Reichstag dome - symbol of the transparency of the government. I thought you can see the debating chamber from there but it was just like a tourist trap, well a beautiful one at that at least.

Berlin is comparable only to London - the energy, artistic power, culture, cosmopolitanism, outward-looking, progessive - it was all that I love about cities. Perhaps what London can boast to its German counterpart, is its unsurpassed multiculturalism. But while Berliners don't speak 100 languages, it is definitely tenfuckingthousandtimes cooler than London.

Berlin has all the usual culture of a major European metropolis - thriving arts and museums etc etc - but what makes it uber cool is the (celebrated) alternative urban culture. I'm not talking about goths dressed in black. Street art for example are of the highest quality and the best ones I saw was on the old Berlin Wall. You can find walking tours for things like these. I thought Usman would've liked it because he's into all these Banksy shit (Oh yea apparently he did something here too!). The art gallery(or whatever-it-was-as-well) called Studio 54 was one of the highlight of my visit. Lawrence had recommended me the place and told me about how it's like before, but nothing can describe the experience of seeing it for myself - the place stank of piss, broken beer bottles everywhere, floor-to-wall-to-roof grafitti. You can definitely feel the artistic energy when you're in the building. In its four floors (or more) there is a theatre, cinema, bar, club and artists' studios. I visited some of the studios (seemed like it was organised along nationalities) where you can buy some their works. It definitely was inspiring for me - call me a geek but really wanted to start a drawing of my own when I saw these.

The Museum Island was amazing. There are several museums located in the island on the River Spree, most famous being the Pergamon Museum. I wasn't expecting much of it to be honest but I was definitely awed by the collections. The Pergamon Museum is probably quite similar to the British Museum - you know showing all the treasures (plundered from other people!) but what I like about Pergamon Museum is that they reconstructed the huge monuments so that you can actually experience the scale of the ancient buildings. It is definitely well-curated and have a clear structure for you to follow. The best pieces were definitely in the Pergamon temple itself and the Islamic art collection (probably the best in Europe!).

The Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

But despite all this you can never escape the dark history of this place. This is after all where a lot of major historical events in Europe happened - ethnic-cleansing, the Berlin Wall, the Allied bombing and occupation. The history of its Jewish citizens was incredibly painful to learn about. The Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe was a great justice to the memory of those massacred by the Nazis. I never liked Peter Eisenman's works but here it was great architecture. In the underground museum, you can't help but to be moved by the suffering the Jewish Germans had to endure. People were crying inside. Not a lot of monuments can do that.

But the same can't be said about the Jewish Museum. Here David Libeskind had made the place for honouring the history of German Jews into an egomaniacal self-congratulatory monument to himself. Everywhere you go, there'll be something the superhero architect wants to say about his building. Not until I force myself to ignore the building that I can finally learn something about the history of the European Jews. Particularly good were the Judeo-Christian-Islamic section and the history of mediaeval German Jews.

Fatherland, on the Berlin Wall.

The famous kiss - Breznev and Honecker.

Berlin Wall

Seriously cool - top to bottom graffiti in Studio 54

Studio 54

I love Berlin.

Poznan, Poland

2009-10-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

Clock tower in the Old Market Square (Stary Rynek)

I made a brief stop at Poznan which was unplanned but like Gdansk, it was another pleasant surprise. Poznan is a fast-paced booming economic centre and feels like a bigger town maybe because the postwar restoration are much more extensive here. On the train from Gdansk, I met two guys that were on their way to partying in Wroclaw (love this word!). They were obviously readying themselves with the party mood having brought with them plenty of beer. In what they said as typical Polish hospitality, they kept offering me beer about 20 times which I had to refuse everytime. It makes no sense to them that some people just don't drink! Reminded me of Karolina when we first got to know each other in Liverpool - when told that I don't drink vodka she reacted "WHAT! YOU DON'T DRINK VODKA!". And that was a classic.

The Old Market town before swarmed with German tourists

Colourful and playful facades distinctive to this part of the world

A yummy wedding cake town

Malbork, Poland

2009-10-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

We strayed away from the coast to delve slightly deeper into Poland to a town called Malbork where we took a three hour in-depth (free) tour of the Castle. We saw a couple of buildings in town centre which were designed by Karolina's dad - apparently he designed half of the town's major buildings!

Gothic architecture

High Castle's courtyard with some kind of well or machinery in the middle (Karolina didn't translate the tour that well!)

The summer hall with loads of south facing window

Detail on the door

Fresco detailing the stories of the Teutonic Knights.

I can't remember what this hall is but it sure was nice. (Im was too hungry then to find out)

The main gate into the Castle

When we got back, I cooked supper for Karolina's family. Amazingly we found all the 'exotic' ingredients in Gdynia, even Kaffir lime leaves! So I cooked ayam masak merah and as I was warned by Karolina made it less spicy but as it turned out it was super poisonous!

Gdańsk: Part 2

2009-10-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

A lof of my photos taken so far have been pretty awful because I took it absent-mindedly. I didn't realise how bad it is until I actually look at it on the computer - the colour, the focus, the composition etc etc.

Anyway these are photos taken in Gdansk town centre and a photo of the yacht port in its sister city Gdynia. Enjoy

Great lively street scenes, Gdansk

The Old town square

A clock tower is uber useful for watchless people like me

They love fancy colourful facades, don't they ;)

Gdynia port- Karolina in her element

Gdańsk

2009-10-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

First stop: Gdańsk! The historical port on the Baltic Sea.

Gdańsk was never on my original plan, in fact I never intended to visit Poland. I knew very little about it before I get to know Karolina properly (as it turned out we both have a penchant for being dramatic). So Gdańsk became my first port of call when I promised her that I'd visit her. But what a pleasant surprise the city has been.

This is what happens when you give your camera to someone else - no nice backdrop. LOL! (NOT MY WORDS. yeap you guessed it!)

A proper touristy picture with the Neptune fountain

Gdańsk is a beautiful city, its colourful facades and old Gothic churches are sure to win any philistine. A walk through the Old Town is just like having a bowl of vanilla budyn, everything is cheerful and tastefully decorated. The green copper spires and clock towers echo that of Prague; the Gothic brick cathedrals' complicated engineering reminded me that this was no cultural backwater. It makes you wonder why there is little mention of Gdansk in our history lessons.

One of the Baroque gates into the Old Town.

The communist past is difficult to escape, the vast expanse of the modernist tower blocks spread all the way to the city limits but it's nothing like the Parisian banlieue (at least on the face of it). But the capitalist present is definitely everywhere to be seen. Carrefour seem to have flourished here big time. It's bloody everywhere.

Gdańsk is part of a conurbation of the Three Cities, along with Sopot and Gdynia. From my limited circle, it seems like almost everyone I spoke to has some sort connection with sailing or the ship industry. Karolina is an obsessive sailor, her cousin is starting a course in shipping communication (I think!) and some guys I spoke to on the train to Poznan are studied marine architecture and now designing ships! Maybe it's my luck. But you definitely can't escape the sea and the ships here - the shipyard cranes are as tall as the tallest spires in the Old Town.

Some elements of traditional Polish architecture seem Malaysian!

Karolina took me to the Gdansk Mosque but it seemed to us abandoned, maybe it's only open during prayer times. But it left us wondering who are these Polish Muslims!? Where do they come from?

Tried Polish food and forgot its name, it's like the Malaysian karipap but filled with sweet stuff (just like all Polish food!) and boiled rather than deep fried. Yummy.

All in all, I was impressed by Gdańsk and definitely recommend everyone to put it on their Eurotrip itinerary.

Ihsan

p/s: more photos of Gdansk + Gdynia as well as photo captions coming soon, internet here is incredibly slow!

Leaving England

2009-10-01T02:01:00.001-07:00

Finally I've left England - adopted home of 4 years and country of birth- for Malaysia.

Mixed feelings are all I can say to describe yet another dramatic change of era. From being a carefree student to an adult (with real responsibilities and apparently you're supposed to get a job as well). I'm extremely sad to leave my good friends in Sheffield and if I may add to the melodrama, I do feel like a part of me has been torn apart and left in those desolate green hills - some in Sheffield, some in Manchester and the rest in Brierfield. Also the thought of never coming back is haunting if not illogical. But in a way, I'm glad to have met all of my colourful multicultural multilingual multinational friends and they will always be a force that will take me back to England and Europe.

But at the same time, I'm quite excited to embark on yet another epic journey that will take me from Gdansk in Poland across Europe to the ancient Holy Lands of the Levant and continuing on to Cairo where my journey will end. Hopefully I will get to learn a lot of new things as well and arrive there safely.