Arous

e, originally uploaded by kopi_kocok.

Yesterday we went to Arous again, this time we have a guest with us who is a professional scuba diver. He also brought along his underwater camera and got this pic.

and this

and this

and this

and this

beautiful ain't it?

If you wish to come here and go snorkeling or scuba dive, check out this site for info.

Luk-luk wal marjan

The much hyped Arous coined the jewel of the red sea 50km north of Port Sudan did not disappoint 14 odd Malaysian last Friday. Some of us woke up early to organise for the day including preparation of food. I volunteered to menebar roti canai. The dalca gravy was prepared earlier and our Macha prepared mihun mamak to have for picnic. Kendi kerajaan Langit Ayah Pin found here in Port Sudan. No wonder the police are baffled by his "disappearance". Or are the police too busy catching innocence civilian campaigning for free and fair election?

The road
The journey took almost 2 hours thru back alleys and winding roads as our guide only remembered the route he took several months ago. Since the rest of the groups never set foot there, we have to oblige with the guide’s antics. Few fuss and complaints were heard but our irritation simply vanishes once we reach our blue coral sea destination. I forgot if I did ever thank my guide for bringing me to the place. Thanks Mad B!

Blue wonder scenary An eagle disturbed by our presence

The beach
The sight of the white sandy beach and azure blue sea was just remarkable. The guys who brought their camera were already snapping away and few were seen picking up seashells strewn about the sea side. Unfortunately, the first spot we arrived did not have a suitable shelter for a comfortable picnic. After a few inquiries with the locals, we decided to drive a little further to the private beach dotted with colorful painted chalet. However, to access the place, we had to pay 20 Sudanese Guinea (USD10) as entrance fee. Rather exorbitant for a small hut and toilet services minus the water. But we all happily paid.

The Arous Resort. White sandy beaches

The sea
Once we reach the hut, while some were busy unpacking the food stuff, I already hit the water and went for snorkeling. I hated myself for not having an underwater camera with me as the corals and the “Toshiba” fishes that greeted me were simply beautiful.

After a short break and grabbing a bite, I joined some of my friend exploring the sea. We found a spot that had a wonderful coral at the edge of the reef that bordered into an abyss of dark blue water where fishes were big and colorful. The underwater scenery was so beautiful, words fail me.

God is great! From the sea he brought forth Luk-Luk wal Marjan. Which word can we deny? (Ar-Rahman)

Above, the rolling waves were quite strong trashing the unskilled swimmer me about causing panic that I had to abandon my adventure when I found myself left alone. Hehehe… penakut! Anyway, I think I saw almost all the fishes featured in Nemo including a few stingrays.

The oyster
Our fisherman club were already waist deep in the water trying their luck by the time I returned to the beach for some more munchies. Not satisfied snorkeling, myself and a the other few who didn’t bring their fishing rods along decided to look for oysters spotted on the coral reefs. The colors and sizes of the oysters caught our fancy that between us we harvested almost 30 of them big ones . That night after diner we had oyster and so was the next day maggi oyster and again more oysters for supper the following night. Too bad none of the Bapaks could put to any good use the extravagant treat of aphrodisiac! Hehehe..

The catchs Some more catchs Harvested from the sea. I felt bad for removing such colorful creature from their coral home, but still, Oysters are yummy!Aphrodisiac anyone?

All in all it was the most exciting day for me. The coral and sea off the beaches near the place I stayed could not rival Arous and nowhere even near it. Although for the next 40 days or so I had to settle for it but that’s just fine with me. InsyaAllah, maybe next time we would plan again for another trip there, but that time I hope I am prepared with snorkeling gears and most importantly a waterproof camera!

Maiden Flight

Today in history, tercatitlah dalam lipatan sejarah the first commercial flight for the long awaited A380, the biggest jumbo jet in the sky. In the yahoo news it was reported that passengers eager to be part of the first flight paid between $500 to $100k for tickets. With that much money, the mood aboard the plane was a hell of a PARTY with free flow of champagne and beers all the way to Sydney.

On the contrary, I was aboard the Emirates on the 25th arriving to 40 degrees sun baked Khartoum after a whirlwind of RnR break. The arrival was as usual greeted by the sullen looking immigration who made you wait like an hour in line just to get your passport stamped! The flight was not so bad given that Emirates had just rolled out their new in-flight menu. I had lobster while catching up a few movies.

Than the following day, I had to take the "Budget" airline Nova Air from Khartoum to Port Sudan. The schedule as usual is 1 hour or more late than prescribed. But Alhamdulillah I manged to arrived at my destination in one piece.

Aboard the 1 hour flight as usual it is customary that they feed you with tonnes of breads and a choice of Mirinda or Pepsi and after which would be concluded with either coffee or "chai" whichever tickles your taste buds. As you can see in the picture, the remaining plastic containers of proof i had stuffed myself with. The breads and cakes i mean..
Of course, local flights here are driven by different values and standards. But for one thing I would appreciate given the standards and condition of the refurbished plane, the pilot or the steward/ess would recite the Doa Musaffir before taking off. It always help to calm my nerves, although the cramp seats, smell and noise inside the cabin would somehow unnerve any foreign travelers aboard. Mind you, Ive seen an old lady who was sitting across the aisle from me spitting inside the plane.

I wonder if anyone on board the A380 while enjoying their luxury flight, gave an ounce of thought about the sufferings of fellow traveler in other parts of the world at that time?

I recalled during the Hajj flight, the Ustaz would remind the pilgrims aboard the etiquette of flying. It was a timely advise, as I am sure that there are plenty of other pilgrims who have never set foot on a plane before, they would be at lost on how to behave themselves. The Ustaz mention that he once experience aboard a Hajj flight that some people managed to wet the cabin toilet until the whole plane was flooding. Let alone the smell! Maybe they thought that they can take shower in the plane or worst, wash like we normally do after berak. Hehehe. Alhamdulillah, so far here in Sudan, no one behave like that yet, although I wouldn't place my bet. Hehehe.

Here, i wish to also record Nu'man's maiden flight with dad and bro in tow. I would say it was one of my memorable journey with my 2 sons aboard the MAS flight KUL-AOR. They made an enjoyable and entertaining fellow passenger. In fact, the 2 yo lass sitting across the aisle from us was screaming for attention from both my sons. Whenever, Nu'man or Nuaim look at her she would smile in glee and waving and urging them to come closer. But dad, concern and a wee bit shy of the Mother in Purdah, would not really let them cross to the other side. hehehe.

Anyway, I would look forward to be traveling with my sons and daughter again in the near future, InsyaAllah.
Nuaim & Nu'man enjoying the scene from inside the ERL.Restless travelers at the Boarding Hall. Another minute, they were seen running up and down the hall. Nu'man even tries to escape from the hall twice as he was tempted by the walkalator just outside .
Nu'man playing with the table.
Nuaim enjoying his dose of complimentary kacang. Being a seasoned "flight participant", this was his second solo with ol' dad.

Notes from Land of Dusty Hollow

Yesterday, despite the fasting month, I tag along with a couple of my friends to search for dunes worthy of photo shots. It was an unpopular decision against every sleepy bones in my body. Oddly I did not sleep throughout the 135km or so round journey south like I expected. The road was straight as an arrow which could lull any unwary drivers into micro sleeps that have proven to be fatal.
The 360 degrees scenery is mostly flat dotted with bushes like these pictures. Cik Mad recalls it looks like the scene from High Chaparral a late 60s tv show. That will hint u his age. The one and only sign post you could find around here. If u happen to be driving around here, don't count on finding such sign post to aid if ur lost. There probably wont be any. Ur best bet is to drive straight and watch out for any Bedouins tent around to help u track back.
The sign post is fixed on hinges should strong wind blows, the whole thing wont just collapse as is common after a bad sand storm. The bush that dotted the barren land. The roots must be very deep into the ground where the water is. The soils here is very fine dust that rain water or flood takes a long time to dry and when it finally seeps into the ground, farmers or Bedouins can still retrieve it by a digging a bit. Our journey finally ends near this once fisherman village by the red sea. If we drive further south we could end up in Eritrea.

Last year when we came here, there were a few boats and fisherman selling their harvest under a tent. Now, we can only find these empty seashells left behind. Mabye its the Ramadhan, and they are on holiday or something.

Thats Ipin the Stingray Slayer. His the one who suggested we go on this trip for some photo shots. He thought this would be his last trip but I think he might have to come back and stay like the rest of us till March.. who knows if he finally got the lucky one way ticket trip. We wait and see..

We managed to find an isolated dune worthy of photo for Ipin to take home. U could see the wind blowing softly against the sand creating a hazy shade of color.Some small tree that could survive this desert condition. It sure adds color to this bleak sandy desert scene.
Heres more or less the geography of this Red Sea District. It is a contrast to the dark red soil, deep blue sky and green trees and bushes that one normally find in southern Sudan.

Me and Cik Mad who also has his own blog.

A building which purposes is lost to me. It lies by the roadside with nothing inside it. Too small for a medium size Sudanese to live in it. Probably its one of those temporary permanent building solutions by the passing Bedouins around this area.On our way back, we took a detour into the town called Suakin. Heres some pictures of the kind of houses common in the villages around the town. The houses are simply built out of dead branches sufficient to keep out the heat during the day and cold breeze during the night. It almost never rain here, so there probably no need of fancy house like we have.
Although more and more people with stronger economics capacity are opting for brick layered build up.
Yet there are the poor who live next door to a well to do neighborhood.
A small shop displaying its good out in the open.

Some build their houses out of wood rather than the traditional branches.
The main transport of choice is still the donkey. This one here is use to carry drinking water for houses.

Suakin is a town famous for its Fort City build entirely out of coral reefs. Some say it dated back to the period of King Solomon. Although another story recounted that the Turkish was the first people to build the fort here many hundred years ago. Will soon find out the truth next week, InsyaAllah when we return here for a visit inside the city. This time we were not prepared with the entrance fees. The picture above is just a sample of the crumbling ruin of an old house outside the gated fort city. This house here is also build out of coral reefs.

At the bottom here is some seashells i managed to scavenged from the trip. Its not that pretty yet, but wait till I clean them and drown it at the bottom of my in-laws pond.
Actually we tried to take more close up pictures with the local but unfortunately, they are somewhat hostile to a bunch of photo itchy tourist and refuse taking photos of them. I had a bad experience of being shouted at near Khartoum once. Cik Mad also had a harrowing experience with a local bully who threaten to report Cik Mad to the police for taking innocent pictures of the scenery.

My guess is as good as yours on to what kind of stigma attached to these local people on photography. In East Malaysia there are some tribe that belief their soul would freeze forever in time within the photo if other took pictures of them. Maybe they are just not well inform..

Setengah hari di Bort Sudan

Semalam escape jap dari bosan tahap maksima dengan makan angin di Bort Sudan. Sebab, keesokan harinya nak puasa, pekan sentul ni pon sibuk la penuh dengan bermacam aktiviti perniagaan, melepak dan bermacam ragam manusia. Pencemaran bunyi dari "hon" kenderaan dan sekali-dua kala "hon" asli dari kenderaan rasmi 4 kaki negeri pasir berdengung ni, yaitu keladai menambahkan hiruk pikuk suasana petang itu.

Tujuan ke pekan pon bukannya apa, kengkawan nak beli senaskah dua Al-Quran dan buah rotob. Harga senaskah Al-Quran disini memang kompetitif seingat aku la berbanding harga di kaki lima Kotaraya suci Mekah Al-Mukarrammah.
Sebuah kedai yang kami singgah di kaki lima mempamerkan bermacam2 buku dan dan alatan ibadah bergantungan atau diletakkan atas kaki lima begitu saja.

Orang ramai yang berteleku dan duduk2 tu sedang bersembang dan bertukar gosip sambil minum kopi cangkung yang turut di jual berhampiran.
Peniaga2 boleh kata bersepah2 lah menjual barangan mereka, yang pakcik kat bawah teduh tu jual tali pinggang dan aksesori pakaian lelaki. Yang kat depan sekali tu pulak jual kayu sugi dan bermacam2 artifak yang tidak dikenali.

Gambar ni ambil jauh2 sebab orang sini tak gemar gambar mereka diambil. Sementara aku sendiri tak gemar dengan barang yang dijualnya maka tak adalah consensus untuk berjual beli sambil ambil gambar.
Pakcik ni pulak jual tikar gulung sambil berdiri. Terpikir jugak, kenapa hanya tinggal dua? Laku ker? Mungkin stok nya masih ada di belakang kedai kot.Rotob tak ada, yang ada Tamar. Tamar Sudan ni tak best sangat pasai dia kering. Kena rendam aiyiaq hangat gitu sampai dia lembut sikit baru leh makan. Silap haribulan leh patah gigi makan yang kering begitu saja.
Jalan "raya" penuh sesak dengan kenderaan termasuklah keladai ni yang menunggu giliranya di simpang. Traffic light takder, asal siapa berani jalan dulu. Agaknya, kalau budaya merempit singgah ke sini dibawa oleh expat2 Malaisi macam mana la pulak keadaan jalan raya kat sini nanti? Kita tunggu..!
Pakcik ni bawak berguni2 gula untuk dijual diatas kenderaan "eco-friendly" nya. Kesimpulan dari gambar ini:-
1) Orang Sudan kuat makan Gula, pakcik tu pon sihat jer
2) Perniagaan disini dijalankan tanpa mencemarkan alam sekitar
3) Kenderaan ni front leg center drive.

Chewahh! Siap "double park" lagi. Kalau kat Keyhell dah tentu kena saman berguni.Lagi suasana kalut malut yang dapat disaksikan dari dalam keselesaan Totota Land Cruiser GXR.
Ni bank Sumber Binatang. Agaknya apa jenis produk yang ditawarkan oleh bank ni? Bank Riba ker Bank Islam?
Lori Mercedes warna warni yang turut menyusuri jalan raya ini. Jam sebentar.
Sibukkan? Yea lah, ramai orang yang buat "last minute shopping" ala-ala orang Malaisi jugak.

Ni salah sebuah kedai tujuh sebelaih yang boleh ditemui sebijik dua sepanjang lebuhraya dari pekan balik ke Bashayer, tempat aku merempat.
Senario yang biasa di lihat atas lebuhraya di negara ini. Laju bukan main tu.. "Safety" jangan ditanya la.

Dalam perjalanan balik sempat la kami singgah di sebuah masjid yang ringkas rekabentuk nya. Bilal melaungkan azan dari luar masjid memanggil umat Islam menunaikan solat Asar berjemaah.Sempoi jer. Orang sini ambil wudhu pakai bejana kecil tu ja. Sumber aiyiaq yang terhad mungkin membentuk cara hidup yang sesuai dengan keperluan setempat. Bukan macam orang kita, habis basah baju.
Budak ni main aiyiaq sambil kerenyih, membuatkan aku teringat anak aku Muhammad Nuaim. Ada la sekali tu bawak dia pi sembahyang masjid. Tengah dok sembahyang dia hilang takdak dekat2 tu. Mula la tak kusyuk sembahyang. Bila dah habis bagi salam, cepat2 la pi cari anak sulung sorang tu kat mana. Rupa-rupanya jumpak dia dok syiok main aiyiaq pancuq kat belakang sampai habih basah baju.