Best Experience As Musafir Ramadhan (Ramadhan Traveler)

I am compelled to write this... the ideas lingered for the past few days. And I thought, why not...

I did a trip during Ramadhan month (fasting month for the Muslim) sometime in year 2007. Honestly I can't remember why we opted for Ramadhan month to travel, perhaps Wahidah can jog my memory abit. And I know we did (or at least I did!) contemplate on whether should I proceed. To make it worst, my late dad passed away few months earlier and obviously I was emotionally unstable.

Being the strong headed person at times (at times? Yeah right Lily!), I decided to go ahead with the plan; since I have paid the flight and all plus I needed a break from the whole '.......' (you know what I mean...). Making this decision knowingly people will talk behind your back wasn't easy.... but then again, people will always talk right? Esok-esok lupa ler tuh kan.... Whatever....

I guess there was a reason for everything that HE decided for us, blessing in disguise so they say (ada hikmat di sebalik dugaan); what else better to do but to submit to HIM (redha).

Enough with the intro... tau tau 3-4 para dah tulis, gilerrr... ish!

The only thing I know about this trip is that I will be going to Morocco & Spain. And that Morocco is Maghribi (clap clap clap! Sungguh pandai anda Lily!) and that the trip falls during Ramadhan. Ok ok ok!!! That's pure lie, I know I will be landing in Casablanca and there's a popular song of the same name (see! I know something [at least. Proud moment]). Oh!!!! And that there's this famous Jemaa El Fna. Yup! My knowledge stops right about here. Hahhahhaha....

So, months before the trip Wahidah & I did all the necessary research and the plan is to space out our activities (foreseeing we will be more tired than usual). Due to my minimal knowledge in Islamic history (hey!!! I studied in Chinese school all my life, gimme a break ok!); we split in such a way that Wahidah handles Morocco sightseeing and booking and almost everything and I Spain. This way, we will be able to off-load each other and there should not be any 'argument' on "I did most of the work" or "Why did she chose this place" etc. Of course, once either party have identify and crafted the daily route, we will have a discussion to ensure both party are happy and satisfied on selected attractions or activities (and cost). Haaaa.... demokrasi terpimpin bak kata P.Ramlee, fair idak?

For those who plan to do travel during Ramadhan, do consider visiting country during cooler weather. Don't choose those scorching hot countries as you'll get dehydrated and tired easily. And kindly spread out your activities. 

Oh! My trip was in autumn so you know (smart huh!). And I fasted the whole trip, tak penat pun kot, but to those who can't take it (fasting); berbuka ler (break your fast), kang pengsan lak masa jalan. Jangan blame orang if so lah iya. Else jangan jalan masa puasa.

Biggest attraction in Casablanca (well, aside from the song) is the Hassan II Mosque.

From Wikipedia

The Hassan II Mosque (Arabic: مسجد الحسن الثاني‎) is a mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. It is the largest mosque in the country and the 7th largest mosque in the world. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 m (689 ft).

It stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic Ocean. A total of 105,000 worshippers can gather for prayer at the mosque simultaneously, 25,000 inside the mosque and another 80,000 on the mosque's ground outside.

Walking to this mosque from where we stayed was challenging as we initially thought it was near and that the road condition was 'strollable".. err.. not! Tak pa, jalan ke masjid dapat pahala (hemmm... patut buat solat sunat masjid kan... tak ingat lak masa tuh).

Inside the Hassan II Mosque, huge huh!

Ablution area.

If I am not mistaken, this is a spa? No? Do share for those who know.

Got a slight culture shocked here, then we made a deduction that this caters for the non-Muslim and foreigner.

Best Musafir Ramadhan Experience Ever

**This is strictly base on my true experience and personal opinion.

Upon arriving to Marrakesh from Casablanca via train, we were greeted by taxi drivers. We were hesitating on which one to take, then appraoch an old decent man who speaks perfect English offering his service & help. Hemmm.... he looks honest, those type of people you have a good hunch about. So we quickly agree and furnishes him with our riad's address.

This is the interesting part. The suspense starts right about here....

While driving us to the riad, he asked whether we are Muslim (guessing as he noticed Wahidah was wearing a headscarf). We said yes (looking at each other worriedly - apahal lak pakcik nih kan!?) then the next question caught us (well, me at least) by surprise. 

"Ah!!!! Musafir?" He said. 

We said yes.... (well obviously right?). Guess what?

After asking whether are we were fasting, he later asked us to break fast at his home with his family. We were like errr...... talking to each other in Malay wondering can this man be trusted, will he kidnap us etc etc..yah yah... I watched way too much movie. I KNOW! 

We said, why not we accept and tawakal, he looks decent and nice. Insyaallah

We got to know he used to work in British Council thus his fluent English and that he have 2 kids, a boy and a girl. Just about then, we reached the riad and he said that he will pick us up at 6pm.

In the riad...

We still wondered whether we have made a right decision. Since we agreed to tawakal and think positively, we quickly look for souvenirs to bring over, can't be going empty handed right?? Where's Malaysia hospitality???

I realised I have a box of chocolate biscuit and a pario that we can bring over. OK! All set!

Journey to a stranger's house...

Still worried hence we start memorizing all the corner and turn of the journey ie from our riad to his 'house' just incase we need to hail a cab. He stop and bought some bread and drove us outskirt. Giler panic ok! We arrived at what in Malaysia look like shophouses but with slightly wider in width. He parked and ushered us upstairs.... Dap dup dap gak lah masa nih.. tuhan jek yang tahu.

Then we arrive and the door opens... GOODNESS!

His house is big and super clean, his wife barely said a word (language barrier kot), then he called his kids to greet us. His daughter is so beautiful and his youngest son was cheeky.

We saw the food spread... macam mana nak habis nih. Banyak nye.

We took some pics and handed him our token of new friendship. His wife was delighted as the orange pario/scarf matched her Idul Fitr new dress. YES!!!

The kids were happy with the chocolate biscuit. Yeay!

The meal...

After finished eating, he asked us whether we wanted to stay for dinner? 

I was like.... DINNER? What is that... that food we just ate?

He said, oh! That food is for breaking fast.

So I enquired, when is their normal dinner time?

Later at 9-10ish... then - sleep. Biar benor.

This transpired later...

• He offered to take us around with minimal charged, which was great cause we got a driver cum 'tour guide'. And he took us to some places which was not in our list. Reason being we thought of settling with the standard HoHo (Hop-In Hop-Off Bus) but this is a better deal. Especially for a talkative person like me (semua bende nak tanya....ehhehehehe)

• We exchanged contact detail with his beautiful daughter and we still keep in touch with her till NOW. Best kan kan kan. Lain kali senang ler nak gi Morocco. Hehheheh....

He took us to more places but here I will only be sharing a few... else penat you all baca I cite. If nak jugak, I buat entry lain.

2nd hand market, outskirt of the city.

Palmaraie Golf Palace, sumpah cantek ok!

One section of the inside.

The friendly driver, lupa lak nama. Wahidah help!

The famous Jemaa El Fna.

The fasting (puasa) and sahur story...

Banyak lak story mory kali nih, hehehheheee.....

As I have mentioned earlier, we stayed at a riad which was walking distance from the famous Jemaa El Fna. The package comes with free breakfast HOWEVER as we were here during the month of Ramadhan hence we were given 2 choice, sahur OR break fast (ie buka puasa). Take a guess which of this 2 we've chosen. Yup sahur!! Bila masa lah pulak nak masak pepagi. Riad nih kira cam umah orang 5-8 bilik, bukan nye hotel ye.

The boy guy told us that sahur call will be at 4:30am. So, slightly before 4:30am we woke up and waited and wondering... (ye lah, kat negara orang and bukan negara Asia lak tuh [benua Africa nih, ish!], di bulan Ramadhan, ada tak sahur kang we all thought). At 4:30am he knocked on our door and said sahur is ready downstairs.

View from our room of our dining area.

Berhidang ok.... segan dak? I have to admit, we were pretty awestruck of the splendid service.

The 3 'pots' are butter & jams. 

During iftar...

We will just walk to souk and Jemaa El Fna to grab some bread there but most of the time we will have maggi mee (kemut duit tau!). Even that, the guy will ask us whether we want tea and provide us with hot water for our maggi, in fact he offered us local delicacies that few days we were there.  Best kan! Kira kene gi lagi skali lah.

If anyone ask me how and what do you feel about Morroco?

My answer?

Courtesy and hospitality at its best.

PS : Doa musafir teraniaya makbul, so; doa banyak-banyak. Banyak bawak bersabar sebab bulan Ramadhan.

PPS : My cat on hyper active mode. Yeah lar; kucing tak yah puasa. Cis!

Morocco : The Land of Contrast

Morocco or Kingdom of Morocco is one of the most unique and mesmerizing country that one could not help but fall in love with her immediately. Its kaleidoscope of sky blue, copper brown, Marrakech red and leafy green makes is as mystical as a fairy tale land.

Moors is a word derived from the Greek 'Mauros' which means 'dark' for people of Morocco, they are native of African Berbers with Arab origin, this was during the period when Islam spreading its wing in North Africa. The contrast is reflected strongly in their culture, custom and architecture.

There are many ways to embrace Morocco, you can either take an all inclusive holidays package or plan your own; the earlier is an easier option for those looking for convenience. An advice to any travelers to Morocco, do spend some time in magical Marrakech else it is as good as you never set foot here before.

Hassan II Mosque - the largest in North Africa, and the third largest in the world

Interior of Hassan II Mosque

 

Just like the movie, we decided that the first city to visit would be Casablanca. The iconic building we visited was the Hassan II Mosque - the largest in North Africa, and the third largest in the world; designed by a French architect named Michel Pinseau. Understood that the mosque can cater for 25,000 worshippers inside, and additional 80,000 can be accommodated in the outer pavilion. It also holds the world's tallest minaret record at 210 metres. Definitely a sight to behold.

A room in the riad where we stayed

Riad's living room

There are 2 things that made Marrakech famous, one being the labyrinth and the other Djemaa el Fna. With this in mind, we have purposely chosen to stay in a riad/guesthouse in the labyrinth itself located a walking distance from Djemaa el Fna. The best way to feel the colours of Marrakech is to take a walk in it’s medina (old city) and souks (markets), this can be done either by venturing into the maze with a map at hand or by including it in your all inclusive holidays package with a guide explaining its history in detail.

Djemaa el Fna transforming to a food court

 

Orange and spice sellers at Djemaa el Fna

The main square of Marrakech, Djemaa el Fna is where you will get to see stalls and shops at abundance selling everything from an orange juice, water, snake charmers, spices and etc during day time.  At night, it transforms itself to a big food court of Marrakech. And because of its historical & cultural value, it is now recognized by UNESCO and has been awarded as a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity site.

The Berbers helping us riding the camel

 Let’s visit Morocco - The Land of Contrast.

Day 3 | Jogjakarta 3D2N Costing & Duta Guesthouse Review

I did a 3D2N Jogjakarta trip with Anna & sis a couple of years back. My suggestion for a trip here would be 4-5 days Jogja alone comfortably, and if you were to include Mt Bromo and to use Jogja as a base; then perhaps 5-6 days. There are some travel blogger doing a trans Java trip which I think needs 7 days or so. That would be the alternative that you can take a look at.

My Indonesian relatives did a 10 days return trip Pekan Baru to Bali ie Sumatera to Jawa to Bali and back. Kid you not. OVERLAND. It requires driving both day and night time, relay drivers are highly required here. I don't encourage this unless you are with locals.

Lobby or registration area

We chose to stay at Duta Garden Hotel/Guesthouse which is pretty decent, reasonably priced and clean. Address below.


DUTA GARDEN HOTEL
Timuran MG.III/103
Yogyakarta 55153
Indonesia
Phone: +62 274 373482, +62 274 388378
Fax: +62 274 372064

Location from Duta Garden site as below, for map; please click HERE :

Duta Garden Hotel is located in Timuran kampong of Prawirotaman area. You can reach this hotel in 20 minutes drive from Adisucipto International Airport; 10 minutes drive from Tugu railway station or Giwangan bus station.

Various places of interest can be reached fast. It only takes you 30 minutes to go to Prambanan temple as the biggest Hindu temple in South-East Asia and 1 hour drive to go to Borobudur temple as one of the world wonders. Yogyakarta Kingdom and Tamansari water castle are reachable within 10 minutes time.

Bare with me on the resolution here. 

What I like about this place is that they serves us tea time ie tea & some lcoal delicacies, they even asked us whether we wnat to have it in the room, patio or by the pool. WOW!!! That's personalize service. Loving it!

This hotel/guesthouse have 2 other sister hotels :

Delta Homestay Yogyakarta
It is located in Prawirotaman, where you can find andicraft trading centers and it is more an "international kampong" feel.

DELTA HOMESTAY
Jl. Prawirotaman MG.III/597-A
Yogyakarta 55153
Indonesia
Phone: +62 81 727 1047, +62 274 7477537
Fax: +62 274 372064

Duta Garden Hotel & Boutique Villa 
It is located in Timuran kampong of Prawirotaman area.



DUTA GARDEN HOTEL & BOUTIQUE VILLA
DUTA GARDEN HOTEL & BOUTIQUE VILLA
Timuran MG.III/103
Yogyakarta 55153
Indonesia
Phone: +62 274 373482, +62 274 388378
Fax: +62 274 372064

This was our room, we requested for lower floor, easier to carry our luggage

 

Very quaint, they even have a substantially big pool for the guest.

Staircase from the lobby to our room, you need to pass by the pool in order to get to our room. A lot of efforts were put in making this place as unique as possible.

This is how the street looks like outside, basically it's located in a housing area, the main road turning in have Nasi Padang restaurant, Roti Bandung seller (YES!) etc.

Costing
I didn't spend much here, barely shop too. In this costing I have also removed the Air Asia flight cost as it very dynamic and fluctuates by day (if not hour).

To lower down the cost, you can do a DIY either by renting a car or motorbike and manage your own itinerary. For me, since it is a very short trip, we decided to hire a tour guide aside the fact that Borobudur sunrise is tougher to do DIY (we need to depart out guesthouse at 5am in the morning).

What did the tour package covers (click the hyperlink)

• Day 1 - Parambanan Temple, Parangtritis Resort (cliff view) and Parangtritis beach
• Day 2 - Borobudur sunrise, Kraton, Taman Sari, Taman Sari tunnel,  Mendut Temple, Spa (Lingga waited for us for 3 hours, spa was at own cost).

Lingga's contact : +62 812 295 6349

Note :

• Bakso is very very cheap there (and taste nicer too) so each of us took 2 helpings plus 2 teh bottles each hence the cost reflected in the table is higher.
• Dunkin Donuts? Nicer there!!! Enough said. Psst!!! We packed home the donuts as souvenirs. Hhehehhe.... JCo wasn't available in Jogja back then.
• The tour package is a tad expensive, to lower down the cost; suggest travelers to rent a car/motorbike (GPS is advisable)
• Another way to catch sunrise package is to stay at the Manohara Resort itself (Twin bed - IDR 745.000 nett/room/night or Double bed - IDR 690.000 nett/room/night include), bare in mind that Jogja to Borobudur is 1 hour drive.
• When I visited Jogja in 2007; there wasn't many blogs out there to guide me, even Jogyes website was simple & bare. The nearby Mt Bromo wasn't even in the vocab :)
• Those days fridge magnets was almost NONE, now aplenty as shared by MasZuber -THANKS!! Good luck buying.
• Do note that I am particular when it comes to historical sites, I like to engage tour guide as I want to know the history and story behind it (some not stated in travel books/website). It's personal satisfaction.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your trip.

Hyperlink credits : Duta Garden Hotel, Delta Homestay, Duta Boutique Villa

Day 2 | Candi Borobudur At Dawn

This is one of those short trip that we decided to do as we figure Jogjakarta does not have much places to cover and a holiday out of country is highly required (excuses as usual) thus Jogja fits the bill. Do bare in mind that I've visited Jogjakarta when Air Asia route was via Solo which also means it took us 1 hour to get from Solo's Bandara to Jogja town. What's in Solo? Well, it is famous for the Solo batik for one (or so I've heard) and one of the famous temple is located near by which as usual, I have successfully (with flying colours) forgotten it's name.

Am not sure the locality of the Jogja's Bandara (Airport) but I can share the experience I had with Solo's though, it is small; like.. really small. Kid you not! How small you wonder, could Lily be exaggerating? Let me describe as briefly as possible. As the airplane dock (is this the right word Adam? Dock is meant for ship only, right?), we got down, an walk for probably 20 meters before reaching the terminal. And by terminal I meant the custom ie where you stamp you passport. YES! The queue was about 30 meter and we ended up outside the terminal on the pavement/near the airplane. And we thought it was funny (despite the hot weather) cause as we approaches the door of the terminal (10 meters before the immigration), we saw the conveyor belt carrying our luggage on our right side (starting from the door where we came in!??!). And upon unloading the bag, any passer by can just grab your bag as it is 5 foot away from the waiting area (no glass, no nothing). Confused? Let me put it this way, the waiting area is behind the immigration folks, like literally behind them. Sigh... Enlightening experience.

Anyway, I've gotten the tour agent contact (Yes, I am very much pampered at times and uses the expertise of an agent to save time and energy) to book us (Anna, sis and I) for a Sunrise Borobudur Tour. YES! There is such package, I found out by mistake hard work searching Mr. Google. So Lengga instructed us to be ready at 4am (MORNING) as she will be picking us at that time. Obediently we waited for her, the journey took us 1 hour, best thing to do is - continue sleeping in the car. Hahahah.... What else right?!!?

The view from the top while waiting for glimpse of Ms. Sunshine

We need to enter via Manohara Hotel which happens to be the nearest hotel to Borobudur. The package comes with a torchlight & breakfast (after the sunrise tour) and you need not be a guest to enjoy and reserve this package (at that point of time, please double check).

Aside from getting the best and most beautiful view of Borobudur at sunrise, the other perk is that your transportation is to drop you at the foot of Borobudur which means, a shorter walk (you would not want to walk the distance ok!) which matters greatly to me.

With only your torchlight at hand and an experience guide, you will be guided to the top and to wait patiently for Ms. Sunshine.

 

The break of dawn.

Apologise for the low quality, those days the resolution and night capture quality sucks big time.

 

The stupas catching rays of the early morning sun.

 

How I wish my camera was good great, for my benefit and ego; just say the pics are nice yah! Hahha... A lot of frustration was put in.

The sky getting clearer, and suddenly we heard Lengga asking us to follow her to the other side. Better view she said.

One for the road, so they say, so we did.

Lengga was right, the view from this side is much better and Hewlett-Packard camera was better then my Canon IXUS camera. Frustusmus! At least we manage to capture few reasonabl;e shots. Thanks HP!

Breathtaking

The lesson begins where Lengga started to tell us the history of Borobudur, below is an excerpt from Wikipedia :

Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist monument in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument consists of six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside a perforated stupa.

Following the major 1973 renovation funded by UNESCO, Borobudur is once again used as a place of worship and pilgrimage. Once a year, during the full moon in May or June, Buddhists in Indonesia observe Vesak (Indonesian: Waisak) day commemorating the birth, death, and the time when Siddhārtha Gautama attained the highest wisdom to become the Buddha Shakyamuni. Vesak (or Waisak) is an official national holiday in Indonesia and the ceremony is centered at the three Buddhist temples by walking from Mendut to Pawon and ending at Borobudur.

After Lengga told us in great length the story and history, we head down to have our breakfast while enjoying the morning air overlooking ancient Borobudur. Splendid.

One last picture before feeding our hungry tummy.

Soon after we finishes with Borobudur site, we adjourn to visit Taman Sari and it's mysterious tunnel and staircase. How did I locate this place (told you the places I covers are very different). I have to share that I rely gretaly on YOGYES.COM, no regrets... this site is pretty comprehensive.

Here's the thing, most people and site would recommend you to visit only Taman Sari, but hardly any tells you there's a secret tunnel underneath where the royalty will seek refuge during disaster or major emergency.

Excerpt from Yogyes.com :

This wide underground alley is used as the place when Keraton in the critical condition. Many hidden places can be found in this place. Leaving Tajug, you can see traces of Pulo Kenongo which was formerly an artificial island that was planted by cananga flowers to give fragrant into Taman Sari. YogYES then goes to Sumur Gumuling, underground mosque as the place for Sultan and family to do their religious duty. This two-story building is designed to have a good acoustic side. So, when the imam led the prayer, her voice would be clearly hear from all over the length and breadth of the building. Now, it still can being felt. The people speech who are far away from us will feel like they are on our side. Moreover, we can go to the center of the mosque by pass through the dark alleys. Arriving in the square-shaped with 5 steps around it in the center of the mosque, the feeling of majesty instantly felt. When we look up, the blue sky will greet us. The sounds of bird that came from settlements in Taman Sari area will add the serene atmosphere.

More info via Wikipedia HERE.

Excerpt from Wikipedia : 

It is a one-storeyed structure for the Sultan to meditate, or some said, a hiding place for the royal family during an attack. Another name for this island is Sumur Gumantung, because on the south side of this island is a well that hangs above the ground. This place could only be reached via the underwater tunnel. The building of Cemethi Island is now also in ruin. A legend says that there is a secret tunnel that connects the palace with the south sea (Indian Ocean) where Nyai Roro Kidul or the Queen of the South has her palace. The supernatural Queen becomes the spiritual wife of Yogyakarta Sultan for many generations.

As this was a 3D2N trip, and our flight was wee morning thus we need to leave the guesthouse 1 hour earlier due to Solo's Bandara distance. 

PS : Yes, I did visit the Kraton and few other temples, but we ran out of batteries so unable to blog about it. And yes, I would like to repeat Jogja probably do Mount Bromo too.

Hyperlink credit : Wikipedia, Yogyes.com