RIHLAH 4 : Day 3–> HA’IL

24 March 2012

Alhamdulillah, hari ini kami masih dipanjangkan umur untuk meneruskan explorasi kami buat hari ke-3.   Kami memutuskan untuk terus menjelajah bandar Ha’il.  Banyak sebenarnya tarikan daerah Ha’il ini..cuma tak tau lokasi jer.  Susah untuk dapatkan koordinat memandangkan tak banyak informasi yang kami jumpa di internet. 

Sedihnya Dr Latiff, kak Yati dan Fida tak dapat meneruskan penjelahan bersama kami memandangkan Dr latiff mahu ke Madinah dan target untuk tiba di Riyadh pada hari Isnin.  Dr latiff dan Fida terpaksa memenuhi tuntutan kerja yang perlu dibereskan.  Walaupon cuti, inilah hakikatnya.

Pagi ini kami bersarapan dengan menu yang tak kurang menariknya. Yey..roti canai dan teh tarik…tarik sendiri dlm flusk la .  Sambil bersarapan, kami berbincang tentang perjalanan yang akan diteruskan untuk hari2 seterusnya.  Kami dapat tahu Ustaz Hafiz rupanya di Madinah dan merancang ke Madain Salleh.  Ini peluang yang baik!  kami sememangnya merancang untuk ke Madain Salleh dan Al Ula.  Cumanya kami tidah sempat untuk mendapatkan permit.  Takut pula mengambil risiko pergi tetapi kecewa tak dapat masuk.  Bila dengar je ustaz Hafiz nak ke sana, Dr Latiff terus hubungi diorang.  Ustaz bersama dua lagi keluarga RIyadh yg juga berihlah di bumi Saudi ini.  Alhamdulillah, peluang yang baik buat kami.  Insyaallah, mereka akan tiba di Al Ula esok hari.

    Tgk la roti canai kami..sebijik pon tak abis sorang makan..sedap makan panas2!

Memandangkan Dr Latiff harus berada di Riyadh pada hari Isnin, maka beliau tak dapat jua untuk bersama rombongan Ustaz Hafiz walaupon hati mereka meronta untuk mengenali tempat baru bagi kami.  Insyaallah, pasti ada hikmah atas segala aturan yang maha Esa. 

Selepas sahaja mereka check out dari hotel, kami memutuskan untuk ke Barzan tower sebelum Dr Latiff meneruskan perjalanan ke Madinah.  Kami memusing2 di dalam bandar Hail dan melalui lorong2 tiggalan lama ‘mud house’ yang pastinya punyai sejarah tersendiri yang tak kami ketahui.  Lama juga kami memusing sebelum bertemu dengan Barzan castle. 

    terdapat banyak peninggalan rumah mud house bila melalaui jalan2 kecik di sekitar Hail…

     sedikit informasi berkenaan Barzan palace tower….

 inilah peninggalan Barzan tower….

Telahan kami berkenaan Barzan castle jauh sekali dari yang kami jangkakan.  Terbayang sebuah castle lama tersergam megah.  Tengok2 pagarnye pon dah di rosakkan.  Nasib ada sign board yang menceritakan serba sedikit sejarahnya.  Moga kerajaan Saudi lebih menghargai tinggalan sejarah mereka. 

Barzan tower di bina pada tahun 1808 ketika permerintahan Muhamad Abdul Mohsen Al Ali.  Di tulis pada signboard tersebut mengatakan ianya masih senibina asal.  Lamanya ia bertahan memandangkan hanya dibina menggunakan rumput2 dan tanah lumpur.  Dari sumber lain mengatakan saiz seluas 1000 kaki persegi tapi yang kami lihat hanya ada 2 tower di situ.  Mungkin dah runtuh atau diruntuhkan…wallahua’lam.  Dr Latiff terpaksa meneruskan perjalanan ke Madinah untuk memastikan mereka tiba sebelum malam. Semoga perjalanan mereka selamat dan dimudahkan urusan mereka..insyaallah.

Souq disekeliling tower ni pon tak kurang menariknya.  Biasalah…pompuan, susah nak dipisahkan dengan souq.  Kadang2 tu bukan nak beli sangat tapi suka tengok apa yang di jual.  Memandangkan castle tak menarik mana, kami pon memutuskan untuk ‘explore’  Barzan souq yang berhampiran.  Alang2 dah sampai….tengok je lah. 

Setelah kami memusing2 disekitar souq dan membeli kacang2 untuk kudapan, kami meneruskan explorasi kami sekitar Ha’il.  Setelah membeli makanan tengahari, kami memutuskan untuk mencari taman mainan sambil makan2.  Banyak pilihan taman mainan tetapi anak mahukan taman yang kami jumpa mula2 tiba di Ha’il.  Malangnya setelah memusing dan terus memusing kami tak juga berjumpa dengan taman yang diidamkan.  Akhirnya kami terus mencuba ke Al Samra park apabila terlihat jalan yang akan membawa kami ke puncak bukit Samra. 

Jalan memusing2 yang agak sempit sepanjang 1.4 km menarik sekali untuk di lalui.  Memandangkan udara masih belum bersih dari ribut pasir yang berterusan, pemandangan sedikit terhalang.  Alangkah indahnya ketika kami tiba dipuncak.  Dari sini kami dapat melihat keseluruhan bandar Ha’il.  Angin begitu kuat menampar pipi2 kami yang gebuss nih bila berada di tanah tinggi.  Masyaallah…indahnya ciptaanMu Ya Illahi.  Terlupa kami akan perut yang tadinya meronta2 untuk di isi apabila melihat pemandangan sekeliling yang indah.  Anak2 yang kecil pula bergembira berlari di kawasan lapang dengan  angin kuat menambahkan cabaran mereka berlari-larian.  Semoga kami dapat ke sini lagi untuk melihat pemandangan di waktu malam pula.

   pemandangan dari satu sudut di puncak Mount Samra….

    pemandangan dari sudut yang lain pula…..

   betapa bahagianya anak2 dapat bermain, berlari bebas di kawasan lapang atas puncak….

Kalau ikutkan hati nak je berpiknik dekat atas ni tapi angin begitu kuat takut nanti ayam KFC yang dibeli berperisa tambahan dan lebih ‘rangup’ pula .  Kami memutuskan untuk makan tengahari di taman tanah rendah sahaja.  Daripada pembacaan kami di internet, terdapat lebih 30 taman di sekitar bandar Hail ini.  So.tak susahlah untuk mencari taman. 

Setelah berpusing2, mata kami terpahat pada senibina seperti Great Wall of China'.  Apa la agaknya ada di dalam tu ek?  Apalagi, kami terus masuk ke arah pintu masuk gerbang tersebut.  Malangnya ia tertutup dan tidak ada apa2 informasi tentang binaan tersebut.  Hint yang kami ada cuba billboard besar tertera ‘Mumtazah Attaqwah Altarfihi’…kalau tak silap baca la . Hati bergolak2 untuk masuk ke dalam…..keinginan untuk mengetahui disebalik tembok.  Moga kami berkesempatan untuk meneroka sekali lagi ke kawasan ini.  Setelah mengambil gambar tembok tersebut kami terus ke jalan utama kembali dan berhenti sekali lagi apabila terlihat taman yang agak besar dan cantik sekali latar belakang pemandangannya…Mumtazah Assalam.  Hemm….apa bezanya antara mumtazah dan hadiqah agaknya ek?  Pucuk dicita ulam mendatang…memang sesuai sebagai port untuk makan tengahari yang sudah agak lewat.  Dengan perut yang lapar dan angin segar yang tidak pernah leka menyapa kami…alhamdulillah, terasa begitu nikmat rezeki yang kami perolehi dariNya.

    tembok besar yang tak diketahui apa tarikan yang ada disebaliknya…

   pintu masuk tembok tetapi takde signboard atau apa2 informasi berkaitan……   

     Mumtazah Assalam….cantik latar belakang taman ni…

    berlari-larian di bawah pohon tamar best jugak ..

    penat main pair, duduk atas rumput pulak…

Selepas perut kenyang dan anak2 puas berlari-larian, kami meneruskan perjalanan ke Jubbah…sebuah lagi bandar daerah Hail. Jubbah merupakan sebuah kawasan yang terkenal dengan sejarah peninggalan seni batu petroglyps setua 3 atau 4 BC.  Walaubagaimana pon kami tiada koordinat untuk ke sana juga pastinya waktu tak mengizinkan untuk kami nak cuba2 mencari ke dalam kawasan offroad bersendirian. Dikatakan juga pelawat perlukan permit untuk masuk ke kawasan petroglyps. Perjalanan kali ini hanya untuk melihat dan meninjau kawasan2 yang akan kami tempuhi serta mengenali pekan Jubbah.

Perjalanan kami dipenuhi dengan sekatan jalanraya.  Mungkin ada orang penting melalui jalan ini agaknya ataupon ada aktiviti penting tidak jauh dari Jubbah.  Pabila kami makin menghampiri kawasan sand dune, kami perasan kereta semakin banyak dan tak lama selepas itu kami tersangkut dalam kesesakan lalulintas yang sememangnya ke sand dune di pertenganan jalan ke jubbah.  Rupanya ada Hail Rally Festival di sand dunes Nfoud pada hari ini….jauh lebih meriah dari Thumamah yang popular di Riyadh.  Sand dune di kiri kanan jalan penuh dengan kereta dan  quad bike dengan pelbagai gaya dan aksi sementara menunggu giliran untuk masuk ke sand dunes ataupon bersantai untuk memeriahkan suasana.  Jika masa mengizinkan, teringin jugak kami menjadi penonton aksi2 sand bashing yang pastinya menarik.  Walaupon kami tersangkut dalam kesesakan jalanraya, perasaan gembira tetap ada apabila melihat gelagat2 orang disekeliling memeriahkan suasana dengan jeritan dan hon2 yng berlagu.

  siap ada spongebob ngan Jerry lagi …

    single lane dah jadi double lana kedua2 arah….polis relax je tengok ..

    sebahagian dari kereta yang sudah berada di sand dunes….

Perjalanan kami mesti diteruskan.  Alang2 dah separuh jalan, baik diteruskan saje niat kami untuk ke Jubbah.  Semakin kami menghampiri Jubbah, semakin sunyi suasana di jalanraya. Hari semakin gelap tatkala kami melalui pintu gerbang yang meyambut kedatangan kami ke Jubbah.  Alhamdulillah..tiba juga kami ke pekan jubbah.  Suasana sepi sekali.  Sesekali sebuah dua kereta lalu dari arah bertentangan.  Kami memandu tanpa sebarang arah tujuan….hanya mengikut arah jalan.  Kami melalui deretan kebun kurma dan beberapa buah rumah yang terselit diantara kebun2.  Peliknya rumah2 juga kelihatan gelap….mungkin kerana tiada lampu jalan  , menjadikan rumah2 yang kami tempuhi juga suram. 

    kehijauan rumput tanam…menarik sekali warnanya…

  Marhaban bikum..menghampiri pintu gerbang Jubbah

  tak tau tempat apa….

  Tarikan Hail…arca disebuah roundabout di pekan Jubbah…

Akhirnya kami melalui pekan kecil dengan deretan kedai dan pejabat.  Kami seperti melalui ‘ghost town’.  Dengan hanya lampu jalan tanpa sebarang bunyi-bunyian ataupon manusia….perasaan takut pon ade. Bukan untuk menakut2kan anak dengan hantu kerana kami selalu mengingatkan anak2 kami yang hantu ni tak wujud.  Ianya cuma mainan syaitan. Yang mereka perlu takut hanya pada Allah s.w.t.  “Ghost town’ hanya untuk perbandingan dalam mengimaginasikan bagaimana sunyinya pekan yang kami tempuhi ini.  Hairan juga ye ke mana manusia2 yang ada.  Akhirnya kami memutuskan untuk patah semula apabila kami sampai semula ke jalan sepertinya jalan ke pekan lain.

Kami mengguna semula jalan yang kami datang tadi…rasanye lebih selamat daripada tak jumpa jalan pulang.  Ketika kami tempuhi deretan kedai yang sama barulah kami terlihat kedai2 yang sudah berlampu tetapi masih tidak banyak manusia yang lalu lalang. Taklah rasa ngeri macam tadi.  Subhanallah…rupa2nya tadi waktu maghrib..mungkin kerana itu tiada orang di jalan…masing2 berada di masjid. Perempuan pastinya tak dapat dilihat..lagi2 di kawasan terpencil.

Alhamdulillah.akhirnya kami kembali semula ke jalan utama unruk ke bandar Hail.  Pengalaman yang menarik kami tempuhi selama lebih kurang 4 jam perjalanan pergi kedua2 hala.  Menempuhi lanskap yang berubah2…kawasan bukit berbatu2, padang pasir sebentar kekuningan, perang, keputihan dan keorengan, kehijauan yang tiba2 muncul ditanah sahara, gelagat manusia dan pelbagai lagi.

Masyaallah…kami bersyukur ke hadratMu YaRab atas nikmat dan rezeki yang dikurniakan ke atas kami sekeluarga.  Semoga anak2 kami dapat menghargai dan ditingkatkan keimanan melihat kebesaran Maha Pencipta.

Esok kami akan meneruskan perjalanan ke Al Ula seterusnya bertemu Ust Hafiz dan keluarga lain di sana.  Tak sabar menanti ‘juadah’ mata kami untuk hari esok….-&tw

.                      arca roundabout lagi…our favourite…

 

Jeddah–Working Holiday

 

28-January-2012

It has been a very long time since we able to explore places in the kingdom.  As the school holiday started already, we hope to be able to go somewhere to fill in the kids time.  However, this year round hubby was very busy with his work.  He has been on and off to Jeddah since last Ramadhan till now.  We can even say he spend more time in Jeddah rather than home!

Sunday,15th Jan hubby call me telling if he able to get flight that day, then we’ll be off to Jeddah on Tuesday.  In the evening, he message me with bad news..no flights available, today or tomorrow.  His flight actually schedule for tomorrow night but if he wanted to drive us to Jeddah, he need to get home today as on Wednesday he need to be back in Jeddah.  If he unable to get home today, then he will be extending his stay and we’ll be far apart longer than expected! 

I gave up hope then for us to spend the school holiday together.  I felt bad for the kids having to spend their school holiday at home in the house for nearly two weeks!  Alhamdulillah near to the end of the day, got a message from hubby with a good news..he able to get a flight home at 11 pm!

Excited, i started packing clothes and stuff for our 8 days holiday in Jeddah.  Though we knew it won’t be much of a holiday since he has to work but at least  we’re together.

On Tuesday evening at around 5 pm, we move from home to Jeddah.  Despite the shorter distance, savouring the view was a great pleasure.  We didn’t stop much along the way, just for prayer and when hubbby’s eye got too heavy to drive.  We used Al Hada ring road as this has become our favourite route.  At around 3 am, we reach Jeddah, staying in an apartment very near to hubbys’ office. 

What’s in Jeddah???

Actually there are numbers of interesting places to explore in Jeddah but as this is a working vacation trip, we do not have the leisure to explore much of it.  So..we just enjoy those we can.

Corniche

Great view of the corniche

Love the color of the blue sea…

Actually this is the second time the family visited Jeddah though it is near to Mecca.  The first time was with our parents when we brought them for a day trip visit.  We hope this time we able to explore more of the place.  We though of going to the floating mosque but as we didn’t have our lunch yet, we decided to have a picnic at the corniche.  Luckily, we have gotten the chance visiting the place during our first trip to Jeddah with our parents.  So, it didn’t frustrated us muh. 

The Jeddah Corniche is the coast along the Red Sea.  It has 3 parts of manmade terraces, and stretches of almost 100 km. What makes the driving enjoyable along the corniche was its wide collection of sculptures.  It is like looking into an open art gallery of sculptures…a great art.  It really is an added attraction.  With our hungry stomach and the sea breeze wiping our face, our pack of KFC tasted better than usual .

Alhamdulillah, we get to spend a good quality time together.

Mall

What is Saudi without its mall.  Well, not much things to do as hubby still need to work during the weekend.  We decided to visit the mall where Ericsson's office attached to it.  The place was crowded with people.  Hubby even told me that when he was working and taking a night snack with his friend at midnight, the food court was crowded!  Something he hasn’t expected.  Well, seems that people here in Jeddah likes a night out.

Jeddah Fountain

 

We hardly went out at night to city centre even when we are in Riyadh.  Preferred to stay at home rather than going into heavy traffic.  Judging from the traffic herein Jeddah, maybe it can be worse than in Riyadh!  Even it was already 9 pm, the traffic was still heavy.  Wondering where all this people are going even it is a working day. 

Since hubby only able to bring us out at night, we took the chance to witness Jeddah fountain which is the tallest fountain in the world!

  Here as some facts which are really interesting about the fountain :

“King Fahd's Fountain, also known as the Jeddah Fountain, is the tallest of its type of fountain in the world.^[1] Located in the coast of Jeddah, west coast of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The fountain jets water 853 feet (260 m) above the Red Sea.^[1] It was donated to the city of Jeddah by King Fahd, hence its name. The fountain is visible throughout the entire vicinity of Jeddah. The water it ejects can reach a speed of 375 kilometres (233 mi) per hour and its airborne mass can exceed 18 tons. It was constructed between 1980 and 1983 and began operating in 1985. The fountain uses saltwater taken from the Red Sea instead of freshwater. It uses over 500 spotlights to illuminate the fountain at night. (Source : wikipedia)”

The water fountain consists of a single massive plume of water shooting vertically into the air at a speed of 233 miles per hour. On a calm day the water reaches a height of one thousand and twenty-four feet, higher than Paris’ Eiffel Tower (excluding the antenna). At any given moment, the water hanging in the air weighs in excess of eighteen tons (thirty-six thousand pounds)! -

We drive  along the corniche to find the best spot for viewing the fountain.  The fountain is located inside private property. So, you can’t get that closed for viewing.  After driving around to take some view of the surroundings along the corniche at night, we head out to the coordinates hubby’s friend gave for the fountain viewing. 

When we reach there, the parking was nearly full along the beach.  Maybe, now it is school holiday that brings these people to relax at the corniche.  There were even these group of guys that brought a sattelite dish not to miss a football match, we guess!  There were also many kids

We can see the complete view of the fountain from here..still it was quite far.   Wonder if there is other viewing area which is closer to the fountain.  Hence, it was a great pleasure spending time with the family, seeing new things to share for our great family memories.

Dining

Going for Thai food..yummy!

We do not have that leisure time to test out food around Jeddah.  Moreover, we are not the food hunter kind of family.  One thing, we really enjoy was the barbeque chicken near the apartment we stay.  We can say that now it’s the number one kapsa for our family in Saudi!  The rice and the chicken were great. 

We also got the chance to try Thai food here at Asian restaurant. The tom yam was good, the seafood was fresher.  Overall, it’s quite expensive compare to the amount of dish in the plate compared to the price.  We prefer to dine at Seafa Seafood in Riyadh.  Still, we had a full stomach when we went back to ourapratment for the night.  Thanks hubby for bringing us out despite your busyness and the usual heavy traffic around town at night. 

Al Balad

The gate welcoming visitors to Al Balad

The town which is said to exist since 5000 years ago…

Building with wooden panels..nice!

Shopping paradise as well…very colourful.

Before heading home on Thursday, we decided to stop by at an old town called Al Balad. 

Balad means town.  It is an old town in Jeddah said to exist since 5000 years ago.  It took us nearly an hour to reach there from our apartment.  We really felt going into an old town different from Jeddah that we have seen. The city wall has long since been torn down, but the old gates still mark where it once stood.

Reaching there, we were like in the Aladdin story.  We drove in between the buildings to get a close look of the town as well as trying to find a parking space if we able to get one.  Within you'll find a warren of ancient buildings and traditional souqs.  The houses were white-walled apartment four or five stories high, of coral rag tied with square beams and decorated by wide bow-windows running from ground to roof in grey wooden panels.  The combination of wooden panels and the white wall give a unique look to the city. 

Unfortunately, finding a car park was really challenging.  Hence, we decided to head of to Taif.  Insyaallah, we hope to visit the city once again and get the chance to do some shopping there as well.

We reach home at around 10 am.  Well..tomorrow will be a busy school days as usual.  Life will be back to normal and hubby will head back to Jeddah continue with his work .  Hope we’ll still be able to continue our exploration soon…&tw.

view of mecca residential area on our way back..wonder how it feels to be in the crowd…

sweetness brought back from Taif..just love the fruits on top there..

Rawdhat Khuraim..again in Spring

14 April 2011

This is our second visit to Rawhat Khuraim, a “forest” reserve by Saudi government.  The area which were full of daisies surely attract anyone whose eyes were always fest with sands and deserts.

We decided to visit the place again to see difference.  Our last visit was in December, during the winter season.  We went with our friend, Ezri and his family who just been in Riyadh for three weeks.  We surely want them to enjoy the new life in Riyadh.  So..we invited them to explore a place in the kingdom.  A country which is well known of its holy place in Mecca and Madinah and its sahara.  However, don’t underestimate the sahara here as the more we explore the country, the more we are attracted to its own uniqueness and beauty.

At around 8 am, we met at our housing area heading towards Al-Rumah.  It is about an hour journey from our home.  The weather today was not that nice.  The air still fill with sand storm that starts from last night.  Visibility is still quite low…maybe around 100 meter.  We hope when we reach the area, the weather will be nicer since it is full with trees. 

Once we reach Rawdhat Khuraim, there were few numbers of cars already park at the area though the time was 9 am.  The area looks  very different from our last visit.  Last time it was only full of trees but now the trees were in the middle of green grasses with white and yellow daisies.  The area were full of daisies and grasses about knee tall.  Wow, the scenery was amazing.  It really surprised us to see how the place has turn out to be in spring.  No wonder when we came during the winter season, no one was around.  It surely is a place to sit around during spring.

We walk in the fields which was like a fairyland.  Subhanallah, how great is Allah creation…having a place like this in the middle of a desert.  We were so overjoyed seeing the greeneries with the wind keep on blowing our face.  The grasses were gracefully dancing following the rhythm of the wind.  Everywhere seems so peaceful.  The kids even lay down on the field.  Even the boys enjoy running around and picking up flowers.  Green color really ease our mind and put us in a really good mood. 

Later on after satisfy walking around the fields and usual activity of taking pictures, we settled down for a picnic.  We hadn’t had our breakfast yet and good thing the kids were not complaining.  We guess the great surrounding really makes everyone in a peaceful mind which makes us a in a very good mood.  After completing our meal, the kids continue exploring the place.  As usual, mom will sit down chit chatting while sipping a nice cup of hot tea.  A great way of releasing mind from the normal housewife routines.

Sadly, today we can’t stay long to continue the relaxation at a very calm and peaceful place.  It is a good thing we came here today as we will be sadden again when our always ‘jom redah’ friend will be leaving the country later on in the evening.  We need to rush back home to meet them before sending them off at the airport.  Wonder whether we will still have our ‘jom redah’ geng after this. 

Surely we will come again to Rawdhat Khuraim before spring is over.  Guess what..we did came again the week after!  Surprisingly..we were surprised even more as this time we were relish with a safari experience!  Stay tune for the next story of our beloved Rawdhat. –tw&

 

  Rawdhat Khuraim in December..

…and look how it turn out to be in April during spring!

    The variety of flowers besides daisies…