Safely Home

We left LHR on Sunday 3 May at noon by MAS Airbus 380 MH 003.  It was an uneventful flight and we got to KLIA at 7:50 am on Monday 4 May after a 12+ hours flight.  Going through Check In at Heathrow was fast because in our group we had two wheelchair users.  That's the trick next time, if we need speedy treatment.

The only problem experienced was at the VAT Claims where Bobby and Nani were unable to claim VAT because they didn't have the Customs Declaration form for some of the goods and service bought.  Reason: the salesperson didn't give them one to fill up saying it was not necessary.  So, one lesson learnt.

Aina came to visit

Aina Kadir, Ham's niece who has been working in London for many years, came to visit us today Saturday 2 Apr. She came around noon and we had lunch together. She obviously enjoyed the home cooking by Ham. Aina is an IT consultant, although all the while I thought she was an accountant (probably because she started work with PwC.)  We had a good time together and she left to catch the train to London all too soon at 6:00 pm. Here's Aina doing a selfie.

Family visit to Ida's new house

Ida and Phil bought a house last year. We were so pleased and Ham wanted to visit.  So we decided on a late April 2015 visit, hoping that it'd be quite warm then.  Eton, Nani (Awang's wife) and Bobby (Eton's son) came with us to make a group of 5.

Ida picked us up at London Heathrow (LHR) airport on the 21st April at Terminal 4. The Airbus 380 MH 004 was quite full and going through Immigration took quite a bit of time.  We emerged at 6 something to be greeted by Ida who had waited since 2 hours earlier. We then piled into the 7 seater Alhambra (Spanish) van for the drive to Stroud.  It was still daylight; sunset being around 8:30 pm.

Eton had booked a flat in Stroud at the Bell House.  Quite a nice place and close to Tesco (by car) and the railway station (by foot.)

Ham and I stayed with Ida at her place called Hillside (no house number) in The Edge on a no-name road (one moves around by GPS using Postcodes in England, just like being in a kampung in Malaysia except for the Poskod bit.) Her place is 4x4 country really with farms all round. Good thing Enterprise car-hire gave us a 4x4. And the view from her lounge is stunningly picture perfect.

We needed a car to move around, so on 23 Apr we hired a Nissan X-Trail 4x4. Actually we just needed an automatic but they had only this 4x4 for the same price at GBP 148 per week.  Add full insurance cover and another driver, the cost finally came to GBP 531.

Spanish holiday

Last September, we went on a family holiday after a lapse of 12 years. The last time we went on holiday as a family was in 2000 when we went to Lake Tahoe for the children to enjoy a bit of snowboarding. After 9/11 no more travelling to America. However, I did a lot of travelling since then on overland adventure trips by 4WD vehicles in a convoy. In fact I’ve done five trips covering the four continents of Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. So this recent family trip was meaningful since the children are all young adults.

We had about 12 days in Spain with Malaga as the hub from where we drove to Granada (Alhambra), Cordoba and Seville. From Seville we took the train to Madrid. Apart form all the sightseeing and shopping, I think our most memorable experience was the bullfight.

Nice weather, hard seats	Provoking the tired, confused bull

There were six bullfights over the 2 1/2 hour session. All six bulls lost.

Bullfighting is a cruel, blood sport. And many Spanish cities – Barcelona, Malaga, Seville -- have banned it. And pressure from animal rights advocates is mounting. Madrid may ban it too in the future. But my Spanish friends in KL believe it’s all political and economics. When the going gets tough and the tourist dollar is badly needed to upkeep the splendid bullrings and the thousands of people in the business, then they’ll bring back the bullfights, they said.

 
However, I certainly don’t like it; the poor bulls just had no chance. Even if it could gore a matador it’d still lose the fight and be killed.

iPhone video by Nazrin 10 Sep 2012 Madrid

AN ITALIAN HOLIDAY

I've just returned from Italy. My wife Raja Azma, her sister Raja Zabedah and husband (Raja Aziz) and I went on a trip to Positano (near Naples), Florence and Rome for two weeks from 14 Apr 2012. While at Positano, we were able to visit Amalfi, Ravello, Isle of Capri and Pompeii.

At Florence, Raja Azma had a wonderful time dragging me along to the Academia and Uffizi to see the works of Michaelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci and others. I wasn't too keen on the sculptures; you see one you see them all. So I reached my "boredom level" pretty fast and opted to sit it out while she wandered to all the showrooms. We also visited Tuscany where I did some shopping; and had a look at a factory making terracota statues and gate/garden adornments. Shopping at Florence wasn't that interesting but eating was, especially around the tourist area of the Doumo.

At Pompeii we went to the ruins of the old Pompeii that was overun by laha when Mt Vesuvius erupted almost 2,000 years ago. It was tiring walking on the cobble streets, but it did make me feel the sense of history.

We had three nights at Rome, one on the way up north to Florence and two on the way back from Florence. The hotel where we stayed at was at the best location near the Spanish steps. The branded shops were just below the steps and further on there were the various buildings and monuments of interest.  Here again Raja Azma dragged me to the Vatican Museum to see Michaelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.  Fortunately, I didn't reach my boredom level here and toured the place with some enthusiasm, taking many photos with my new Olympus Pen PM1 despite the "No Photography" warnings (their law enforcement was rather poor).  Our Italian friends, Gianni and his wife Sandra also took us for a walking tour of the city before dinner and ice cream on the night we arrived at Rome.

All in all, it was an interesting and memorable holiday. A valuable lesson learnt is not to self-drive. One can always hire a car-and-driver to anywhere, or use public transport.  Both Florence and Rome being old cities, have very narrow roads, a legacy of the horse carriage.  Likewise roads to Positano and the Amalfi coast are cut on the side of mountains; hence very narrow and winding all the way.  Thus the Hertz Mercedes that we hired, had quite a few bumps and scratches and spent most of the time being parked in a garage at Positano and Florence. Secondly, do travel light.

My Africa story is in SUV.4x4.MPV magazine

The August issue of the SUV.4x4.MPV magazine has my story on Trans-Africa IV. I have also written in the "Berita Pudu", my Rotary club's weekly newsletter from issue #1 to issue #6. Read all about it here http://www.rotarypudu.org.my. Click on Berita Pudu button on the menu panel to access.

I’ve crossed the Equator twice

The first time I physically crossed the Equator ie walked across it was in Quito, Ecuador on December 2, 2008. This was when I did the South America II trip from Lima, Peru to Cartagena, Columbia via Caracas, Venezuela.

Then on May 31, 2011, I did it again; this time at Nanyuki in Kenya, Africa. And this was when I did the Trans Africa IV trip from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to Cairo Egypt. (Travel Blog not ready yet.)

Very Hot in Sudan

The road to Khartoum from the south is good, in spite of the many check points along the way. However, driving in mid-summer as we are doing now, the heat is oppressive at 45 deg C. For the 400 km drive yesterday 9 Jun 2011 it took us the whole day to arrive in Khartoum by 7 pm, with many stops along the way to rest man and machine. Litres of water were consumed to keep the body hydrated. I felt as if hell fire was just being turned on; there is more when we drive through the Nubian desert tommorow.

Very cold at Kilimanjaro

We were at Mt Kilimanjaro on 27 May 2011. Not for doing a climb, but just to experience the climb by 4x4 to our lodge at 2,500m. It was a difficult climb even by 4x4 because the path up there twists and turns; and doing it at night didn't help. The Pajero was on 4Low and I even got bogged down requiring rescue. Anyway, we finally made it to the Kilimanjaro View Lodge to a warm meal and native culture.
The owner of the Lodge, Philip Kilewo, was most pleased to have 35 Malaysians at his Lodge for the first time. So we were entertained to local music and dance that took a little too long for our tired bodies to endure. Finally we found our ways to our assigned huts that sleeps 4 equipped with shower and flush toilets. Unfortunately, there was no hot water, so we all just dry-cleaned. The bunk beds were ok but I slept in my sleeping bag. Even then it was still cold.

I am off to Africa - again

In Jan 2008 I did the African 4x4 trip from Cape Town to Mombassa. We covered seven countries -- South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya -- five game parks, two deserts, several rivers the famous of which is the Zambezi with its Victoria Falls at Livingstone on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was a most interesting experience. Read all about it in my Travel Blog website as noted on the right panel.

Now, I am going again to Africa; this time to do the northern half from Dar-es-Salaam to Cairo. We'll do five countries -- Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt -- two game parks, lots of desert in Sudan and lots of ancient history in Eqypt. There is a river boat trip also from Wadi Halfa (Sudan) to Aswan (Eqypt) over Lake Nasr. I am looking forward very much to this trip since it means that I'd have covered Africa from bottom to top; by road...