:k:…interesting…
:)
LOL:blush: just saw it:hehe:
love u brother:) as usual
yaar too much kar ditti:)
Destinee:
jal-kukrri:mocking:
sighz
yar - Tum duniyaa kay subb say azeem naaspeetay hoo
Me go Insha Allah this year for a couple of days
You know the places you werent allowed to take photos in, well erm were there any guards or anything like watching? because when i went we secretively took pictures.... ((((Shhhh dont tell))) ...lol
I just love this thread:flower1:
satya naas tera naas peete!
I only read the first page and I was selled ( heheh dutch me kahawat haye, ke Jis par dul Jaoun aap us ke ghoon ghaye)
its a wonderfull thread! sukoooooon se baaki sab parhoun ghi,
ab ke liye wah wah te subhan Allah. :)
you rock yaar... :)
Nice pix :)
The last time I was in Egypt was in July, and I always went to ever city in Egypt even though it was very HOT, took many pix and 23hours of video taping haha :)
wawwwwww so many thanx for sharing...really nice pics...mind if I save em :D
Okies .. finally I am free again to take you guyz to Alexandria :~)
You know ? when I was preparing for my tour to Egypt .. I kept just one day for Alexandria .. but when I reached Alexandria .. I wished like spending my whole life there :~)
Alexandria is one of those lovely places .. who makes you fall in love with them at the very first sight :~) For me it was happening the 3nd time .. first time .. I had this love at first sight experience with Latakhiya in Syria .. than I drooled over Antalya & Izmir in Turkey and now Alexandria captured my heart :~)
Btw, theres one more place I should mention .. and that is the lively Café of Gupshup :~) where I can give and have a good laugh at any time from any place :~) Neways on Thursday 12th Dec. 2002 at around 10:15pm my train stopped at the Sidi Gaber Train Station of the legendary Alexandria aka Alex. :~) While coming out of the station I was reading the "Places to Stay" part of lonely planet to choose a nice and cheap hotel for one day .. and as per their recommendations Union Hotel was the best Budget Hotel in Alex. But due to its lovely location (Center of Eastern Harbor) usually its packed all the time .. so reservations are recommended :~(
Since I had no reservations in Union Hotel .. I kept it as a 2nd resort .. and stopped a taxi for Sameeramiz hotel .. Sameeramiz is a 3 star hotel facing the Mediterranean but unfortunately there was only one room available .. at the 2nd floor ..but it wasn't facing the sea :~( so I came out and asked my taxi driver "Tariq" to take me to some other hotels .. the poor guy took me to soo many hotels but non of them were having a room available with the Mediterranean view *smack
Luckily!! during our quest to find a room with a balcony opened to Mediterranean .. me and Tariq both build up a nice friendship :~) Tariq was a 34 yrs old Egyptian bachelor .. a very religious person with no money to get married :~) he was driving this taxi from 2 yrs and trying to save some money to buy a flat .. get married and settle down in his life :~) bechara har waqt yehi roona rota rehta tha *smack
After spending a whole hour searching for a nice place to stay .. finally I asked Tariq to take me to Union Hotel .. the poor guy doesn't know where this hotel was located .. I showed him the map .. but he couldn't read or understand English *smack .. so I asked him to take me to "Midan Ramala" .. cuz as per the map hotel was situated near to this roundabout .. after a tiring search for another half an hour .. finally at around 11:30pm we saw a small Board of Union Hotel :~)
The Union Hotel was at the 5th floor of an old building .. the rest of the floors were used as offices .. I asked Tariq to wait for me .. and went upstairs to check the availability of room :~) fortunately there was one room available for just one day with a sea view balcony.. and they were asking for just 50 Egyptian Pounds / 10$ including breakfast :~)
what else could I wish for ?? I gave them my passport and took the room for one day :~) while taking my passport the guy at reception reminded me again .. that .. the room is available for only one day and their checkout time is 12:00am :~) I said .. I don't have any problems with that :~)
But!! when I came inside the room and looked out at the amazing view of Mediterranean harbor .. I fell in love with Alexandria .. and decided to spend some more days in the calmness of this historical city :~) I asked Tariq to come and join me tomorrow morning .. if he wants to show me his city .. he agreed! and left with a promise to pick me at 10:00am morning :~)
Union Hotel doesn't have a full-fledged restaurant .. they just serve tea, coffee and breakfasts .. for other meals and things you have to go out or the bellboy can bring it for you .. if you pay him some Baksheesh (tip) :~) I asked my bellboy "Hakeem" to bring me 3 shawarmaas and a 7up .. and went to my room's balcony to take some pictures :~)
This was the very first picture I took in Alex. :~) the picture is showing the left side of eastern Harbor of Alexandria :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00921.JPG[/thumb]
And here comes the Right Side :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00922.JPG[/thumb]
Since my hotel was in the Middle of Eastern Harbor .. I could easily see the whole coast of Mediterranean sea .. and believe me! it was really an amazing sight :~) Neways raat key 12:30 hoorahey they .. or mujhey Alexandria ki haseeen subah dekhni thi .. so after eating those tasty shawarmas .. I went directly to bed :~)
Next day I woke up at 5:00 am .. ordered a coffee and went directly to the balcony to see the amazing colors of Alexandrian sky :~)
These picture were taken at around 5:15am Friday 13th Dec. 2002 when the whole Alex. was sleeping .. the roads were empty .. the harbor was quite .. the sky was blue and the sea was calm .. no body was there except a stupid Pakistani standing at the 6th floor in a balcony capturing the nature in his camera :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00927.JPG[/thumb]
[thumb=A]Dsc00928.JPG[/thumb]
It was soo cold out there .. my ordinary jacket was not capable to keep me warm .. I was literally freezing out in that balcony .. but going inside the room was not at all accepted by the nature admirer in me .. I wanted to capture all the colors of that wonderfully beautiful morning of Alexandria :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00931.JPG[/thumb]
[thumb=A]Dsc00933.JPG[/thumb]
[thumb=A]Dsc00934.JPG[/thumb]
this is how the famous Qaitbay Fort looks early in the morning :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00935.JPG[/thumb]
Lets zoom inn :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00936.JPG[/thumb]
The Alexandrian sky was taking my heart away by changing the colors with every next minute :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00937.JPG[/thumb]
I was penetrated with the calmness of Alexandria ..
[thumb=A]Dsc00938.JPG[/thumb]
Peace was spread all around me ..
[thumb=A]Dsc00941.JPG[/thumb]
life was soo idle at that moment ..
[thumb=A]Dsc00942.JPG[/thumb]
Nothing was moving over there ..
[thumb=A]Dsc00943.JPG[/thumb]
Except a bunch of clouds ..
[thumb=A]Dsc00957.JPG[/thumb]
Sun was on its way to shine up the harbor ..
[thumb=A]Dsc00950.JPG[/thumb]
Mediterranean waves were getting stronger with the sun light ..
[thumb=A]Dsc00952.JPG[/thumb]
Alex was still Sleeping ..
[thumb=A]Dsc00951.JPG[/thumb]
while the nature was completely awake :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00956.JPG[/thumb]
OK!! Bohot dialoge maar liye .. now lets get back to the reality :~)
It was around 7:30am when I came back into my 10$'s room and this is how it looks like :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00959.JPG[/thumb]
that's the balcony :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00960.JPG[/thumb]
And this is what I can see thru the balcony :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00962.JPG[/thumb]
It was 8:00am when I came down to the lobby after taking a quick thanda thanda shower .. I knew I had to leave this room by 12:00am .. but since Tariq suppose to pick me up at 10:00am .. I decided to go out for a short walk.. :~) when I came at the reception .. I was shocked!!!
A very pretty Egyptian girl was sitting there at reception .. and that rude guy who gave me the room yesterday night wasn't there anymore :~) I took a chance and started getting friendly with her ;~) later I found her a genuinely nice person .. shy yet confident :~) Her name was Yvona .. she was a catholic christian with somewhat Islamic values :~) after talking to her for half an hour .. I came to the point ;~) Masoom sa moon bana kar .. I requested her to extend my stay for another 2 days in the same room :~) first she tried to make me happy by giving another room with no sea view .. but when I insist for the same .. she smiled and said "Ok!! you can have the same room for 2 more days" .. *hula .. I appreciated her for the help and asked her the obvious question .. "how you will manage ?" she said .. don't worry I'll give the other room to the expected guest :~)
Hurray!!! I was happy having the same room for 2 more days :~) or isi khushi main I took another chance of asking her out for dinner ;~) but politely she refused ..*smack nevermind I told her that I am going out for a walk and if my Driver come .. ask him to wait .. I'll be back in an hour :~)
When I came out of the hotel I was thinking like .. kash ke wo maan jaati to is romantic city ka maza hi double hojata *smack neways I saw a nice coffee shop on the road side .. and decided to have an espresso before the walk :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00964.JPG[/thumb]
Sitting there I was enjoying the beautiful weather a nice road side view of Eastern Harbor and reading about some history of Alexandria :~)
The second largest city and the main port of Egypt .. Alexandria was built by the Greek architect Dinocrates in 332-331 BC .. on the site of an old village .. "Rhakotis" at the orders of Alexander the Great :~) The city .. immortalizing Alexanders name .. quickly flourished into a prominent cultural, intellectual, political, and economic metropolis :~)
It was the renowned capital of the Ptolemies .. with numerous monuments .. It was the site of the Lighthouse .. one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World .. as well as the Great Library .. It was along these shores that history took a tragic turn at the time of Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and Octavian :~)
Alexandria lies north-west of the Nile delta and stretches along a narrow land strip between the Mediterranean Sea and Lake Mariut (Mareotis) .. It is linked to Cairo by two major highways and a railroad line .. It is one of the most notable summer resorts in the Middle East .. for in addition to its temperate winters .. its beaches .. with white sands and magnificent scenery .. stretch for 140 km along the Mediterranean Sea .. from Abu Qir, in the east to Al-Alamein and Sidi Abdul Rahman .. in the west :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00965.JPG[/thumb]
Neways!! The coffee was great!! .. now I was feeling totally fresh and ready for the walk .. so I crossed the road and started walking towards the Qaitbay Fort :~) while my camera was busy capturing these precious sights :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00966.JPG[/thumb]
[thumb=A]Dsc00968.JPG[/thumb]
[thumb=A]Dsc00969.JPG[/thumb]
[thumb=A]Dsc00974.JPG[/thumb]
It was fun walking in the early morning and watching their daily life on roads :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00975.JPG[/thumb]
The historical Alexandria was on my Left ..
[thumb=A]Dsc00977.JPG[/thumb]
whereas my right side was occupied by the Mediterranean sea ..
[thumb=A]Dsc00978.JPG[/thumb]
[thumb=A]Dsc00979.JPG[/thumb]
[thumb=A]Dsc00980.JPG[/thumb]
I was very near to Qaitbay Fort ..
[thumb=A]Dsc00983.JPG[/thumb]
when I saw soo many Egyptians enjoying fishing at the Mediterranean Sea :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00984.JPG[/thumb]
I saw this cute Egyptian angel eagerly waiting for her father's catch :~)
She was simply adorable *kiss
[thumb=A]Dsc00985.JPG[/thumb]
The waves were getting wild .. it was difficult to catch even one fish .. but the guys were after testing their patience ..
[thumb=A]Dsc00988.JPG[/thumb]
After some 15 or 20 minutes .. this guy got lucky with a very small fish :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00989.JPG[/thumb]
neways I stood up and once again and started walking towards the Qaitbay Fort :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00990.JPG[/thumb]
Near Qaitbay fort I saw another little angel .. thinking about her future while digging in her nose :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00993.JPG[/thumb]
Now I am standing rite in front of Qaitbay Fort :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00996.JPG[/thumb]
let me also tell you guyz a little bit about this Fort .. its was built in the 1480 by Sultan Qaitbey .. on the site of Alexandrias ancient lighthouse .. Parts of the remains of the lighthouse can be seen in the construction of the old fort .. One of the seven wonders of the ancient World .. the lighthouse was an astonishing 125m in height with approximately three hundred rooms at the bottom for workers ... Running through the center was a double spiral ascent and hydraulic machinery that raised fuel to the top .. The lantern at the top of the lighthouse remains a mystery .. Some say it contained a polished steel mirror that reflected light by day .. and fire by night .. Others say it was made of transparent glass .. The lantern and the top two stories fell around 700 AD according to many reports .. and the rest of the lighthouse was destroyed by an earthquake in 1100 ... In its place a Mosque was built .. which was damaged again by an earthquake in the 14th century .. and stands there an amazing piece of Art "The Qaitbay's Fort" :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00982.JPG[/thumb]
Unfortunately the Fort was closed for maintenance ... I didn't get the chance to get inn .. so I turned back to the Hotel .. cuz its was already 11:00am .. and I knew .. Tariq must be waiting for me there :~)
Going back I saw some professional hands busy knitting these huge fishing nets :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00998.JPG[/thumb]
btw, when I was near to the hotel .. something strange happened to me .. I heard like somebody is yelling at my back .. I turned around and found nobody .. but when It happened twice .. I stopped .. took a wide look ..and found these two girls standing across the road laughing and saying something loudly to me in Arabic .. I got confused .. the first thing came to my mind was .. "they must be impressed with my fantastic personality" but than I remember!! last time I saw my face in the mirror .. there was no revolutionary changes .. immediately I came back to my senses *smack
hmmm hoo na hoo they were just trying to tease me .. neways first I decided to go and talk to them .. or may be call them out for lunch or dinner ;~) actually The romance spread in the air of Alexandria was effecting me :~) but!! when I saw the size of this fat girl .. I stopped my self .. thinking .. kiya pata!! yeah kitna kha jaye .. or meri saari pocket iskey khaney ka bill ada karney main hi khaali hojaye *smack
So I just smiled at them .. took a picture .. and started walking again towards my destination .. The Union Hotel :~)
[thumb=A]Dsc00999.JPG[/thumb]
Phewww!!! I guess its too much for now .. so lets continue again tomorrow :~)
To be Continued ... ;)
Irem : Thanks but noo bhai shai 
little human : :~)
Gadha : 
phajjaa nanbai : Thanks 
btw, jab jao to panadol saath ley kar jana :~)
Dai_sista : really ??? have you taken the pictures of the royal mummies ??? especially Ramses II ?? if yes! than I really want them .. please do check your pm.. and thanks for reading my crap :~)
hanie : hey!! tangey wali how are you ??? and how was the wedding ?? I need a full report!!! and thanks for the reply :~)
Majestic : its good to have a camcorder there .. some of the places looks nicer in recorded movies than the photos :~) ne ways thanks for the reply :~)
Nooriya : Off course you can have them :~) and thanks for appreciating them :~)