Assalamualaikum!
For Eid Adha season, we got about 1 week of holiday, so my friends and I decided to join trip to Matrouh & Siwa, Egypt and it was a greaaat decision!
Other than wanted to share theseee wonderful experience, I hope this post gonna help some of you readers who are planning to go to Matrouh & Siwa in the future (as much as other blogs helped enlighten me in planning trips also!). So yeah, without further do, let's get started!
sandboarding
Some basic infos regarding our trip : 29 Malaysian students, we booked agent, 3 Days 3 Nights trip. Journey from Siwa back to Cairo took about 10 hours more or less by bus.
For itineraries... Oh btw, as some of my bertuah punya kawan (hahaha) are lazy and wanna skip the words and sentences on this post, they requested for the edited videos to be put at nearly top of the post, so I will post the videos according to day. Kayh fine chuolls, your wishes are granted -.-
13/09/2016
09.30 pm : Gather, 3 tramcos to Cairo.
The journey took about 1.30 hours.
14/09/2016
12.50 am : Journey to Matrouh.
09.36 am : Arrived at Hamam Cleopatra.
2 stops, 1 for R&R and 1 for changing tyres, the journey took about 8 hours++.
09:56 am : Brunch at Hamam Cleopatra. Food provided by agent.
11.15 am : Ready to go to Obayyed Beach. (Swim, Banana Boat)
01.46 pm : Ajiba Beach (Pantai 7 warna biru yang berbeza)
02.25 pm : Ready to go to Siwa.
08.30 pm : Arrived at Reem El Hawa Hotel. Check in. Dinner. Rest.
1 stop R&R, the journey took about 6hours++.
15/09/2016
09.30 pm : Gather, 3 tramcos to Cairo.
The journey took about 1.30 hours.
14/09/2016
13&14/09/2016
09.36 am : Arrived at Hamam Cleopatra.
2 stops, 1 for R&R and 1 for changing tyres, the journey took about 8 hours++.
09:56 am : Brunch at Hamam Cleopatra. Food provided by agent.
11.15 am : Ready to go to Obayyed Beach. (Swim, Banana Boat)
01.46 pm : Ajiba Beach (Pantai 7 warna biru yang berbeza)
02.25 pm : Ready to go to Siwa.
08.30 pm : Arrived at Reem El Hawa Hotel. Check in. Dinner. Rest.
1 stop R&R, the journey took about 6hours++.
15/09/2016
15/09/2016
09.40 am : Fatnas Island & Ladang Kurma.
12.00 pm : Tasik Garam.
12.52 pm : Singgah Jabal Dakrur.
01.06 pm : Cleopatra Hot Spring.
Around 02.45 pm we arrived at the hotel.
03.40 pm : Journey to Safari desert.
06.20 pm : Sandboarding at Safari & watching sunset.
06.51 pm : Mini tea time on desert.
07.05 pm : Ready to go back to hotel.
09.15 pm : Climb Mt. Shaly.
09.48 pm : Mini shopping.
10.30 pm : Convoy night cycling.
11.20 pm : Continue mini shopping.
12.00 pm : Back to hotel.
16/09/2016
15&16/09/2016
10.45 am : Ready to go back to Cairo.
Arrived at Cairo around 10+ pm. 1 stop for R&R, the journey took about 11 hours.
10.45 pm : Ready to go back to Zagazig.
Rough budget for the trip.
Tramco Return : LE 50
6x Foods, Hotel, Bus : LE 360
Cikedis & some snacks & water : LE 40
Banana Boat : LE 30
Ice Cream Mango & Halib : LE 10
Mango juice : LE 20
Safari : LE 180
Others : LE 56
Total : LE 746 , around RM 348.
Extra clips - mostly from my friends
My personal review & suggestions!
Matrouh.
Matrouh.
1. I fall in love at the first sight with Obayyed beach.
2. Who wouldnt?! The pastel blue beach are so.... breathtaking!
3. Subhanallah. It feels like I'm in painting, but more amazing!
4. Banana boat besssst. I think this was my first time riding it. Noob!
5. Toilet kena bayar. But expect limited space okay. Tapi bersih lah jugak.
6. Air dia sangat sangat sangat masin. Root of nose & soft palate pedih hahaha.
7. Ajiba beach also beautiful but we didnt go near the water.
8. Jangan buang sampah merata-rata.
9. Ice cream Halib + Mango so yummy but a lil' bit expensive but it's okay. Once in awhile.
10. Laut dekat Hamam Cleopatra pun cantik!
11. Bawak extra socks & trouses sebab kitorang daripada taknak masuk air jadi masuk, sebab nak
pergi ke hamam tu kena rentas air jugak.
12. Overall, Matrouh besssst.
2. Who wouldnt?! The pastel blue beach are so.... breathtaking!
3. Subhanallah. It feels like I'm in painting, but more amazing!
4. Banana boat besssst. I think this was my first time riding it. Noob!
5. Toilet kena bayar. But expect limited space okay. Tapi bersih lah jugak.
6. Air dia sangat sangat sangat masin. Root of nose & soft palate pedih hahaha.
7. Ajiba beach also beautiful but we didnt go near the water.
8. Jangan buang sampah merata-rata.
9. Ice cream Halib + Mango so yummy but a lil' bit expensive but it's okay. Once in awhile.
10. Laut dekat Hamam Cleopatra pun cantik!
11. Bawak extra socks & trouses sebab kitorang daripada taknak masuk air jadi masuk, sebab nak
pergi ke hamam tu kena rentas air jugak.
12. Overall, Matrouh besssst.
Inside hamam Cleopatra. Photography session almost every sudut of the gua(?), nasib baik dapat tempat lighting cantik punya.
Hamam Cleopatra from afar. Kena merentasi air dalam paras lutut (maybe more because of the wave).
Tukang jaga kasut dan selipar sementara kitorang pergi Hamam Cleopatra hahaha, thanksss
Obayyed beaaccchhh. Tak banyak sangat tangkap gambar sebab tak water proof plus enjoy the activity! I feels like back to my childhood :')
Kawan sy cakap Ajiba beach ni nampak 7 warna biru yg berbeza waktu petang. Kitorang pergi ala-ala tengah hari macam tu but they are still beautipuuuuul
Tetibe tersama biru, adakah saya tergolong dalam ajaib itu (ajiba=ajaib) K joking.
Siwa.
1. Dari Matrouh ke Siwa perjalanan dia nak dekat 5-6 jam. Macam dah balik KL-Ganu tapi lagi lama hahaha.
2.Tapi highway KL-Ganu ada lah jugak kiri kanan lekuknya. Ni almost sepanjang perjalanan straight je.
3. Tapi ada tempat rehat cantik dan bersih dan bersurau. Membuatkan kami boleh berhenti tangkap gambar tengah jalan yang lurus dan dikelilingi padang pasir.
4. Siwa ni macam kampung, lain lah jugak dengan Matrouh.
5. Rasa macam masuk buku Sirah yang ada lukisan2 tu.
6. Rasa macam dalam Ancient Arabic Village. Dan bersih.
7. Kiri kanan banyak sangat pokok kurma.
8. Rumahnya rendah2 bukan bangunan tinggi macam kebanyakan bandar dekat Egypt.
9. Siwa ni nak dekat dah dengan Libya.
10. They are using different Arabic words for conversation. But if I talk in Arab Ammiyah they can still understand it. Even a lil English.
On the highway.
11. I kinda like their language. It sounds soft and unique.
12. Orangnya pun baik-baik. Setakat pergi tu tak pernah dengar kena panggil buya-buya atau nihao-nihao. Dan kalau nak tanya pape insyaAllah dorang tolong.
13. Mostly kereta berhenti bagi orang lintas jalan hahaha! Even kite berhenti suruh dia jalan pun dia bagi kite jalan dulu.
14. Boleh cycling! First time rasanya cycling in Egypt!
15. Aside from lantai bilik berpasir dan kena manual bukak pump air sendiri kadang2 sebab tetibe bilik takde air tetibe, everything else are wonderful!
16. Siwa banyak sangat tempat-tempat menarik untuk dilawati dan entrance percuma.
17. Tapi extra things macam jus mangga mahal... LE 20. Ingatkan LE 15. Taxi pun mahal. Tapi taxi bukan taxi yang kereta tu tau.
18. Dekat kawasan hotel ada pokok kurma, boleh petik bila2 nak. Aloe Vera pun ada rasanya tapi taksure boleh ambek ke tak. Hahaha!
19. Tea with a hint of lemongrass dekat Sahara Desert sedappp. For me.
20. Siwa pun bessssst.
Pokok kurma kawasan hotel.
Fatnas Island.
Fatnas Island. Dekat area sini feeling ala-ala Maldives (cewah padahal tak pernah pergi lagi pun lol)
Tasik Garam. Jadi solid bila musim panas, cair bila musim sejuk.
Garam kasar. Air bawah tu semua air garam. Dalam air tu ada garam halus sikit kitorang buat scrub kekeke. Tasik ni boleh mandi, terapunnggg.
Tempat kabilah berkumpul berapa hb tah bulan 10, untuk berbincang permasalahan etc.
Mata air Cleopatra lagi. Orang kata nak cantik/berseri2 masuk lah sini hahaha entoh ler idok lah percaya bulat-bulat :P tapi kitorang yg perempuan tak masuk lah.
Safari at Sahara Desert.
Oasis in the middle of Sahara Desert.
We were soooo enjoyed.
Tea with a hint of lemongrass.
#teamsafari
Overall, I'm having fun with these trips, eventhough kinda culture shock with the room at first but adapting and fine ditambah lagi dengan kengkawan yang best. Ada satu kolam renang tau depan hotel tapi tak digunakan, sekitar situ tempat kitorang lepak sementara tunggu aktiviti etc. I think our bonds are getting closer and it feels nice having fun with them (because some of us are in different classes, so it hard to bump into each other and having decent simple conversation).
But if somebody asked me either I wanna go there again or not, most probably I will answer nooooo :'D because so far...... Journey back to Cairo took about 11 hours! Tidur, lepak, sembang, main simple game, tengok jalan, main phone, makan, tapi still rasa lamaaaa.
Tapi untuk pengalaman & rasa suasana dekat tempat tu, I highly recommended to go to Matrouh & Siwa. Tak rasa rugi bila dah sampai sana :D
Till then, thanks for reading!