On the 2nd day in Sharjah, we made first stop at Al Hisn Fort, exploring this beautifully restored 19th-century outpost. It was once home to the Al Qasimi family, the Sharjah's rulers. Mainly, the rulers' space, Majlis, Al Ghurfah and Sheikh's room were located at the upper floor of this double story traditional rock fortress. The well, Muhalwasa prison and arrest room were located below. There were three tower built for defensive purposes, Al Kabs tower, Muhalwasa tower and... I couldn't identified the third one :P
There were collection of photographs and archaeological artifacts in this gallery
A spacious courtyard in the middle
Al Raggas cannon was said to be pride of the military power of Al Qawasim
The Heart of Sharjah located alongside the creek, 5 minutes drive from the Al Hisn Fort, was where the heritage and historical buildings that were under restoration by the Sharjah authority. We headed up to the Sharjah Heritage Museum passed through the Sharjah city wall. Within the area, there were also Eslah School Museum, Art Museum, Calligraphy Museum, Ceramic House, Bait Al Serkal and list goes on, all attraction were within walk distance. We went to the Majlis Al Naboodah, the information center where we were briefed about the restoration phase which will end by 2025. We spent till the noon exploring the galleries that offer fascinating insights into different aspects of Sharjah’s heritage. We headed back to the hotel after lunch for resting, as we planned to visit Mleiha, to the east of Sharjah.
Among other exhibitions went to local desert to customs and everyday life here, past and present.
The Bedu or Bedouin tribes whose once lived in Sharjah creek
The traditional Bedouin family home
There were also Bait Al Shamsi, worth to visit
Souq Al Arsa was located besides the Bait Al Naboodah, a rather small and among one of the oldest traditional market in Sharjah.
So antique...
I loved the air of this exquisite market
Then, we visited the Eslah School Museum where we spent almost half of our tour day here. We learnt how to write in Arabic.. :P
Why she wink her eyes??
The school headmaster who teach us how to write
The classroom can only accommodate less than 10 students
Mari mengaji... :)Heart
This video showing the principal wrote Nu'man's name in calligraphic.
We further explored the Heart of Sharjah visiting galleries and walked rampantly in between the traditional architecture.
A long list of place of interest in the Heart of Sharjah
This was the only ceramic's sculpture in this gallery
The calligraphers studios was still under restoration
We booked Mleiha Landscape Tour for the time slot between 3-4 pm that day. A desert tour by an extreme off-road 4WD drive included stop to the Camel Rock and Fossil Rock. The roller-coaster-like-ride last for an hour, and we took the chance enjoying the spectacular views from the peak. Then, we visited the Mleiha Archaeological site, 10 minutes drive from the Mleiha center. We drove around the site since it was impossible to walk within this vast excavation site.
Landscape seen from the site of the Camel Rock
I tend to love this photo setup
A big fossil rock and it was believed that this area was once an ocean
Can you see the fossil traces on the rock?
Tadaaa... now you can see it! :P
The Mleiha Archaeological Center ticket's was included with the tour
This site existed during the pre-Islamic period
One of the camel cemetery, the calf I guessed..
We are about entering the tomb!
Personal troops that was not organized by the Mleiha Center
Thinking of the same idea as what Zarin did in his wrapping up post, I'll do the same for the sake of my own record. This post will be updated from time to time. Some of the trip may have a specific write-up and you may click on the travelling month. Here is the world travel map, courtesy of TripAdvisor. A bit of Statistics: Total countries visited = 22/195 [Last updated : September 2023] Our Travel Map. [Courtesy of TripAdvisor. According to them, we only covered 13% of the Earth at the moment :P .... still long way to go and we didn't show USA map as to when we will be there]
Sarapan pagi kat airport We had been rotating to visit the Southeast Asia country each year and this is the fourth time visit to Indonesia after Bali (2010), Bukittinggi (2012) and Bandung (2014). Looks like we made a return every 2 years, that's interesting! We may need to consider other countries like Brunei, Philippines or Cambodia in the near future. Three hours later, we arrived Lombok International Airport at noon. We were welcomed by Pak Ibrahim's staff shortly after clearing immigration and collecting our luggage. The weather that day was slightly overcast. En route to Teluk Kodek Port, we stopped at Sukarara Weaving Village. By the time we reached there, it was raining heavily. It is a traditional craft of weaving center located in Lombok West Nusa Tenggara. Not much seen as it felt, we had ayam taliwang for lunch at Taliwang Alam Nyaman restaurant, known for its famous local dish. Alpukat Jus (Avocado Juice) is also a must try whenever you vi...
Watch out! It is a zika-free :P trip to the city of light that we had on the 2nd mid-term school holiday, apart from the 'balik kampung' to Ipoh and JB on both week end. My wife managed to secure a stay for 2 nights at the 'Rumah Peranginan Persekutuan' where it supposed to be a big family trip with my siblings. It was a big vacation house, which I believe can cater at least 15-20 people. For some reasons, they had to turn it down. Note: Pictures taken are not in the best quality as I'm still get my hands on the new DSLR camera.. wink.. wink..
On the 2nd day in Sharjah, we made first stop at Al Hisn Fort, exploring this beautifully restored 19th-century outpost. It was once home to the Al Qasimi family, the Sharjah's rulers. Mainly, the rulers' space, Majlis, Al Ghurfah and Sheikh's room were located at the upper floor of this double story traditional rock fortress. The well, Muhalwasa prison and arrest room were located below. There were three tower built for defensive purposes, Al Kabs tower, Muhalwasa tower and... I couldn't identified the third one :P
Yayyy, dah ada post baru :). Post seluar coklat plak.. hehehe
ReplyDeleteUnta pun ada kubur. Dasat!