This first part from the travelogue of mine of 'Traveling on a Pakistani' was supposed to be published in one of the newspaper of Pakistan, but due to the short notice it would probably be publishing later. Thus, I am sharing my experiences of my travel in 2010 on our blog, follow the following link to read:
Before embracing the year of 2011, I thought that it would be a good idea to share my experience of traveling on a Pakistani passport which I did in this year of 2010 to a larger audience. It would be expedient to say that I have developed a passion for traveling because of two aspects in my life. First is the inheritance from my father, and second was the instance of my arrival to Canada in 2007, which itself is a land which possesses one of the most remarkable beauty on earth. Keeping in mind a land which is endowed with everything of the world except true, loyal, and sincere leadership, I have always felt proud on my identity of being a Pakistani, and there is always a belonging to my country wherever I am in the world.
Being myself a youth activist and an active participant in various international conferences, in the summer of this year, I was fortunate to be accepted in the two biggest youth gatherings of the world, i.e. Seliger 2010 forum in Russia, and World Youth Congress 2010 in Turkey. I had sometime in between these two conferences, so I decided to add two of the Middle Eastern and one African country to visit in my itinerary.
After frenzied preparations and getting pre-boarding visas of all the intended countries to visit, on 30th of June, I was ready to embark on a whirlwind tour on a Pakistani passport towards my first destination of the former Soviet Union, the present day Russia. After arriving in Moscows domodedovo airport, I met with one more Pakistani participant from UK, and we both handed over our passports together to the two Russian ladies who were sitting side by side in the passport control. As soon as they had a glance on our identical passports, they both looked to each other and exchanged an unidentified smile. The lady who was dealing with my passport started uttering something to me in Russian which I couldnt understand, after that she started flip-flopping my passport for about half an hour and then let me went through. After ten minutes, the other Pakistani guy also got through, we both headed further to join another bunch of participants on the airport, and we were then taken to the conference venue by the organizers.
The week-long conference was a unique amalgamation of the participants from around the world. Interesting workshops, scheduled activities, and an opportunity to experience day to day Russian culture and food in a camping environment made the conference a versatile experience. We, the Pakistanis there decided to represent Pakistan by performing on a folk song which was overjoyed by the participants. As soon as we left the stage after our performance, we were surrounded by a number of cameras and felt ourselves as celebrities towards the participants who wanted to take pictures with our national Pakistani attire. After the Seliger forum, I along with other friends headed to brave the second largest city of Russia, Saint Petersburg, former Leningrad. I was amazed to see the stunning architecture of Saint Petersburg, and cherished my quality time spent roaming around the winter palace of the Tsars, prisoner cells of World War II, and the sensational cathedrals of the glittering city. We returned back to Moscow, and I rushed to explore the famous Red Square, Kremlin, Tsars cannon and the worlds largest bell within the twenty hour time I had before departing for my next destination.
I was all set to depart for my next destination to the power house of the Arab world, i.e. Egypt. I was more than delighted, felt contended, and spiritually stimulated to return to the land of the Islamic heritage, as were my Egyptian fellows who were returning to their countries from Moscows airport. Our plane took off at 6pm on the 12th day of June, and after few hours of journey, we were in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. When I reached at the passport control in the Cairo international airport, my passport was taken by the standing officer, and I was asked to sit at the near-by chairs. After an hour-long restless waiting, I was asked to come to the passport control, my passport was finally stamped and I was free to go. While in Cairo under the scorching sun, I started my exploration by diving into the centuries-old streets of Coptic Cairo, the present day remnant of the Christians era in Egypt. For a spiritual break, I sat under the shades of Amr Ibn-e-Al-Aaas mosque, located just beside the Coptic Cairo and named after one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad. Listening to the voice of Azan(Muslims call for prayer) after two and a half years inside Al-azhar mosque in the evening, was such an exhilarating feeling which I cannot scribble in words. At night, I joined a gathering of other Egyptian friends for their invitation of the traditional Egyptian hookah in the famous Khan-Al-Khalili bazaar of Cairo.
I woke up early next morning to browse the marvels of the Egyptian museum and to take heed from the arrogant-faced mummy of Paroah(Firoun), the Ramses-II. After the Egyptian museum, I along with my Egyptian fellows spent half of the day discovering the wonder of the Egyptian world, i.e. the pyramids of Giza in Al-haram. It is believed that it took 20 years of labour and 2.3 million limestone blocks to create the great pyramids of Giza. The oldest and the largest of all was the pyramid of Khufu, built by the pharaoh Khufu around 2560BC, gave me an impression of the most impressive monument I ever saw in my life. Unlike the prevalent desi trend, my quest of coming to Egypt didnt end to the pyramids only, but I had much more to explore in my list.
Thus, at night, I was ready to head to the city of Alexandria, named after the conqueror Alexander the great, located on the north and a resting destination for the Egyptians in summer due to its beaches and mild weather. I was overwhelmed by the utmost hospitality of my Alexandrian friends. I guzzled endless cups of tea, smoked the local shisha a number of times and relished the Egyptian kebab and food in the cities best places.
The time when we went to visit the citadel of Qaitbay in Alexandria, which was built as a defensive fort against the Turks by the Mameluke Sultan Ashraf Qaitbay in 1480A.D, we were ceased by the security guard to step in, because of the citadels closing time. However, the security guy who was actually a local policeman had a glance on me, and asked my friends where I was from in Arabic. When he came to know that I was a Pakistani, he not only let all of us in, but also provided an elaborate description of every nook and corner of the castle in Arabic, which was translated to me by my friend Ossama, who proved himself a confident and well-versed interpreter. That was the moment which made me proud again on my identity of being a Pakistani. After an informative visit of the citadel, it was time then to say good bye to all my Alexandrian friends, and move on to the small town of Dahab, located by the Red Sea and famous for the best scuba diving in the world. It took me a total of 10 hours to reach to the town of Dahab. After a thrilling scuba diving experience in Dahab, which was my last destination in Egypt, my second important task was the climb of the Mount Sinai.
I along with other tourists and a guide began to stumble on the mountainous track to climb Mount Sinai at 1am in the dark night. We could clearly see the shining stars and our hike took three and a half hours to reach to the top of 28,500 feet mountain. Experiencing the sunrise from the top of Mount Sinai, which is considered to be a sacred mountain for Islam, Christianity and Judaism because of the ten commandments of God given to Prophet Moses, was such an adorable experience which is hard to forget.
It was time then to extend my thanks and a reluctant good bye to the vibrant land of Egypt, and move on to my next destination. A fellow of mine joined me in Dahab from the United States, and we both were driven to the port of Nueweiba to take the ferry for Jordan.
Written by: Sheraz Ali Khan
Sheraz Ali Khan is a student of international relations at the University of Calgary and also leading his Pakistani Youth Organization.
http://pyo.org.pk/blog/
Before embracing the year of 2011, I thought that it would be a good idea to share my experience of traveling on a Pakistani passport which I did in this year of 2010 to a larger audience. It would be expedient to say that I have developed a passion for traveling because of two aspects in my life. First is the inheritance from my father, and second was the instance of my arrival to Canada in 2007, which itself is a land which possesses one of the most remarkable beauty on earth. Keeping in mind a land which is endowed with everything of the world except true, loyal, and sincere leadership, I have always felt proud on my identity of being a Pakistani, and there is always a belonging to my country wherever I am in the world.
Being myself a youth activist and an active participant in various international conferences, in the summer of this year, I was fortunate to be accepted in the two biggest youth gatherings of the world, i.e. Seliger 2010 forum in Russia, and World Youth Congress 2010 in Turkey. I had sometime in between these two conferences, so I decided to add two of the Middle Eastern and one African country to visit in my itinerary.
After frenzied preparations and getting pre-boarding visas of all the intended countries to visit, on 30th of June, I was ready to embark on a whirlwind tour on a Pakistani passport towards my first destination of the former Soviet Union, the present day Russia. After arriving in Moscows domodedovo airport, I met with one more Pakistani participant from UK, and we both handed over our passports together to the two Russian ladies who were sitting side by side in the passport control. As soon as they had a glance on our identical passports, they both looked to each other and exchanged an unidentified smile. The lady who was dealing with my passport started uttering something to me in Russian which I couldnt understand, after that she started flip-flopping my passport for about half an hour and then let me went through. After ten minutes, the other Pakistani guy also got through, we both headed further to join another bunch of participants on the airport, and we were then taken to the conference venue by the organizers.
The week-long conference was a unique amalgamation of the participants from around the world. Interesting workshops, scheduled activities, and an opportunity to experience day to day Russian culture and food in a camping environment made the conference a versatile experience. We, the Pakistanis there decided to represent Pakistan by performing on a folk song which was overjoyed by the participants. As soon as we left the stage after our performance, we were surrounded by a number of cameras and felt ourselves as celebrities towards the participants who wanted to take pictures with our national Pakistani attire. After the Seliger forum, I along with other friends headed to brave the second largest city of Russia, Saint Petersburg, former Leningrad. I was amazed to see the stunning architecture of Saint Petersburg, and cherished my quality time spent roaming around the winter palace of the Tsars, prisoner cells of World War II, and the sensational cathedrals of the glittering city. We returned back to Moscow, and I rushed to explore the famous Red Square, Kremlin, Tsars cannon and the worlds largest bell within the twenty hour time I had before departing for my next destination.
I was all set to depart for my next destination to the power house of the Arab world, i.e. Egypt. I was more than delighted, felt contended, and spiritually stimulated to return to the land of the Islamic heritage, as were my Egyptian fellows who were returning to their countries from Moscows airport. Our plane took off at 6pm on the 12th day of June, and after few hours of journey, we were in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. When I reached at the passport control in the Cairo international airport, my passport was taken by the standing officer, and I was asked to sit at the near-by chairs. After an hour-long restless waiting, I was asked to come to the passport control, my passport was finally stamped and I was free to go. While in Cairo under the scorching sun, I started my exploration by diving into the centuries-old streets of Coptic Cairo, the present day remnant of the Christians era in Egypt. For a spiritual break, I sat under the shades of Amr Ibn-e-Al-Aaas mosque, located just beside the Coptic Cairo and named after one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad. Listening to the voice of Azan(Muslims call for prayer) after two and a half years inside Al-azhar mosque in the evening, was such an exhilarating feeling which I cannot scribble in words. At night, I joined a gathering of other Egyptian friends for their invitation of the traditional Egyptian hookah in the famous Khan-Al-Khalili bazaar of Cairo.
I woke up early next morning to browse the marvels of the Egyptian museum and to take heed from the arrogant-faced mummy of Paroah(Firoun), the Ramses-II. After the Egyptian museum, I along with my Egyptian fellows spent half of the day discovering the wonder of the Egyptian world, i.e. the pyramids of Giza in Al-haram. It is believed that it took 20 years of labour and 2.3 million limestone blocks to create the great pyramids of Giza. The oldest and the largest of all was the pyramid of Khufu, built by the pharaoh Khufu around 2560BC, gave me an impression of the most impressive monument I ever saw in my life. Unlike the prevalent desi trend, my quest of coming to Egypt didnt end to the pyramids only, but I had much more to explore in my list.
Thus, at night, I was ready to head to the city of Alexandria, named after the conqueror Alexander the great, located on the north and a resting destination for the Egyptians in summer due to its beaches and mild weather. I was overwhelmed by the utmost hospitality of my Alexandrian friends. I guzzled endless cups of tea, smoked the local shisha a number of times and relished the Egyptian kebab and food in the cities best places.
The time when we went to visit the citadel of Qaitbay in Alexandria, which was built as a defensive fort against the Turks by the Mameluke Sultan Ashraf Qaitbay in 1480A.D, we were ceased by the security guard to step in, because of the citadels closing time. However, the security guy who was actually a local policeman had a glance on me, and asked my friends where I was from in Arabic. When he came to know that I was a Pakistani, he not only let all of us in, but also provided an elaborate description of every nook and corner of the castle in Arabic, which was translated to me by my friend Ossama, who proved himself a confident and well-versed interpreter. That was the moment which made me proud again on my identity of being a Pakistani. After an informative visit of the citadel, it was time then to say good bye to all my Alexandrian friends, and move on to the small town of Dahab, located by the Red Sea and famous for the best scuba diving in the world. It took me a total of 10 hours to reach to the town of Dahab. After a thrilling scuba diving experience in Dahab, which was my last destination in Egypt, my second important task was the climb of the Mount Sinai.
I along with other tourists and a guide began to stumble on the mountainous track to climb Mount Sinai at 1am in the dark night. We could clearly see the shining stars and our hike took three and a half hours to reach to the top of 28,500 feet mountain. Experiencing the sunrise from the top of Mount Sinai, which is considered to be a sacred mountain for Islam, Christianity and Judaism because of the ten commandments of God given to Prophet Moses, was such an adorable experience which is hard to forget.
It was time then to extend my thanks and a reluctant good bye to the vibrant land of Egypt, and move on to my next destination. A fellow of mine joined me in Dahab from the United States, and we both were driven to the port of Nueweiba to take the ferry for Jordan.
Written by: Sheraz Ali Khan
Sheraz Ali Khan is a student of international relations at the University of Calgary and also leading his Pakistani Youth Organization.
http://pyo.org.pk/blog/
