Bosnia 2015

Assalamualaikum, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

All praise to Him, the Ruler of the World, and salawah upon Beloved Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

I went to Balkans area. One of my destination was Bosnia-Herzegovina. This time, I travel to a place where Islam came and the people accept it. The country has so many potential to be one of the great Islamic country, yet so many tragedies happened to the region.

Sarajevo has faced so many wars and death. If you go there, you can see a lot of graveyard across the city. From the Ottoman empire to Austro-Hungarian empire, and the break up of Kingdom of Yugoslavia, so many people had died.

First world war started in Sarajevo. The heir to the throne was killed in the city. That was one of the bloody tragedy. So many people were involved in the war, and so many lost their loved ones.

During the break up of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1991, the Sarajevo was surrounded by Serbian army. So many people fled to neighbouring countries, like Montenegro, German and others. The situation was so dire that nobody was able go out the street, neither the children can play football at the field.

Nejla, one of the friends I made in Sarajevo told me the dark stories. She was born in the era, lost a lot of relatives during the period. Her family escape to Montenegro for shelter as the city was very dangerous to live in. Nejla told me the conflict between Muslims and Christians in Bosnia nowadays, that much resemble a civil war in modern world.

War Memorial of Children Sarajevo

I visited the monument erected for the memorial of the lost during the period. It was such a sad moment that people killed each other because of their differences. I went to yellow fortress up on a hill to see the whole city and to my view, I saw a lot of gravestone, spread over the city, the martyr of the fallen people during the war.

Near yellow fortress

City of Sarajevo during the night

Nejla and her friends were so friendly. The first time I came to Sarajevo, I was treated with Pita and cookies, a Bosnian specialty. Its shaped like a pie but tasted like our murtabak, but you can choose the fillings, either meat, potato or vegetables. I like it very much. I also had Cevapi, which looks like kebab. Eat it while you hungry and it is so delicious. Also, I met Mr Shahril Kadir, a solo traveller from Malaysia. We talked a lot about our trip and he treated me with Burek. Alhamdulillah rezeki.

Pita, I will miss this.

Something I had, which also very delicious. I think it's called Bosanski Lonac.

Cevapi

In Mostar, one of the city that badly attacked during the war I met Sumija. We talked about a lot of things, from the country condition to the people. They (the Muslims) also having a conflict with Croats people. Sumija and her family fled to Koln for shelter during the war. She was very nice. She helped with car rental & breakfast. If I got the time in future, I will come to visit Sumija and Nejla. Insya-Allah.

The famous Mostar bridge, Stari Most.

I met Mr Mustafa during my visit to Tekija, Blagaj. Though he doesn't speak English, but luckily I can understand a bit of German. He told me the story of the Tekija. Also, I met two traveller from Thailand and a group of chinese Malaysian who were so kind to offer me a ride to Montenegro.

Tekija, Blagaj.

I really like Bosnia. The food was good. The people were nice, though some people were nice to you because you have money. And also they have a lot of Masjids almost everywhere. I really miss the sound of azan 5 times daily and the feeling for jamaah prayer in proper Masjid.

Masjid in Mostar

 Masjid in Pocitelj

Masjid in Bascarsija

One regret from my trip was I didn't spend enough time in Bosnia-Herzegovina. I will come again to Bosnia, to learn about their culture, people and food. I met a lot of people that helped me and gave me advices and tips for travel. Alhamdulillah. Insya-Allah I am planning for future trip to this beautiful places.

"O Allah, give the people I met during my journey a lot of baraqah and rezeki. Guide us to righteous and take us to Your Jannah."

Illaliqa'. Wassalam.

Autumn 2014: Amsterdam

Assalamualaikum, in the name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

All praise to Him, the Ruler of the World, and Salawah upon the Last Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

I went to Amsterdam. The bus from London leave at night and expected to arrive early morning at Amsterdam Bus Station.

In the bus, I met this Muslim Nigerian guy, Jamal was his name. He works in London but used to live in Netherlands. He wanted to go home due to an unsolved matter.

Jamal talked about Netherlands, the hardship he faced while being in the country and a lot of things. When he heard I was travelling alone, he became very worried.

He treated me sandwiches on the ferry while waiting to cross the English Channel. He gave me a lot of advises and tips to travel in Amsterdam, though I've researched enough.

While the bus continuing the journey in Belgium, there was drunken men on the bus, fighting, swearing and shouting. I never expected the night journey will be disturbed and most of the exhausted passengers can't slept that night.

Upon arriving at the bus station, Jamal wanted to lend me his travel card because he is afraid I'm gonna lost. I refused the offer and convinced him. He is very kind to help a stranger on the middle of nowhere.

How is he nowadays? I hope he is doing fine. And may Allah bestowed the best sustenance to him.

"O Allah, I wish every person I met during my life to be given the best benefits in their life. Please protect them whenever they are and please let us meet again in future. For You are the Most Giving and Most Acceptance."

Illaliqa'. Wassalam.

Easter 2015: French Riviera

Assalamualaikum, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

All praise to Him, the God of this world, and salawah upon the Last Messenger Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

I went to Nice, French Riviera. It was hot and nice place. I met a Korean girl, who was very nice showing me around Monaco. She is a traveller too and I am glad I joined her for the day.

What I found in Nice was there were a lot of Muslim community over there. Halal food wasn't that hard to find. Alhamdulillah.

While I was in Cannes, I received the news that my flight home was cancelled due to air-traffic controller strike. A lot of flights were affected and mine was the worst case of all.

I remained calm and tried to get hold of internet for the next bound to London. As I went to the train station to take the first train back to Nice, there was and incident where bomb threat, caused many trains to cancelled.

Incident happened one after another. It was really bad evening. Alhamdulillah everything gone well in the end. I asked myself, if this is a fate of God, to let me spend more days in Nice, there must something behind it. I started to wonder around the city for clues and hopeful insight.

What I found was, despite the great life in the city, I saw poverty behind it. A lot of people were begging for money, to keep their stomach fill. A small boy approached me, asking for money, as if he was trained to do so, every single day.

I was a bit sad to see such situations. The poors were ignored, less treated as a human being. I can't blame every person who ignored them by the street. Once, I walked pass an old lady by the market, I had a mixed feeling. I returned, I emptied the last coins in my pocket, in hope it can help her buy some food.

Sometimes we see the bright of a place that we went. But we failed to see the dark sight, not until we truly explore around. I always asked myself when I set for an adventure, whether I want to be a tourist, who capture beautiful pictures, taste different food, or be a traveller, who try to engage with the local culture and comprehend them.

I choose both. The time on this world is limited, I want to fully used the chance that Allah gave to me to its fullest. I want to learn about the country, its culture(people and food), the history and say my prayer every time I amazed.

I rarely buy any new stuff like my friends used to do, not until I really need it. I cooked almost everyday, not because I cheepskate, but I want to save for travelling. I tracked down every single penny I spent since years ago, so that I can make a budget and eliminate whats not needed.

I'm sure many people can go travelling, if they have their own ways to save.

"O Allah, thanks for every moments You bestowed upon me. I am really grateful to You to give me a lot lf chances to go out, to see Your beautiful world. I believed You have a good plan for me ahead, please direct me towards a better Muslim and don't let me walk astray from Your righteous path."

Illaliqa'. Wassalam. :)