Ummrah

January 4, 2019 tashas-tales4 Comments

Okay, so this post is very close to my heart. I am in a place in my life where I feel like I am being pushed and pulled at the same time.

Prior to migrating to Qatar and prior to meeting my husband, I was someone who used to call themselves a ‘Muslim’. I was by no means a practising Muslim as such. I was a Muslim just by name. Around 2013 I did not even know names of our Prophet Mohammed (SAW) family members. And in all fairness, all I knew was there is no deity, but God. I believed in the Almighty with all my heart. After all, He had blessed me in so many ways. But I did not know much else other than the words La illaha ilAllah Muhammad rasoolAllah.

My journey started when I moved to Qatar. The move to Qatar was exciting yet depressing at times. I spent hours offering my prayers. Praying for an answer. Praying for some guidance. During this time, I had applied for numerous jobs and attended many interviews. As I waited to hear back from employers, I started to question my credibility and employability as I felt trapped in the four walls that surrounded me.

Eventually I was offered two jobs; one in a Pakistani school with a very good reputation and another job in an Islamic British school. After thinking long and hard, I decided to accept the job offer at the Islamic school. I believe He is the best planner and that is the reason I ended up in the Islamic school. I can confidently say that my experience at the school changed me. Changed me in ways that I might never know. I had the privilege to be in the company of the most humble and modest Muslims for 6 months. Sisters that will forever remain in my heart. Students whose faces I will never forget. Miss Aisha, the manager whose faith in God inspired me.

Though I do not claim to be the perfect Muslim, nor do I claim to have a great, intense Islamic knowledge, I believe I am now a somewhat better informed of what a Muslim is. However this journey has not been one without any turbulence.

Between April 2015 – December 2015, I spent my time trying to fit in, trying to make sense of how my life had changed and developed. As time went on, one thing was sure. Whilst we were living in Qatar, I wanted to perform Ummrah with Ahmed. Ahmed had already been for Ummrah a number of times, so I felt confident that it would be a very achievable task.

In December 2015, we finally applied for our visas for Saudi Arabia. It was quite an interesting and long experience which even consisted of them giving me injections for meningitis and some other vaccination. Once we gathered all our paper work, the passports were sent to Saudi Embassy for visas.

On 5th January we got a phone call to say that the Visa had arrived. We were completely overjoyed and drove straight to their office to collect it in the evening.

When we got home that evening, I received a phone call from my mum. She was inconsolable and could barely speak. Eventually the words came out of her mouth like some burning fire. My dad’s older brother, his best friend had suddenly passed away. Being thousands of miles away from my family, I never felt so alone despite the fact Ahmed was right next to me.

To say that I have been blessed with the best husband would be an understatement. We had been married for less than a year and already he had seen me at my very worst. Already he had seen me at my lowest. And already we had experienced a death in our family. It was an awful time. But I couldn’t thank the Almighty enough. What were the chances that we had just collected our visas and passports so I was able to attend his funeral in Pakistan.

After coming back to Qatar from Mirpur, I felt so alone. I had spent the last ten days or so with family and coming back to an empty apartment felt soul destroying.

But it all changed.

We went for Ummrah just a week after returning from Mirpur. Ahmed finished work on Thursday and we headed straight to the airport. We were running extremely late and I was petrified of missing the flight. He (Ahmed) has been known to do this before you see…. He missed his last flight to Medinah and ended up going to Saudi for less than 24 hours!

Somehow, miraculously we made it to the airport in time. I hadn’t been out of the house in an Abaya and a Hijab, but I really enjoyed the experience and felt the part.

The journey was quick and we got there before we knew it. We landed in Medinah and headed straight to our hotel which was down the road from Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (Prophet’s Mosque)

As I have mentioned before, my faith before Qatar was weak and so was my knowledge. I didn’t think that the striking Green Dome rising above the tombs of the Prophet Muhammad SAW would have such an impact on me. I was mesmerised by the beauty of this Mosque. I sat outside for hours just staring at it as I waiting for Ahmed to come back from inside.

As I entered the mosque and sat down to say my prayers, I noticed that there were women from absolutely all over. Young and old. Able bodied as well as disabled. There were some who looked quite wealthy and others who looked poor. Yet they all looked the same. They all had the same expressions and the same determination in on their faces. We all had the same purpose. Just before we offered our prayers and heard the Azaan, some women next to me offered their prayer mat as I didn’t have one. We didn’t speak the same language, nor were we from the same culture, but she made it clear she wanted me to share her mat. I was taken a back by her kindness and thanked her. As I thanked the women next to me, a little girl came running towards us and offered us a date. There was something so special about this moment. What a way to start out journey to Ummrah.

Day 1: Seeing the sites in Medinah before heading to Mecca in the evening

We woke up feeling really fresh after a good night sleep! We started the day early as Ahmed wanted to show me lots of historical sites. We prayed Nafls in all the Mosques that we saw.

We timed it so we could return back in time for Jummah to pray in Al-Masjid an-Nabawi. This will perhaps be one of my favourite memories from the trip. I felt so blessed and overwhelmed to be sat amongst so many other Muslims. As soon as we completed our prayers, we got some lunch from KFC (BAD MOVE) and went back to the hotel to get freshened up.

We didn’t waste any time and quickly grabbed a cab to go to Mecca. We stopped at a Miqat (Miqats are the areas or locations at which pilgrims wear Ihram, either for Hajj or Umrah). We offered two nafls here. This was an odd experience as the women were pushing and shoving all over the place, making it unbearable. Everyone was holding tight onto their shoes and belongings as it was utter chaos. I somehow managed to find a space and got ready to say my prayers.

The journey took between 4-6 hours I believe, could be more. Could be less! All I know was that I was exhausted.

The exertion quickly went away however. As soon as we entered the boundaries of Mecca, it started to rain a little. WOW. What an experience. I never thought I would experience rain or even a bit of drizzle whilst being in Mecca.

We got to our gorgeous hotel in Mecca and I noticed that there was a different buzz around me. Everyone seemed so happy and optimistic.

The moment I laid my eyes on the Kabah’, I couldn’t quite believe I was there. Too thrilled to take photos. Emotions running wild and a sense of feeling blessed was over taking me. It was amazing.

Luckily for me, Ahmed had done this a few times, so we quite quickly began to perform our Ummrah.

I could hear everyone chanting the same words. The same enthusiasm and the same eagerness.

Labaik Allahuma Labaik, labaik la sharika laka labaik, Innal hamda wann’imat laka wal mulk, la sharika lak

Translated this means:

“I stand up for YOUR service, O GOD! I stand up! I stand up! There is no partner with YOU! I stand up for YOUR service! Verily YOURS is the praise, the beneficence, and the dominion! There is no partner with YOU”

Praying Jummah in Al-Masjid an-Nabawi and then completing Ummrah on a Friday too! Oh what an experience!

Day 2: A sleepless night in Mecca

Having a sleepless night in Mecca was not what I had planned. I had really bad S&D. TMI, I know! But I had so many things rushing through my head. Is God punishing me? Are my sins being wiped? Or was it just the KFC?

I was hoping to go to Kabbah to read my Fajr prayer, however , I wasn’t physically able to do this. Ahmed went to say his prayers while I tried to take medication and fix myself up. I didn’t want to waste any time and wanted to experience the Kabbah all over again.

I managed to somehow wake up, have breakfast and headed out to the Kabaah. It was incredible. We offered a few prayers while we were there and also managed to carry out a couple of Tawafs.

What was really incredible about this trip was the fact that just few weeks ago I was mourning for my late uncle. I had never experienced loss like it. My faith in Allah became stronger that month. To think that our visas arrived on the day of his death, allowing me to to go to Pakistan to be with my family. And to think that I could carry out Ummrah upon my return. SubhanAllah.

What was also incredible was that I had got a job in the UK which I was starting in February the same year. I was about to leave the Country I started to call home. And I was about to part from my husband for an unknown amount of months.

My next blog post will be all about long distance relationships and spouse visa processes to the UK.

Qatar

September 4, 2018 tashas-tales3 Comments

My Qatari Journey

After spending the most gorgeous few days in Thailand for our honeymoon, it was part 2 of the honeymoon. Well for me at least.

I had never been or seen any place like the Middle East. The lavish lifestyle, the brunching trends and the exaggerated bling was all new to me. Prior to meeting my ‘better’ half, I didn’t even know it existed or where it was on the map (yep, this is true). I had very little, if any understanding or knowledge about Qatar or in fact the Middle Eastern culture. In fact, I had absolutely no desire to travel to Dubai or any of the Middle Eastern countries at that point. And O boy how all of this changed.

Moving to Qatar was a challenge. A country so unfamiliar, so alien to my usual surroundings. The foreign language, different culture, unusual clothing and not forgetting the scorching heat was everything that I wasn’t used to. Without my friends and family, I truly thought I was going to drown in my loneliness at times. After spending the first few days setting up my little apartment, I realised I had lots of spare time on my hands. Feeling isolated and alienated I wasn’t sure I would ever fall in love with Qatar; and O boy how all of this changed.

I have realised that as goings get tough, the tough don’t get going straight away, they curl up in bed and contemplate their life, sulk and feel sorry for themselves, and eventually build up the will to get tougher. This and the sudden realisation that I can’t even cook pasta or know how to boil an egg suddenly dawned upon me.

It was overwhelming.

There were so many emotions running through me but I didn’t want to share them with anyone, especially not my family because I didn’t want them to worry about me. I wanted to be the strong and independent person my parents raised me to be. I wanted to enjoy what Qatar had to offer. I wanted to make the most of this time and upon reflecting back was a very precious time at the beginning of the new chapter in my life.

It’s so easy to fall into a vicious void of emptiness, but I was not prepared for that to happen. I kept myself busy by praying, cleaning, ironing and cooking but I needed more. I started to look for jobs, went to the communal gym and caught up with friends via all social media apps… as you do! Thank the Lord for technology, right? Hallelujah!

After Ahmed finished work, we would always go out. Somewhere new, somewhere exotic, somewhere fun (for me anyway). The evenings were always a good laugh and something to look forward to. There was so much to soak in and experience every time we went out. I still remember the warm breeze against my face, my taste buds going crazy over humous, kibbeh and batata harra (mezze from the Lebanese cuisine) as we smoked sheesha in the courtyard of the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Or listening to a live orchestra in the gorgeous Museum of Islamic Arts (MIA) park, full of people from all around the world.

The weekends brought me the most excitement though. I say ‘weekends’, but it was only the Saturday as my husband worked SIX, YES SIX days a week! Those Saturdays however are going to stay with me forever. I felt that it was everything and more that we needed as newly weds. We hadn’t spent any time together before the wedding, so this was our chance to get to know one another and to spend quality time together.

I soon started work and that was a complete different story altogether. Employment in the Middle East was a real eye opener for me. I soon came to know that the rosey picture that everyone paints of the Middle East is far from reality. That even I was completely unaware of what really goes on behind the scenes. I soon realised the bitter truth that this is a land where there’s a constant battle. A place where only the fittest can survive. A tragic place where when one begins to feel at home, they’re reminded that they’re merely living in a house which in essence was never theirs. Discrimination. Lack of justice. Inequality. Such immoral acts are experienced by many on a daily if not hourly basis. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer in places like Doha. The man who served his employers for 30+ years and raised his entire family in Qatar gets informed that he has 28 days to leave the country. His children struggle with their sense of identity and belonging. That is the reality. That is the story for many migrants in places like Qatar, Dubai or others in the Middle East. I guess it is important to be aware and truly acknowledge people’s sacrifices and not get lost in our own little bubble.

Nonetheless, this is also a place where you will meet the most genuine, caring and sincere human beings. People who are selfless and willing to sacrifice a great deal to help others. Pure hearts, with many stories and tales to tell. All nomads, living without a plan. Travellers with an interesting journey. The Pakistani who was raised in Nigeria and later moved to Dubai and now Qatar. The Pakistani who has spent her entire life in Qatar but knows this is not home. The Filipino nurse who has left her kids in the Philippines so her kids can study. People who want to give and give without wanting to receive anything, and that to with a smile on their face.

I will never forget what Qatar has given me. How much I grew as a person and how much I developed spiritually and personally. Qatar wasn’t only pleasing to the eye but gave my soul comfort and solace in it’s own unique way. I loved every moment of living there and cannot wait to share some of my favourites places. The places that I will truly treasure forever and places that I urge you visit if you ever get the chance to visit this gorgeous country.

Places to visit

The Doha Corniche

Everyone will tell you about ‘The Corniche’ when you go to Qatar or talk about Qatar.

The Doha Corniche is a waterfront promenade extending for many kilometers along Doha Bay in the capital city of Doha, Qatar. Perhaps around 15-20 mins from the airport. I’d say majority of the good hotels are around this area too!

This is where the locals hang out for hours on end, spending time with their loved ones. You’ll see people sat there having a picnic, flying a kite, exercising or just watching the world go by. I definitely preferred the latter. I could sit for hours people watching and putting the world to right.

You’d see the ‘Labourers’ at the very top of the corniche, in awe of whats around them. Their tired faces and sun burnt skin. That itself that an experience. Seeing the labourers enjoys the few hours a day that they had free from work. But as you went further down the Corniche, you’d start seeing more family friendly and female friendly places where these working class heroes were not allowed.

Best to visit anytime during the winter months and early evenings in summers (unless it is too humid). Overall a perfect place to spend a couple of hours with a iced coffee or an ice cream in your hand or be it a delicious chicken shawarma wrap.

Cost: FREE

Souq Waqif

Souq is an Arabic word which means “market”. Souq Waqif is a place full of restaurants, sheesha lounges, spices, golds, perfumes, animals and explicitly traditional garments. It’s architectural design of traditional Qatari style has been preserved over years ago with mazes and undefined geometric pattern as it characterises. The Souq will take you back in time and it will definitely give you an experience like no other if you haven’t been to a place like it before.

Located across the road from the Doha Corniche, it’s very hard to miss the Souq which is always hustling and bustling with laughter and joy. It tends to get very busy during the evenings as all locals and expats decide to finally leave their houses and enjoy some humid air! One can spend hours wandering the alleyways of the Souq, smoking sheesha, shopping or just enjoying a hot/cold drink as people walk on by and soak it all up.

Cost: FREE

The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) and Park

MIA is a museum located on one end of the long Corniche in Doha. Once you have aimlessly walked along the Corniche, visited the Souq, it is almost time to visit the gorgeous MIA to watch the most beautiful sunset.

Build in it’s very own unique character, MIA is classy, modern and informative. There are tonnes of facilities inside the 5-storied museum, including temporary and permanent galleries, a gift shop, a library, a cafe, and a restaurant. There are also prayer rooms inside to cater to Muslim visitors.

I remember visiting the MIA park for the very first time when there was an orchestra playing. It was a fun musical evening with musicians from all around the world. MIA is known to have lots of different activities and festivities throughout the year. Be sure to check their website to see what events are taking place when you visit. It gives you a real flavour of the culture and most importantly the diversity that exists in the Country.

http://www.mia.org.qa/en/

Cost: FREE

State Grand Mosque

The state Mosque Qatar is one of the largest mosques in Qatar and is a stunning mosque to visit. It is located a bit further than the Souq, Corniche and MIA, so I recommend that you either hire a car during your stay in Qatar or take a taxi to these places!

At night it lights up and you’re left totally mesmerised as you can see the rest of Doha lit up! The coloured stained glass windows reflect on the white marble floor, that is how sparkly clean and prestige this place is!

Be Warned: In order to enter the mosque, women MUST be wearing an Abaya. I remember the first time I went and didn’t have an Abaya. An Abaya is essentially a cloak which is a simple, loose over-garment, essentially a robe-like dress, worn by some women in parts of the Muslim world. The security guard quickly ran inside and advised me that I was not able to enter without an Abaya! Lesson was learnt very quickly and I made sure to carry my Abayah around at all times. But Abayas are provided for visitors at the mosque.

Cost: FREE

Katara Cultural Village

This place was my FAVOURITE to visit on evenings! I loved walking around Katara for hours and ending the evening with some delicious food. I feel that whoever envisioned Katara had great foresight. The location is perfect for people of all ages and all interests. It is located next to a beach, so lots of sand and sea for those that want to sunbathe and swim. There are also lots of different restaurants with various cuisines. It also has an amazing amphitheater with a grand and opulent structure.

You can visit the Katara website for more information: http://www.katara.net/en

The best thing to do is to visit just before sunset and enjoy that it’s got to offer!

Cost: FREE

The Pearl

The Pearl-Qatar is an artificial island spanning nearly four million square meters! Just like the name says, it looks like a string of pearls from above. It predominantly consists of lots of modern, expensive and luxurious residents. However, locals and tourists also tend to visit ‘The Pearl’ to get a feel of the marina, the yachts and the boats. I never went on the boats, but I have been told that some of the boats can be hired and taken to the corniche and beyond.

It also has lots of restaurants and cafe’s which are affordable and relaxing. If you like spotting cars then this is the place to be: we saw Ferraris, Lamborghinis and a variety of supercars scattered all over the car parks. We usually used to stay for around 2-3 hours, just to go for long walks, cold drinks and yes, people watching! Ok so we’re getting a bit of a theme. I love to people watch!

http://www.thepearlqatar.com/EN/

Cost: FREE

The DESERT!

I was VERY VERY blessed and lucky that I got to experience dune bashing, sun, sand and sea many times during my stay in Qatar. We had a Jeep which meant that we could easily visit the desert as and when we wished. All it meant was that we needed to take the air out of the tyres before beginning our adventure. Mind you, it is the most tiring day out EVER! You don’t realise, but after hours of driving up and down sand dunes, it can hurt your back and make you sleep like a baby at night.

We also managed to find a specific destination in the desert where we always had the ‘beach’ all to ourselves. YES THAT’S RIGHT. We pinned a specific location where we realised no one ever visited. It meant that we had the entire sea to ourselves. So a dip in the sea followed by a picnic and some soothing music was my version of a ‘perfect moment’.

If you’re just visiting Qatar on holiday, I am certain there are tours that you can book in order to get a similar experience. I am not sure what it consists of, but its worth a quick google or if you want more info, I can ask a friend for you!

Zekreet and Film city

If you want to feel that you just got onto your flying carpet and rolled into the world of Aladdin then here it is. The landscape is so unique and captivating! It is quite literally in the middle of nowhere and you’d definitely not be able to get there without a reliable Sat Nav/ Google maps: although after a few visits you will be a pro at locating it.

Film city can be reached from Doha by following a Doha – Dukhan road (about 90 km) then turn right when you see Zikreet route sign. Again, it is probably best to do this via a tour or hiring a SUV and using your GPS to get around.

We only visited this place once and because we were already aware that there were no Cafes/restaurants in the vicinity of this place, we got some food with us and ate it on the way. I’d advise you to do the same so you’re not starving and dehydrated by the time you get there!

The nearest food places are in Dukhan which is round the corner. You can find a McDonald’s and a small market to cater for most needs.

Villagio Mall, Torch Doha and Aspire Park

Villagio Mall

The Torch – Doha

Aspire Park

If you have some extra time, the places mentioned above are also worth paying a visit. Villagio Mall makes you feel that you’ve magically arrived in Venice or perhaps a copy cat version of Las Vegas’s Bellagio (not that i have ever been there)! But I have heard that the inspiration was from Bellagio in Vegas. The mall has all the high street shops as well as designer clothing. BUT not just that. Villagio has a cinema, indoor theme park, ice skating and some icestone ice cream, NOM! Perfect way to spend a few hours when the heat outside is unbearable!

Villagio was my favourite place to visit for food. The Steak and Chicken Florentine at ‘The Butcher, Shop and Grill’ or ‘Prawn Dynamite’ from PF Chang are a MUST!

So yeah, if it’s scorching hot outside and you are itching you be out and about, Villagio is a great place to hang out and spend time!

Souq Wakra

HOW PRETTY AND CUTE?! Obviously I am going to be biased. As we lived in Wakrah, Souq Wakra was not very far for us which meant that we visited this little Souq on a very regular basis. At the time this place was fairly/somewhat underdeveloped I’d say as it was a work in progress. This suited me fine because it meant it was less crowded and more intimate for the people who actually went.

Over the months of visiting, you could see it getting busier and busier. More people were becoming aware of it and traveled all across Qatar to visit. It has a variety of cuisines on the beach front, but my favourite drink was the ‘Caramel Crunch’ from Coffee Beanery. My mouth is watering as I type about it. It was the yummiest cold drink I have ever had and I was pretty addicted to it. Even the employers knew my order, I’m sure!

Last but not least, the hospitality in Qatar is exceptional, especially by the Filipino workers who will always be polite and charming no matter where go. Or at least that was my experience. So if you ever visit Qatar, I urge you to always make an effort with the workers who always have a story to tell and most likely have sacrificed a lot to be serving you.

One of the best things about living in the Middle East is definitely the luxury of being able to travel to so many places. While we lived there, we managed to visit Dubai for my surprise birthday weekend and also went for Ummrah over a weekend!

Stay tuned for the next Blogpost about my surprise weekend away to…….DUBAI followed by my Umrah experience!!

Thailand

August 11, 2018August 11, 2018 tashas-tales2 Comments

When my dream became a reality

Following my gorgeous wedding, which by the way exceeded all expectations and more, I did not for a second imagine or anticipate that my life could get any better.

But it did.

It was something that I did not expect or even think would happen to me. I knew that my husband was going to take me to a ‘surprise’ honeymoon destination, but I did not envisage that it would blow my mind.

Two days after my wedding it was time to leave my friends and family to go to my honeymoon (or ‘holiday’ as I like to call it) before starting a new life in Qatar. I was not sure what to feel or how to react to this change. But I was excited nevertheless.

My dad was anxious and paranoid to say the least. His little girl, his only girl was leaving his ‘patronage’ to be with another man. My husband tried to keep the location a secret until my dad became restless and asked him where it was that he was taking me. Ahmed, hesitantly told my mum and dad where we were going. My dad’s reaction to this was, excitement as well as nervousness. I could see it all over his face. At this moment in time, I still had no idea where we were going!
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I vividly remember being sat in the CIP lounge at Islamabad Airport; sitting next to the man I have known all my life on one side (my dad) and on the other was the man who I was going to spend the rest of my life (my husband). Sat there was also my beloved late uncle who I called ‘Daddy’. Little did I know that it was going to be the last time I was going to see him. Overwhelmed with emotions, I did not really think about the life ahead or even the next destination. My emotions were taken over by the fact that I was about to spend the rest of my life with someone I had seen a handful of times.

Yep, that’s right. I had an arranged marriage. Maybe that’s something for a separate blog post?

As we sat there, all I knew was that the plane was going to Abu Dhabi. Therefore, my only thoughts were that we were going to Dubai. To be honest, Dubai was never really a destination that I had desired to visit. Nonetheless, I was grateful to my husband for organising it and surprising me.

As we got to Abu Dhabi, Ahmed told me we were going to Thailand. At that point in my life, I hadn’t really travelled much so I still was unsure what to expect. Yes, you heard me right… I hadn’t yet explored the world of Instagram and travel bloggers.

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As we arrived in Thailand, I recall a young Pakistani couple getting on the plane. It was almost a reflection of me and my other half. The excitement on their faces seemed familiar. The henna on the newly wedded bride looked similar to my own hands.

The flight to Phuket was uneventful… other than the fact that nearer to the time of landing, the pilot made an announcement for us to peek out the air plane windows as the Phi-Phi Islands could be see. And God were they gorgeous.

Going through passport control at Phuket International Airport was uneventful as well. At least for me it was.

My British passport and I whizzed through passport control without realising that Ahmed had been stopped for further screening. Soon after walking past passport control, I heard someone yell ‘PAAAAKTAAAAAANI PAAAAKITAAANI’.

What was to come was my very own ritual of initiation of having married someone with a Pakistani passport. I don’t mean this as a particularly bad thing; but carrying a Pakistani passport has its own set of caveats and conditions when you travel around (which we will come to in a bit).

When I looked around rather alarmingly to figure out what the ruckus was all about, I realised that the immigration office dealing with Ahmed was waving his arms around, heading towards someone senior I imagine; with Ahmed’s passport in one hand and ushering Ahmed to follow him.

My first reaction was, well, logical: I burst out laughing! Only to realise this was the guy I had got married to!

My stomach did a good few turns and a million thoughts went around in my head. Panic had set in! I was in a foreign country, which a man I had married very recently, with no idea or information about where we were headed… not even carrying my own plane ticket! What if they keep him overnight? What if I have go to the hotel on my own? What I have to go back to Pakistan or back home to the UK? or Abu Dhabi which is where the flight had originated from?

As my mind was doing overtime, I noticed that the other couple were in a similar predicament. However, the guy seemed more aware of the situation and stood next to his new Missus as the immigration was double, triple checking her visa. I looked over at Ahmed who reassuringly smiled back as he had his passport (and other documents) inspected and reinspected. Could this treatment be commonplace?

Ahmed was eventually, maybe 20 mins later, allowed entry. YES! By this point I had already dragged all our luggage off the conveyor belt.

We headed out of the airport and a gush of humid, hot, ‘wet’ air hit me all over. It smelt quite unusual and my first impression was: this appears to be a deprived country!

Ahmed would remind me time and time again how I was acting like someone from the TV series ‘An idiot abroad’. How many of you have seen it?

Oh well, I didn’t care, did I? I was buzzin’!

I looked up and this gorgeous white Mercedes pulled up. I was definitely impressed I must admit. I don’t think if I had ever sat in a Merc before then. As we got on, the driver offered us wet towels to freshen up and then pulled out two cold bottles of water from a small cool box. This alone made me feel a million dollars as I had sweat dripping off my face.

The journey from the airport to the hotel was long. Or at least it felt long. So long that I went through a million emotions of feeling sad, happy, excited, tired, bored. You get the picture, don’t you?

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We pulled up at the hotel and were quickly greeted by the most happy people on the face of this planet. Bowing down as they put their hands together welcoming us. The reception room was lavish, bright and charming. As we sat down to check in, they immediately offered us some unusual tea and these gorgeous Jasmine bands for our wrists.

As Ahmed checked in, I looked around the reception room and the TripAdvisor board caught my eye. It was rated as 5* by TripAvdisor and had won a number of awards for being THE BEST hotel in the Phuket area. Once we checked in and all, we were escorted to our very own buggy. I had never been in one of those either, so at this moment, I was completely thrilled.

We rode to our apartment and WOW. I guess the photos below will say it all.

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I had tears in my eyes as my heart filled with joy. A tear rolling down my cheek and my stomach going absolutely wild. I genuinely had never expected anything like this in my life and it only got better after it.

Alhamdulillah (“Praise be to Allah”).

I thought I was dreaming. Hallucinating even. But it was real. All of it. As a little girl I grew up dreaming for something like this to happen to me and at that moment in time, my dreams really did become reality!

Day 1: Phi Phi Islands

I woke up to the most amazing breakfast, overlooking our private and gorgeous infinity pool. It was everything and more. The breakfast spread was absolutely mouth watering. The hotel even catered for us to have Halal meat! YUM. NOM.

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After breakfast, our ride was waiting outside for us. We were quickly taken to a tiny boat and off we went exploring the Phi Phi Islands. The whole tour was arranged via the hotel, and I have no idea about the cost. However, we (Ahmed) opted for the fast speed boat and we spent the entire day island hopping.

By the way, at this stage, I had no intentions of blogging, or instagramming so the photo quality may be a little poor and I don’t recall all little details as I didn’t plan the itineraries or write down specific notes. Nowadays I try to have things written down as reminders to share with y’all.

Enjoy the pics anyways!

I am not going to lie, this day was very looooong. I was still a little jet lagged from all the travelling and the sea air just knocked me out! It was also really busy as there were tourists in every corner of the islands. Maybe that’s why I don’t even have many pictures from this trip.

I guess maybe that’s why in some ways this holiday was so special. I spent less time taking the most picture perfect photographs and actually enjoyed my time hearing, feeling and experiencing every moment of being there.

We went back to the hotel and luckily the sun hadn’t set yet. We quickly made the most of the infinity pool, sipped some tea, watched the sun go down, witnessed the sky change colour numerous times. It truly was blissful and a moment to remember forever. The kind of picture perfect honeymoon that one dreams of. Well done ‘A’. You did an excellent job. What’s gone wrong now? lol.

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Day 2: Safari Tour and Boat trip

I woke up, still in awe of this gorgeous hotel. The sun was shining, the music was playing and as we opened our eyes, we heard a knock on the door. ROOM SERVICE. I laid in bed as Ahmed let them in and helped them lay out the breakfast by the pool. Yep, we had room service for breakfast the entire trip as we wanted to make the most of the infinity pool.

hotel view

We spent the first few hours just hanging around the pool as we waited for a second day of excursions. At this point, to be honest, I still didn’t want to know what we were doing on the day. I was quite enjoying being told on the day where we were going and just to go with it. So I sat back and enjoyed every moment. Quite opposite to how I am now: A CONTROL FREAK!

me before safari

Yep, this is me. Just sitting on the floor, drinking tea.

Anyways! The Safari Tour with the Boat Trip, Yey!

We arrived at this safari place, where we learnt a little about coffee and how they process it. We then continued to find out about what they do with the coconuts. How they grow them, how they make all sorts of things with it. To be honest, this kind of stuff is more something Ahmed enjoys, because I don’t really retain the information well. I mean don’t get me wrong it was good, but part of me was thinking ‘is this it’.

UNTIL…… We got to see some gorgeous elephants. AAAHHH. I have always loved elephants and found them to be so bloody adorable that my heart sank when I saw them for the first time. I’m surprised by this point I didn’t have a cardiac arrest with all the excitement and surprises. We even got to ride an elephant! We fed the elephants! We touched the elephants! It was such a surreal moment.

Dammit. The elephant behind me even picked up my sun screen and sun glasses that fell out of my bag and onto the ground. This is true. The elephant behind me stopped, used his gorgeous long trunk to pick up my belongings and passed them to me. A moment to remember indeed!

The day ended with a short boat trip. Yes, yes I love boat trips! We had our dinner on the boat and watched the world go by. It was romantic, relaxing and just a really nice way to end the day.

Day 3: Tiger Kingdom, Big Buddha & FANTA-SEA

Another day, another excursion. We decided to head to the ‘Tiger Kingdom’. I had seen lots of photos of people with tigers and thought to myself, wow, how amazing. So off we went. We got a taxi from our hotel to The Tiger Kingdom.

Although I don’t really want to share photos from this trip. I kind of feel obliged to share them as well as sharing my opinions and experiences from visiting this place. As we entered, it was really busy and chaotic. There were tourists everywhere, of all ages and from all over the world. The prices to see the tigers were rather expensive I thought, but went with it. Then we noticed that the prices vary depending on how big or little the tigers are. To get a photo taken with the bigger ones was more cheaper in comparison to the little ones. I guess the little ones look even more ‘grammable’ right? EUGH. I regret this, but I still went with it.

I mean, just look at these poor souls. I feel like I messed up. I shouldn’t have given into the hype and paid for these wild life animals to be tortured and drugged for my benefit. But I did. So did many other people. I remember leaving the cage-like rooms where the tigers were kept and feeling an overwhelming sadness taking over. All of a sudden it hit me. I had just paid towards this cruelty. NEVER AGAIN. I promised myself to tell anyone that I meet not to go to places like these. Because it is just awful. Seeing these beautiful creatures being held against their will and being treated so badly for human satisfaction is not okay.

PLEASE DO NOT DO IT.

Soon after leaving The Tiger Kingdom, our next stop was to see the Big Buddha. I had never seen a Buddha statue that was this big. I had never been to anywhere like it. As we entered the area, the Big Buddha could be seen from miles away! This giant statue of the big Buddha really did overshadow its surroundings. It was a gorgeous place just to walk around and taking in a different culture, religion and belief to our own. Watching people being engrossed in worshipping and praying.

After feeling hot and tired, we headed back to the hotel, only to be told that we had another exciting place to visit called Fanta-Sea: The ultimate Thai Cultural Park. We were collected by a fancy looking van, with Fanta Sea written all over it. We arrived in a very loud, bright and colourful place. I kind of didn’t know what earth was going on!

As we entered, it looked so gorgeous. It was a huge theme park with a massive stage show, a large buffet restaurant and plenty of shops to tempt people into spending more than just the entry fee. Phuket Fanta-sea opened in 1998 and is certainly one of Phuket’s main tourist attractions.

There is also a popular show at Phuket Fantasea. The theater seats around 3,000 people. There are hundreds of performers in the show. I was not sure what to expect, tacky or impressive? Oh and by the way, you CANNOT take the camera into the show. They WILL take your camera/ phone away if they catch you snapping cool photos for the gram or the blog.

The show lasts over one hour with song and dance from different regions of Thailand woven into a tale of the “Kingdom of Kamala”. There are animals, acrobats, fireworks. I personally enjoyed it although I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea!

Day 4: RELAX

Although Ahmed had planned another excursion for day 4, we decided to cancel it. We were tired and exhausted and also wanted to make the most of the beautiful hotel. We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool, enjoying the views and just getting to know one another even more.

A bit of a disaster happened on the last day. As I was laying by the infinity pool taking selfies of myself to send to my friends, my phone slipped out of my hands and fell into the pool. Uh-Oh. My heart skipped a beat. I think I may have even cried. I screamed for Ahmed to come to my rescue. We called the reception and asked them to bring up some uncooked rice. Baffled, they replied ‘we can cook you Ma’am’. We explained it was a little more urgent than that. We were praying for a miracle and had heard that putting the phone in the uncooked rice will fix everything. With a heavy heart, I put my phone into the bag of rice and said a little prayer! MY ENTIRE LIFE WAS ON THERE!

Dramatic, I know.

But considering I wasn’t going to see my friends or family for the foreseeable future, it really did feel that the reaction was justified. Or at least I think so!

Anyways, there were positives on that day. We realised that we had the entire beach to ourselves and that the mock-tails drinks were free every day! So we made the most of our time left at the hotel. We laughed, laughed some more.

final night

We stayed in the hotel for our last meal. It was absolutely gorgeous. The Thai Cakes and the Thai Green Curry was to die for. Despite the phone disaster I couldn’t help but smile at what a lovely start to our marriage we had had. It was beyond perfect. It was a dream come true.

Day 5: Flight to Qatar….

And this was it. For all I knew, I was going to be spending the rest of my life in Qatar. With a man I had only spent 7 days with.

The next blogpost will be about Qatar…..! Until then, enjoy, like & comment on this post 🙂

My big Mirpuri Wedding

July 25, 2018July 25, 2018 tashas-tales18 Comments

mirpur wedding

You may be thinking, why ‘my big Mirpuri wedding’. Well it is where both, Ahmed and I come from. Our families, our early years of childhood and the actual wedding all happened in Mirpur. But also because we both feel passionate about being a ‘Mirpuri’, although it isn’t a term that is seen or spoken about in positive light. Especially not in the UK. But actually, I am rather proud to be from Mirpur. Mirpur has given me my identity, a sense of belonging and it is a place that I call home.

All my blogs this year are going to be all about re-living, re-visiting and reminiscing back to the time that made me who I am today. I am going to (hopefully) take you back to 2015 when my life changed for the better, in more than one way. It was a life changing experience for me, spiritually as well as mentally.

I feel it is important for me to share this journey with you mainly because of what someone said to me recently. They commented on how I had ‘changed’.

Amongst thing that were said were comments like ‘[…] seems like you attention-seek a lot’, ‘in some of your posts or blogs, it’s like you’re pretending or being fake’.

As the newer generation puts it: shots were fired.

Yes, it did upset me. Yes, I was mortified. I took a moment to reassess my situation and reflect on what I was doing. Ahmed, on the other hand, didn’t even give a horses’ backside. The bubble this guy lives in: insane!

But you know what, they were right. I have changed a lot. And I feel I have changed for the better. Before 2015, there were times when I could be quite a negative person. Someone who was always complaining or moaning about one thing or another. Don’t get me wrong, I still go through those phases, like we all do; but there was something deeper and darker about the negativity that I carried with me before 2015. But since then I have been living a life that I could have only dreamt of… I have had experiences that I didn’t even know were possible to experience… I have sprouted confidence that I didn’t know I could gain.

This is not to say that my life before 2015 wasn’t amazing, because it was. I am blessed to have the world’s most amazing parents. Trust me, my friends and family will vouch for this. They are my best friends and my world. People always spoke about wedding and marriage in such a negative manner, that I always had very little expectations. This was the main reason why I wasn’t too sure of what was to come. I wasn’t aware of how much I would grow and develop in just three years.

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In 2015, my life took a drastic turn *dark dark background music*. Although it was planned and I had been planning it since 2013 (which is when I got engaged to my better half), nothing could have prepared me for what was to follow.

The wedding.

Organising an event as grand (read ‘laborious’) as an Asian wedding spanning over two continents and three countries- now that was difficult but we pulled it off so it clearly wasn’t impossible.

I was in England, Ahmed was in Qatar, the wedding was taking place in Mirpur. You see where I am going with this, don’t you?

I was based in England and not only in one town. I was having to travel between Bradford and Newcastle on a weekly basis since I was undertaking my Masters programme in Social Work and keeping up with my part time jobs in the North East over the weekends. As you can imagine, the stress was real, for sure.

Ahmed at the time was living and working in Qatar. He had been there for around 3-4 years and that was where I was going to move to after my wedding. So there was that element to it too! The uncertainty, the known.

And then there was the logistical challenge of moving my possessions from the UK to Qatar. When/where/how do I move my belongings? Will they go to Qatar via Pakistan?Where will they be stored?

Trust me, it isn’t as simple as it sounds.

As I was visiting Pakistan for my friend’s wedding towards the end of 2014, we decided that it would be a good time to get together and spearhead the wedding shopping. Making full use of my better half’s ‘travel light’ theorem, I had covertly planned to hand over a suitcases full of clothes for him to take back to Qatar!

Well, truth be told: not ‘so’ covertly as I had to make sure he could definitely take it with him. But making it out to be a covert plan sounds a lot better, doesn’t it?

Ahhaa.. That worked perfectly. That was one hurdle completed with ease with all the necessary planning and communication.

Yep. Communication and planning was absolutely KEY to it all. They always are.

As they say, ‘If you fail to plan, plan to fail’.

I also exploited the opportunity in December 2014 to order my wedding dresses and jewellery. This would not have been possible without my mum’s friend who is well settled and established in Islamabad. With her help and support, we were able to arrange and order everything within a week!

It wasn’t just the planning and the organising that was difficult. It was all the emotions and the feelings that were being more and more intrenched within me. Being an only child to the most wonderful parents meant that I was would be leaving them. In our society and culture, daughters are seen as an ‘amaanat’, a gift to whoever she gets married to. Their life changes completely. In addition to these feelings, there was that pressure. The pressure of how brilliant this wedding ‘should’ be.

We come from a quite well respected and well known family, and the weddings tend to be a big and extravagant affair. This made me full of anxiety and fear.

It made me question who I was.

It made me think about my insecurities of being an only child and I constantly thought about not having any siblings and how if I had siblings it would have been different, if at all.

At times I wasn’t in a good place. I cried. I cried a lot. But I kept telling myself it was going to be okay. That I have cousins that are like siblings and I’m sure they will do what they can… all they can.

Play some loud, over the top bollywood tune and it kicked off. April 2015, the start of the big Mirpuri wedding.

Glimpse of the Dholki nights

A week before my wedding, lots of my cousins from all over Pakistan and UK started to arrive. The house all of a sudden started to become noisy, cheerful and full of laughter. I can remember being over joyed.

With people going crazy all around me, my uncle, may he rest in peace, pulled me to a side and told me in a ‘by-the-way’ tone that my cousins from Germany wouldn’t be able to make it to the wedding.

I clearly remember this as my first heartache during the wedding days.

‘How could they? Why wouldn’t they?’ I asked myself. The concoction of self pity, selfishness and betrayal that ran through my veins at that moment in time made me aloof to the binary fact that sometimes people have commitments and the world, as much as I wanted it to, did not after all revolve around me.

I was devastated.

Fast forward two days; I am sat outside in the veranda and turn around to see someone who looks quite identical to myself making an entrance – I see my two gorgeous cousins entering the veranda. The Germans had arrived! I re-live that moment every time I think about it. It fills me with joy and happiness and a goofy smile plays on my lips every time I reminisce this memory.

Fast forward another couple of days and I am stood at Islamabad ‘International’ airport to receive the only Caucasian person attending the wedding. Having defied all odds, despite all the stereotypical narrative relating to the security situation in Pakistan (though some of it is not far fetched), Becky decided to be there for me on my wedding. Blown away by the love and warmth from everyone, it all seemed perfect.

A little too good to be true perhaps? But it was!

And when I thought there couldn’t be anymore surprises, I was blown away by the kindness and love that was showered upon me.

My cousin, who I see as an older sister, organised and orchestrated a Dholki (a function where family and close friends get together to sing and dance the late in to the night). The togetherness and contentment at the heart of this little family gathering makes my eyes swell up with tears of joy and thankfulness.

Mayoun

Mayoun – lets call it a hen-do of sorts, and then a bit!

Once I had got all prepped and pampered for the event, I actually felt really good. The dress I wore was specially prepared for the event (like all the other dresses *no surprise there*) by my dearest late uncle and his family. I vividly remember my auntie wanting me to try the clothes on, how brilliantly they fitted me, and her gleaming and joyous face to see me in these clothes.

With my hair professionally styled, light make up and flat shoes (fit for dancing just the way I like it!), I did look pretty spectacular if I may say so myself! And I felt spectacular!

With a lingering thought of an unprecedented future, the looming feeling of having to move away (in a manner of speaking) from everything I knew and cherished; emotions ran high. I had to take a moment every now and then to wipe a deceitful tear that defied the boundaries of my eyes, running down my face when it all got a bit too much.

The skies above seemed to have had resonated with my inconsistent ‘leaky eyes’ and the heavens above opened up.

The thunderstorm that followed wrecked havoc – like, literally! The food was ruined, there was a power cut (as in bijli chali gai!), the stage that had been decorated with flowers and all sorts was in shambles… textbook devastation.

I found myself sat in the basement with Becky, dressed like a princess (Asian princess to be exact), with a few candles lit around me… thinking how much effort everyone had put in to making everything picture perfect for it to be ruined.

Little did I know my late uncle Saeed will have yet another trick up his sleeve. Conscious of the weather, he had organised and pre-booked a venue as a back up just in case!

I mean what a legend! If the elements had willed to ruin it all, my uncle had perceived and preempted to see the night through,

We all ended up going to this hall very last minute, and what followed is my most cherished and memorable time of my wedding. All my nearest and dearest family members were around me, exactly how I had wished and hoped.

From all my fathers’ siblings dancing around me to my cousin Mohsin singing for me, from the craziness that transpired through the night to the contentment that took a hold of my heart, my family and friends had gone above and beyond to make my dreams come true. They did what I cannot imagine many family members doing and then a bit more. At no point during my wedding did I feel like I was alone. For the first time in my life I felt that everyone that was there was an extension of me and who I am as a person.

All the anxieties are fears had vanished, and I was overcome by a warm feeling of self-assurance. I didn’t really care about how I looked or what if my dress didn’t fit, or what people would say. With a heart raging with excitement, I felt shrouded in a strange tranquillity.

Nikkah

Oh and by the way. All this time I hadn’t seen Ahmed since I last met him at the wedding shopping/preps.

In fact he wasn’t even in the country!

The groom to be arrived on 1^st April and on 2^nd April we had our Nikkah (the Islamic marriage ceremony).

It was a very emotional time I must add. I hadn’t had much sleep the night before. I laid awake with my close friend all night and even attempted to pray Fajr, but weren’t successful as there was no water in the house – actual third world problems you guys.

I was tired and agitated on the day. After having a sleepless night thinking that I was about to ‘sign my life away’ to be with a guy who I had met a handful of times in person, I wasn’t sure how to feel about it all. Everyone around me seemed upset and tearful, and I could feel that anxiety and nerves around me. I was my father’s only child, my parents only daughter, their world. And I was about to leave them to start my own new life in a foreign country, far away from them.

It was all a bit overwhelming.

The Nikah ceremony went ahead as planned. After asking and confirming Ahmed’s acceptance to marry me, the registrar and witnesses came over to where the females were sat to ask if I accepted the marriage. Terrified of what was to come, with lots of eyes glaring at me and tears rolling down my cheeks, I said ‘Kabool hay’ (I accept) three times (followed by some signatures).

That’s it: legally married!

My dad, well, being dad had said that I could not see Ahmed until we had our Ruksati (when the bride leaves with the groom- may or may not be on a separate day in Asian weddings- our case was the former). But my mum being my mum decided to sneak us both into the garden downstairs to get a couple of professional photos – not that they are very flattering. Nonetheless, at least we have some memories from the day!

The funniest memory from the Nikkah is Ahmed playing games on his phone after signing the Nikkah papers. Who even does that?

Mehndi

On the night of the Nikkah it was my Mehndi. I remember being sat at the salon on my own- the beauticians winding down for the day, turning the lights off and getting ready to leave for the day. In a panic thinking they (my family) had forgotten about me, I rang everyone but no one answered. Eventually, one of my cousins answered and said ‘hain, you’re still at the salon?’. As you can imagine with the desi weddings, sometimes it all gets a little too much and people clearly forgot about the main person (ME!).

Once my cousin realised I wasn’t even at the hall, he did come to collect me. Crazy!

My beautiful ‘cousin-sisters’ had decorated a street hawker’s cart to perfection. Surrounded by flowers and candles, I once again felt like a queen in her castle. The boys wheeled me in to the wedding hall singing and dancing all around me. I probably looked the worse on this day but I don’t mind because the memories were so perfect. Fromall the photos from my Mehndi, you can see that everyone wanted to be a part of it and to get involved. Not so sophisticated when it comes to wedding photography. Patha nahee how the cameraman managed to get at least some decent photos.

We all know how trendy it is to have ‘synchronised’ wedding dances in Pakistani wedding. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and the busy-ness of it all, we didn’t get the chance to choreograph many dances. Regardless, a cousin, who is ‘a serial wedding dancer’ (if there is such a categorisation), took only a couple of nights to teach my cousins and friends a few dances. I don’t think anyone could have guessed that they had prepared these dances in less than two days! They did such a fabulous job that I was smiling like a Cheshire cat throughout!

My philosophy on weddings is simple: what’s the point of getting married if you can’t even enjoy your own wedding. That having said (and to bring things in to perspective), my phupo (auntie) had to sit me down a couple of time as I kept joining the peeps on the dance floor!

I don’t have many ‘photo shoot’ photos from my Mehndi because of the utter chaos on the day. But hey, no regrets there! The few photos I have and the memories are enough to last me a life time!

The following evening was Ahmed’s mehndi; and if you want to know more about it, you’ll have to ask him yourself since I wasn’t there.

I was chilling at home, eating junk food.

Baraat & Rukhsati

The ‘actual’ wedding day- this day actually feels like such a blurr.

I genuinely don’t recollect much from this day. The one moment I will never forget is walking up the aisle with my dad, arms linked, walking over a path full of red rose petals and lanterns on the sides. The song that played in the background was Farhan Saeed’s ‘Tu thori dair aur thair ja’.

My mum looked absolutely stunning, held her shit together and didn’t crying. Embracing me with her warm and a comforting smile. I remember kissing her cheek, bursting with happiness.

I wont lie: I don’t remember Ahmed coming over with the Baraat. It felt suffocating with all my family surrounding us and harassing Ahmed and his family for money (desi-wedding problems). He eventually got to sit next to me and we exchanged rings. Some, ‘read’ lots of random people, came and sat next to us and got photos taken.

And that was that.

Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to my family.

There were tears. Floods of tears even though in the back of my mind I was paranoid about ruining my make up.

I will not put you through the misery of seeing the traumatic photos of the ruksati. The ruksati that took place around 12am. This was before the 10 pm deadline for concluding events was implemented in Mirpur.

Following the ruksati, we went to Ahmed’s paternal house to carry out the standard ‘rasams’. I still remember drinking some coke and realising that was the only thing that I had drank pretty much all day. In the midst of the wedding hulchul, I don’t think I had any food all day!!

Can’t say the same for my better half; let’s leave it at that!

Feeling tired, yet excited, we were told that we needed to go to the studio for our photo shoot. It must have been around 3am by the time we got to the studio. Imagine how knackered we must have been. Awkward poses and tired eyes, yet gleaming faces. WE DID IT! But it wasn’t over yet, lol!

Walima

Last but not the least day, Walima, or what I call the after wedding party.

Some thing I had never seen in Asian wear, well not in Mirpur anyway, was a white bridal dress for a walima ceremony, and I wanted something different. Which is why I ended up getting a gorgeous white dress that I had brought from England.

Ahmed wore a morning suit and a cravat, because again, that’s something I had never seen anyone wear at a walima. Walking up yet another aisle with my best friend by my side and Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking out loud’ playing in the background was everything I could have ever asked for.

Our wedding song still gives my a lump in the throat.

It was a more relaxed and chilled out day, although I am still mad that my family were oh so typically late for the function!! I got to see all of mine and Ahmed’s friends and family. Lots of smiles, hugs and (obviously) photographs were taken!

The only thing I would change about this day was the photographer Ahmed hired. He took some horrendous photographs, where half of the photos were completely out of focus and over exposed. But we won’t fret about that. It’s all about the memories, right?

On reflection, looking at these photos I think my wedding was pretty damn special. I had all my nearest and dearest with me. People had travelled from different continents to be there… to be a part of my big day… hang on, my big week! And that is something I will forever be grateful for.

The love and joy that all the people attending my wedding brought to me was incredible. This is something I will never ever forget till the rest of my days. And I can’t honestly say that my wedding wouldn’t have been the same even without one of them (they know who they are!)

So if any of you could actually be bothered to read my blogpost (far cry!), I love you. I love you more than you know and I will be forever in debt to everything you did for me.

The End, or was it just the beginning….

We didn’t stay around in Pakistan for too long as the day after we flew off to my ‘surprise’ honeymoon. To be honest, as much as I come across as an extrovert, the thought of dressing up and going for ‘dawats’ was too daunting. I couldn’t bare being the ‘newly weds’ and meeting lots of people for days on end. Not being nasty, but it is something that I find uncomfortable.

Back to the honeymoon/ holiday/ vacation what ever you want to call it.

I, hand on my heart had no idea where we were going. I was all packed to go to our ‘destination’ and then to my new life in Qatar: a place I had never heard of or been to before in my life. Completely oblivious to how my life was about to change…!

Be sure to come back for the tales from the honeymoon. I am sure you will like it!

Guest Interview – Tasha’s Tales

December 3, 2017July 14, 2018 tashas-tales6 Comments

This week’s guest post comes from Natasha, travel blogger behind Tasha’s Tales. She explains ‘I’m an only child to two most incredible parents and a wife to an extremely supportive husband. Say Alhamdulillah! I am also a Social Worker by profession and a wanderlust at heart. A dreamer with an endless bucket list of things I have done and things I wish to do. I have lived and moved around in three countries so far; Azad Kashmir, England and Qatar and have loved every second of all three experiences. I’m not quite sure what the blog will look like as it goes on, but what I do know is that it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while. So here I am. As you can tell, I love travelling so the main focus of the blog will be travel. But I will also do lifestyle, food and random rants and observations of the world as I travel through it, slowly but surely!”

1. What is your name and where do you come from?

I answer to pretty much anything, including, Nat, Tash, Tasha, Natty, but the name that is on the Birth Certificate is Natasha! But yes, you can call me anything you like – within reason of course.

‘Where are you from?’

The most dreaded question! So, here it goes. I was born in England and at the tender age of 3 months I moved to Azad Kashmir with my parents (google it if you don’t know where that is- or even better, message me and I will tell you all about it)!

I then spent 13 wonderful years in Azad Kashmir, until my parents decided enough was enough and moved to the UK. Coming from a third world country meant that my options and independence was somewhat limited, so my parents decided to make some sacrifices in order for me to have as many opportunities as possible.

In my early 20’s, I crossed paths with my better half, my husband, Ahmed who was living in Qatar at the time. After getting married, I joined him in Qatar and spent 12 months of luxury and paradise!

2. What sort of traveller are you? Full time / part time / business / backpacker etc?

I am an annual leave/weekend traveller – if such a thing exists? I aim to plan my 21 days of annual leave according to my plans and I plan holidays around weekends.

As much as I would love to travel on a full-time basis, this is completely not possible as I love my luxuries too much and wouldn’t be able to do a backpacking holiday! Snob traveller is the term perhaps?

3. How do you fund your travelling?

I work, I save hard and I travel harder!

I have only recently – well for just over a year been working full time, so travel is a bit more affordable. Before I started working full time, travelling was impossible on my part-time wages! But right now, most of mine and my husband’s travels come from our wages and we tend to split the costs between us.

Although I once sold tonnes of items on eBay for my trip to Florida and managed to make £1000! woohoo!

4. Where is the best place you have ever been and why?

This question is SO hard! It’s like asking who your favourite child is, no? Maybe not. How would I know anyway, I am not even a mom, YET!

Okay, so my personal favourite country that I have ever been to has got to be Sri Lanka. Oh my, what a pleasant surprise Sri Lanka was. Sri Lanka is a country that I never had the desire to visit until my husband mentioned it one day in passing. After doing some research, I got myself majorly excited and asked my husband whether we could spend our first wedding anniversary there. After some contemplation and persuading, my husband decided to book Sri Lanka and off we went. Sri Lanka gave off the most relaxed and positive vibes, similar to Ubud, but even better! My husband laughs at me, but the train journey in Sri Lanka alone made the trip worth while. I had only ever imagined and dreamt of riding on a romantic/therapeutic/scenic train journey. Our train from Nuwara Eliya to Ella consisted of all things beautiful, including the landscapes and the authenticity of the country. I genuinely feel that Sri Lanka is under rated and has the potential to be so much greater than what it is! Oh, and the tea was the tastiest tea EVER!

5. Where is the worst place you have ever been and why?

Erm, dare I say Belgium?

I spent less than 24 hours in Belgium, where i manage to squeeze in some sleep, took a tour bus ride, devoured many waffles and even got the infamous picture with Mr Pis. But I dunno, I wasn’t captivated by Brussels charm. Within my brief visit, I even experienced a stranger groping my butt as well as being chatted up by a stranger who I tried to tell that I was already taken.

so yeah, not my fav, although I would like to return to visit some other cities.

6. Do you have a Bucket List? If so where are the 3 top places on it?

Oh yes, I do have a bucket list, a very long, never ending bucket list.

The top three places that I would like to visit – in a chronological order:

Croatia
Santorini
Italy

7. What 3 things (apart from the essentials – food/water etc) do you always travel with?

Obviously my mobile phone, I get to take tonnes of photos, post on Instagram and spend time bragging about my cool holiday to my friends (mean, I know)!
Okay, so don’t judge! But I have this odd habit, fascination, addiction, whatever you want to call it where I HAVE to travel with one box of Pringles and one pack of Peanut M&Ms on a plane journey. I have done it for years and now no journey is complete without them!
Errrrrr, a Selfie stick. Guilty as they come. A selfie stick is a complete must at all times. Now the trouble is that when my husband and I are travelling around, I obviously want to have lots of pictures of both of us – together! So having a selfies stick is awesome to capture those special moments and you don’t even have to interrupt anyone else during the process!

8. What makes you happy and why?

Man, I am so easily pleased that everything makes me happy. But food, food always makes me happy!

But more than anything, travelling, planning to travel, reading travel blogs and hearing about peoples travels makes me really, genuinely happy. It’s almost like watching a film. It transports you to another dimension. You know what I mean?

9. How long have you been blogging and why did you start?

I have been blogging since… May 2017. I am still a newbie, trying to figure it all out.

So what led to the craze of blogging?

Prior to meeting my husband, I really had not travelled much at all. But since our marriage, we have both had the luxury to really make the most of our time (long-distance issues, but that’s a topic for another time).

so anyways, as we travelled around 10 countries together, we noticed that there was a re-emerging pattern. There were absolutely no other Muslim travellers that we came across during all our travels and adventure. It made me feel somewhat empty. A little raged and mostly confused.

So one thought led to another and I decided to start a blog, mostly to encourage other Muslims to travel more. Now you must be thinking, EXTREMIST! but no, it’s really quite the opposite. I want Muslims to travel more. To integrate more in order to diminish and end the negativity around the word ‘Muslim’. I want to be able to introduce myself to people as being a ‘Muslim’ without the fear of being judged. Y’know? I just want to spread positivity.

10. What makes your blog unique and why should people read it?

My blog is unique because I genuinely believe that I am the combination of east meets west and I feel that I am extremely lucky to have the best of both worlds. I have some interesting tales to share and some amazing photos to show off. I absolutely love interacting with other readers and bloggers so they will no doubt be able to approach me at any time.

This blog was first posted by ’Eat Sleep Love Travel’ dated 18 September 2017.

Travelling as a Muslim with a Pakistani passport

December 3, 2017July 14, 2018 tashas-tales7 Comments

Hey! I’m Natasha, and here is a glimpse of my life across two continents and three countries. What follows is a little bit of flavor of what it is like #TravellingWhileMuslim.

Having been ferried from Europe to Pakistan and back during my early years, I never had a problem. My first shock to the system was going to the U S of A with two White British female friends. So here’s the thing. As rare as it is for Muslim girls to get up and go on holidays without any relations or ethnic friends, it actually happened. My friends and I went to Florida in 2011 for our “girly holiday.”

Traveling While Muslim-Disney Land — *Disney World, Florida*

What followed was a standard stereotypical tale of brown-Muslim-airport-random-selection. We got to Manchester Airport nice and early and were set to board. Now just imagine, the only brown face sitting in the gate and all of a sudden we hear an announcement, “Natasha Naveed, can you please come to the counter.” My heart skipped a beat and my friends’ faces lost all color that was left! As I went to the counter, I was asked to take my shoes off while the airline staff swabbed my feet and mouth for “toxic” items. Call me a cynic, but I’m not sure it was much of a coincidence!Anyway, we eventually managed to get through immigration without too much hassle; although the immigration officer did look somewhat puzzled as he evidently asked me more questions than my friends. As a Muslim, if you haven’t been randomly selected as yet, you know deep in your heart it is only a matter of time before you’ll be paraded through the routine.

Fast forward to recent times and the story just gets better!

Traveling WHile Muslim- Phuket — *Phuket, Thailand*

Most Muslims are aware of the narration from the Prophet which states, “when a person gets married, they have completed half of their religion.” So here is the person who completes mine: *drum roll* meet Ahmed, my husband!

Traveling While Muslim- Azad Kashmir — *Mirpur, Azad Kashmir*

It’s always nice to put words and a face together so this is a picture of me and my husband from our wedding. He not only completed half my religion, but opened up a parallel universe of the intrinsic details associated with visa applications.Okay, so firstly I think it’s important to mention that being a brown traveler is one thing, being Muslim is another, but being brown, Muslim, and from a third world country holding a Green Pakistani Passport – like my husbands, is a whole new challenge. Trust me, I’m speaking from experience! I didn’t believe it either until we went on our honeymoon.

So my husband surprised me with a trip to Thailand for our honeymoon. It was an arranged marriage so it was still all new and exciting. As we got to the Thailand airport, I passed through immigration with my UK passport without any hiccups. However, my husband was told to wait as a member of staff waved his passport in the air screeching “pakeeeethani paaaakithani.” He was then asked a gazillion questions before he was allowed to pass through immigration. This was first of many.Since then, we have accepted that there will be issues at immigration for being Muslim and for having a Pakistani passport. This is despite having to apply, yes that’s right. His passport only allows us to travel to a handful of countries. For the rest we have to apply via embassies, which can be costly, timely, and inconvenient!

Traveling While Muslim-Turkey — *Cappadocia, Turkey*

It’s obviously not all doom and gloom of course. When my husband and I travelled to Turkey in 2016 and Morocco in 2017, the differences were incredible. Being in a Muslim country meant next to no interrogation at the immigration counter and no awkward looks!It had its perks in terms of being allowed to enter mosques and eating unlimited amount of Halal food. We also were able to get things for cheaper, “Muslim price,” according to the sellers! There were also lots of mosques all over when it was time for prayers.

In terms of meeting other Muslims whist being on holiday or traveling, we have had very little experience of this. The only time we have seen or met other Muslims has been in Muslim countries such as Turkey and Morocco. However it was interesting as they were only in the bigger and more popular cities like Marrakech and Istanbul as we did not come across any other Muslim travelers in Fes or Cappadocia.

With regards to praying, I really feel that if you’re wanting to pray, anywhere and everywhere is an opportunity. You see that little towel placed on the floor on the left? Well we used that to pray! So yes, I feel it’s about your intention and thus you can pray anywhere!

Part of why I started blogging was to inspire and encourage other Muslims to travel more and to explore God’s creations, as there is so much to do and see! I hope this blog also gives non-Muslims a perspective of what it’s like to #TravelWhileMuslim.If you want to know more (I have lots of stories), then please contact me as I would love to share more with you guys!

Traveling While Muslim- fes — Fes, Morocco

This blog was first posted on ’How not to travel like a basic bitch’ dated 17 May 2017.

Sri Lanka

December 3, 2017December 3, 2017 tashas-talesLeave a comment

Ella

Feeling’ good Resort

(+) It was very scenic and calm. The cottage was very private and secluded. The wifi was absolutely amazing. It was great value for money as the half board price was very reasonable. The reception /dining area was fantastic. The gardens and plants were well kept. The owner welcomed us warmly and was very kind and extremely honest. We were about to pay him more but he gave us back the excess.

(-) The room did not look homely and was really basic. The mattress was extremely stiff and the cottage was warm. There was a remote controlled fan but an air-conditioned room would have been so much more nicer. There is such great potential in the property that needs to be tapped. The open space and raised platform can be a location for a bbq or bar. Since the location is away from Ella town, this would really attract tourists.

Negombo

Terrace Green Hotel

(+) The bedroom and the bath were clean and comfortable. The staff were very courteous and accommodating.

(-) The breakfast area was open… And it was warm and humid even in the morning. Would have loved an air-conditioned breakfast space.

Nuwara Eliya

Unique Cottages

(+) The location and the staff was great. The building was brilliant and the garden outside was well-kept.

(-) There was no air-conditioning or even a fan in the room… And it got uncomfortably warm during the night. The cushions in the bed were not clean. The bathroom had a very horrible smell. The bathroom window was left uncovered – no curtain, blinds, or frosted glass whatsoever; and it was overlooked by an under construction house which made using the facilities even more uncomfortable. The towels were worn out and looked very old. The breakfast area could be improved with better furniture.

Sigiriya

Hotel Heritance Kandalama

(+) The location was absolutely spectacular. The staff was prompt and courteous. The views from our fifth floor room were magnificent, and pictures cannot do it justice. We were upgraded without even asking for an upgrade. The breakfast was a good spread and varied both mornings. They catered for Halal food, which was a surprise. We forgot our iPhone 6s on a sun lounger on the 7th floor which was returned by the staff. The lake is a short walk away from the hotel and we even saw a deer on the way to the lake. Highly recommend this place.

(-) Our room was close to the bar and thus a bit noisy.

Ben Nevis

December 3, 2017December 3, 2017 tashas-talesLeave a comment

fbdh

So there we were, we had already climbed Snowdon in Wales, Scafell Pike in the Lake District and Mount Batur in Bali. Despite our attempts to postpone our trip to Ben Nevis, Scotland we couldn’t avoid it completely. I had challenged myself to complete the THREE PEAKS so I had to climb it before the weather became too difficult!

The Planning!

Like any trip that you take, it involves lots of planning and intricate details, right? Maybe not, but I am usually quite a control freak so I like to plan all itsy bitsy things! Bearing in mind that at the time, Ahmed was in Manchester and I was in Newcastle, this meant that I had to figure out how Ahmed and I would both finish work, meet somewhere half way and drive up to Scotland on a busy bank holiday weekend. We were apparently two of 15 million folks on the road that weekend, yeyy!

And gosh it was busy on the road!

Journey to Scotland

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After a bit of a chaotic day at work (we won’t get into that just now!) I went to the train station to catch the train to Carlisle. The journey started off with a Cuppa Latte of course. I stopped off to buy some Latte and sat down on some quirky looking tables and chairs. As I was about to take some photos for ‘the gram’ I overheard someone telling another traveller that the train to Carlisle was at platform 1 which was located approximately 50 meters down the lane. uh oh! Being completely engrossed in my own world, I soon realised that was my train and it was due to leave in 4 minutes. There was no time to be taking snaps for ‘the gram’, instead I got up, grabbed my stuff and ran towards the ‘correct’ platform whilst trying hard not to spill the hot coffee all over myself!

dhrhr

The journey already seemed stressful before i even got on! I soon managed to grab myself a seat and started to sip my coffee with a smug face. As i took my first sip, I heard lots of swearing and shouting in the background. Sigh. I thought to myself ‘here we go’. As i was thinking that, the lady next to me whispered ‘can’t they have their domestic when they get off the train’. I smiled and nodded as I couldn’t agree more, although the sinister me thought it would be quite entertaining to analyse their relationship (SOCIAL WORKER PROBLEMS)! The couple soon stopped arguing and i decided to top up my nail polish and watch the world go by.

Before I knew it, it was time to get off. Ahmed came to collect me from the train station and off we went to Scotland, Aye! On our way to our Airbnb find, we got peckish so we stopped off at the only place that was open at that time of the night. At this point I was extremely hungry and wanted everything that was in the shop (and i kinda did too)! I ended up spending over £25 on some chocolates, biscuits, crisps and some other junk food related items.

As we drove on, I tucked into my chocolate, only to find out that the chocolate – Dairy Milk was melted! Feeling distraught, i decided to stick it out the window and let it hang in the hope of the cold air making it hard again! and it worked! woohoo!

Our lovely AirBnB !

We arrived at our destination (finally)! We were greeted by our wonderful host Corrina, with the biggest smile and the most lovely Scottish accent. She led us into our own little private area which was spotlessly clean and inviting, especially after the hours of driving and travelling! It is fair to say that this was by far the most affordable place we could find on Airbnb. Corrina had provided us with absolutely everything, including breakfast, tea and coffee!

After having an amazing night sleep, we woke up bright and early to climb Ben Nevis. For anyone wanting to climb Ben Nevis, we would highly recommend staying in Fort William as it is literally EIGHT minutes away from the car park near for Ben Nevis. It also has a Morrisons quite nearby where you can purchase all the basic necessities, be it food or first aid stuff!

Climbing Ben Nevis!

Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles, located in Scotland, United Kingdom. Standing at 1,345 metres above sea level, it is located in the Scottish Highlands, close to the town of Fort William.

Smiles on our faces, butterflies in our stomachs (or at least my stomach), we began to make our way towards the signposted walking routes of what IS the HIGHEST peak in the UK! Feeling proud, excited and extremely nervous, I already started to wish that we had prepared a bit more before taking on this challenge. People from all walks of life, race, religion and background were seen to be scattered all over the car park. There was a massive group of Sikhs with ‘Sikh Relief’ T-shirts on. It already put a massive smile on my face. You know I love diversity, right?! They were doing the ACTUAL ‘Three Peak Challenge’ in 24 Hours!! For those of you who may not be aware of the ‘read deal’ three peak challenge, it entails walking Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in 24 hours (in whatever order the challenger fancies tackling them).

As we were walking up, it was getting extremely hot. No, i am not complaining! But I was completely not prepared for it to be as hot as it was! I soon started to look for shades for pit-stops . We hiked up using the ‘tourist route’, which was almost like climbing a very long flight of stairs, with great views (we got the weather right!).

Half way up the summit, you get to see this beautiful ‘Loch’. We asked a local Scot Mark if this was ‘the lake’ that is supposed to be half way to the summit. Mark soon corrected our language and informed us that there are only TWO lakes in Scotland and that this was a Loch. I had to get home to google what he meant by ‘Loch’. Apparently A Loch is a large area of water in Scotland that is completely or almost completely surrounded by land…..!

As we climbed up, we noticed a group of Asian men, both old and younger, making their way to the top. I had a quick moment to myself wondering if they might be from our (other) hometown ‘Mirpur’. Ahmed and I started to talk about our (other) home town ‘Mirpur’ in Urdu and were discussing something random like what areas were the ‘posh ends’ in Mirpur when an older man walking in front of us turned around and agreed with something that I had just said (and obviously Ahmed was disagreeing with – typical!). This gentlemen, who would have been around my father’s age, was now walking with us. Absolutely baffled by his response, we asked him where he was from and to our surprised he replied ‘Mirpur’. Taken back by this surreal moment, we asked him some more questions and we soon came to know that he is a really good friend of Ahmed’s uncle and also knows both our families! INSANE RIGHT?!! The saying ‘What a small world’ truly was appropriate in this moment in time!

The climb wasnt as steep as it was long! And boy was it long!

Nevertheless we got there eventually, and yes, it was all worth it. The clear blue sky and the sun beaming through patches of clouds was just incredible. The vistas from atop Ben Nevis were breath-taking.

Ben Nevis oozes history and the sense of achievement is paramount. The ruins of the old observatory are unmissable. One can’t help but imagine the way of life and how hard it would have been back in the day to live here. The emergency shelter that sits nearby is evidence of how ruthless Ben Nevis can be.

All in all, this mountain, the highest peak in the UK had been kind of us, and so had the weather.

Will sunny spells and not a drop of rain, we can not complain, can we?

If there was anything that we had not been prepared for, it was the descend. With a dodgy knee (impacted meniscus) and lack of food, it was not the right state of affairs to be ‘rolling down’ a mountain. I did wonder at the time if rolling down was an option.

With heads held high (figuratively of course) and clinging on to hope, we embarked on the trek to the foot of the mountain.

A word of advice to trekkers: When you are on your way down and people heading up ask you about how much of the trek is left, please tell the truth!

On our way down, we met an older couple who were clearly struggling. When they asked people heading down how much was left, the responses were as varied as the weather in UK on any given day! Some nudged them on to keep going on which in our opinion should not have been an option- considering this was well in the second half of the day!

We did finally make our way in to the car park, only to notice a brave (read: crazy) bunch of people doing the (actual) three peaks challenge and heading to the top. We wished God speed to them, rolled our eyes, whispered ‘show offs’ and did not look back!

TOP TIPS!

Make sure you purchase/rent/borrow all the relevant gear including, hat, gloves, waterproof walking shoes/boots, waterproof and wind proof jacket, thermals and a water proof back pack. A list of the equipment we used/carried will be published separately.
Take lots of water and energy drinks if that’s more your cuppa tea. You can also fill up the water as you walk up as there is a large waterfall half way to the summit. Also, there are a few (probably 3) springs on the way where you can refill.
Take some food as you will get hungry on your way up (and your way down)!
Midge spray is a MUST if you are climbing in the summer months. Those little rascals are such a nuisance!
The path is excellent BUT it is not easy going. You HAVE to watch your footing. If you have already done Scafell Pike and Snowdon, you will need to be prepared for a long steadily inclined path as opposed to a steeper shorter path.

Northern Ireland

October 23, 2017December 3, 2017 tashas-tales35 Comments

When 24 hrs in Northern Ireland become 48 hrs (Hurricane Ophelia)

northern ireland

Why Northern Ireland?

A little while back, perhaps over a year ago I came to a realisation that ‘materialistic’ gifts and things didn’t matter anymore and I no longer found them to be very exciting. For me, it was more about the memories that I have been creating and it were those memories that were over taking my feelings and excitement. This made me realise that I no longer wanted to be showered with gifts, but wanted to experience new adventures and make memories.

I relayed my feelings to my mum and surprisingly she took this on board and for my 28th birthday, she surprised me with a ‘Buzz Flight’ where me and my husband went on a helicopter ride across Newcastle.

So! It was almost time for my husband’s birthday and given how fussy he is and given how strongly I felt about adventures and memories, I decided to surprise him with a new adventure. So my mind started to wander and I began creating a list of ‘things to do’ and ‘places to see’.

Maybe around 5-6 years ago my very good friend Lauren put a photo up on Instagram of a rope bridge which made my eyes and mind go PINGGGG! I remembered wanting to go to that place for years and knew that it was somewhere in the UK so I would try to go at some point!

AHAAAH! and so it was. It was Northern Ireland.

dgg

Since my husband does not have a British passport, it means that we pretty much cannot go ANYWHERE without a Visa. And as you may or may not know, the visa process is a pain in the backside and hence I decided not to look elsewhere.

Northern Ireland it was! So yes, anyone who has a Pakistani Passport but resides in the UK under some sort of a visa can go there! wooohoo! (after all it is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and NORTHERN IRELAND!)

This meant, that we were able to sit on a plane, on a small journey and experience a completely different nation/sub-culture!

The Cost

Now, if you want to save a penny or two, my advice would be to book in advance as you can get REALLY cheap deals. Especially if you live in Manchester, Birmingham or London.

Flights:

I don’t know about you guys, but I spend my life on SkyScanner. The flights cost me something around £50 return with Easy Jet.

Accommodation:

The accommodation cost us £36 per night which is not bad at all considering how much we got for it. We stayed in a gorgeous, spacious annex and would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone wanting to explore.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/13617301

Car Hire:

I just googled cheap car hire and EuroCar came up with an offer of a car hire for £9 per day. I mean you really can’t go wrong with that, can you?!

Itinerary for Day 1:

We arrived in Belfast quite early in the morning and decided to go straight for breakfast. Me being me walked into a very traditional, family orientated Irish cafe and asked for a ‘Full English’. The guy in return gave me really dirty looks (IF LOOKS COULD KILL..) and replied, no but we have a ‘Fry Up’. I casually smiled and decided to walk in anyway! The place was a bit shabby and worn down but cheap. So we decided to stay and have our breakfast that would last us the next few hours!

An Irish Fry up is pretty much like a Full English but with a few tweaks. So, instead of slices of bread, there is soda bread and potato cakes… everything else is, well… the same!

After the ‘Fry Up’, I knew I wanted to see some of the street art that was all over Belfast City Centre. I came across some awesome photos on Instagram from a Pub called the ‘Dark Horse’. It’s located on ‘Hill Street’ and voila here you go. We came across some of the most gorgeous murals and street art!

We then drove over to ‘Crumlin Road Gaol’: a Prison which dates back to 1845 and closed it’s doors as a working prison in 1996. The Prison was closed down as it was deemed to be inadequate and prisoners were living in appalling conditions. Some parts of the Prison have been sold to various businesses, however, some parts of the Prison went through renovations and the gaol re-opened as a visitor attraction and conference centre.

We went on a guided tour of the prison and heard stories about the men, women and children who were held within it’s walls. You also find out a little about the 17 men who were hanged. It certainly will give you chills down the spine!

During our tour, there was a little boy who screeched as they spoke about the hangings and had to leave the room due to him being distressed!!

Where the inmates went and handed in their belongings and changing into the Prison uniform.

How the Prison cell would look like. At times they would have up to three people living in these cells.

This leads you to one of the four wings of the Prison. It even held children aged 7+

What the building looks like from the outside.

It was hard to believe that the violence in Northern Ireland continued until the 1980s as there was no evidence to suggest this until of course we came across several other murals. We then decided to head off to the ‘Wall of Peace’. From walking around on the streets of Belfast it was quite loud and clear that murals were there to commemorate, communicate and display aspects of Northern Ireland culture and history. They conveyed stories of solidarity, peace and much more.

We ended our long day by visiting ‘Belfast Castle‘. The castle is located on the slopes of Cavehill Country Park, Belfast, 400 feet above sea level. Its location gives you an unobstructed /panoramic view of the city of Belfast. The castle itself is gorgeous from the outside, however, from the inside it isn’t anything extra-ordinary as it has been refurbished to modern standards.

The castle does have a restaurant, however, I heard mixed reviews about it and did not end up having any food there. The castle is also used for different functions, conferences, weddings, christenings etc. The location for me was a winner. It was surrounded by gorgeous landscape, crisp autumn leaves and you had the opportunity to walk for miles!

Itinerary for Day 2:

We decided to drive across the famous Causeway Coastal Route which is one of Northern Ireland’s greatest adventures! Not only is Northern Ireland jaw-droppingly beautiful, it is also quite small, meaning if you’re short on time there is LOADS you can see on a day trip. Expect steep cliffs, amazing views, and adorable sights. This is my guide on how to explore the Causeway Coastal Route in one day.

Causeway Route .jpg

Prior to booking this surprise for my better half, I did hear about Game of Thrones being filmed here, but did not take much notice as I myself had not seen the Series. I completely was alien to the GoT Hype.

This SOON changed as me and Ahmed got into watching it religiously and got extremely excited about the prospect of seeing locations where the film was shot. I soon became a big fan of the character Arya Stark and realised that one of the scenes of Arya escaping was indeed shot in NORTHERN IRELAND!

‘The Dark Hedges’ can be found along Bregagh Road in the North of Northern Ireland. The beech trees were planted in the 18th century by the Stuart family in order to impress visitors on the approach to their home, Gracehill House.

Tryna B Cool

Season 2- Episode 1 of GoT

TOP TIP: If you do want to visit, make sure you go first thing in the morning to avoid the heaps of tourists and visitors trying to take photos.

After spending ages trying to capture the true beauty of The Dark Hedges, we decided to head to ‘The Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge’ that I saw on Lauren’s Instagram many moons ago.

Hurricane Ophelia was well and truly on its way and thus, we were not able to actually go on the bridge to walk across. Nevertheless, we made the most of our time there and took some of THE most beautiful photos. In fact, on some of the photos it looks like a painting and so surreal.

Mesmerised!

TOP TIP: If you do go here, there is a ticket price for around £9 pp.

We then continued to drive across the coastal route and stopped off at a cosy little cafe called ‘The Nook’. It is located right next to The Giant’s Causeway and does some really delicious food although I do think it is over priced and can be a little crammed. But if you are gasping for some warmth/coolness or a drink, you can’t really go wrong!

We then went to visit The Giant’s Causeway, which is clearly the most popular stop on the route (the road’s been named after it, after all), and I can see why! The building that houses the ticket office, the merchandise centre and the information centre looks like it was designed and created by a genius.

Going through the building and on to the sloping road to the volcanic rock formations that are called the giant’s causeway. It really is a natural beauty with characteristics that I have never seen before and it appears is unique to Northern Ireland and Scotland. The story goes that it was built by Giant’s to bridge the gap between NI and Scotland.

The phenomena has had it’s spot on the Unesco World Heritage list since 1986!!!

TOP TIP: You can visit the Giant’s Causeway for free. But if you wish to use their car park, facilities and get an audio player, you can get tickets online – they are something like £1.50 pp cheaper.

dunluce

From The Giant’s Causeway, we carried on driving towards The Dunluce Castle. This Castle, well more of a ruin, is located on top of a cliff overlooking the sea. The castle has been perched on the cliff since the thirteenth century and was recently used in the Games of Thrones and was ‘The House of Greyjoy’.

fish and chips

We ended the day in a really quirky little restaurant called ‘Harry’s Shack’. This was recommended by a friend of a friend.

We parked on the beach close by and had a table overlooking the beach. This restaurant is primarily a fish restaurant and offers a very limited menu of stock items supplemented by whatever seasonal or available fish they choose to prepare. We both got fish and chips and wow, what a big portion it was!

Day 3: When 24 hrs in Northern Ireland become 48 hrs (Hurricane Ophelia)!

Now then. We were supposed to fly out on the third day and did not have any other plans, BUT Hurricane Ophelia happened…

According to ‘The Sun’ (LOL):

On Monday, the worst of the storm was felt in Ireland, with powerful winds and waves striking the coast.

Three people were killed in separate storm-related incidents.

At one point, power was lost to more than 360,000 homes and Ireland declared a “national emergency”.

More than 170,000 homes and businesses still without power in the Republic on Tuesday.

Schools, hospitals and public transport closed after a “danger to life” weather warning was put into place by worried authorities.

Airline passengers faced extreme disruption to their journeys.

Okay, so as you can probably tell by the ‘Lol’, I don’t usually read The Sun (let’s not get into politics right now), but this is the first thing that came up when I typed Hurricane Ophelia into google. And to be fair, what is written in this article was most definitely a reflection of what was going on in the area.

The entire Belfast City Centre, cinemas, schools, parliament were all closed due to the fear of Hurricane Ophelia.

Our flights were cancelled and we ended up driving aimlessly.

hotel

Easy Jet were AMAZING during this time. Yes the queues were massive and it took us a long time to get to our hotel, but they provided us with accommodation, transport to the accommodation as well as money for food. We were also able to quickly book into a flight for the following day without any hassle. Thank you Easy Jet!

Day 4: Making it up as you go along.

We woke up bright and early in our Hotel: ‘Wellington Hotel’. According to our taxi driver, it is located in one of the most affluent areas in Belfast. We had a lovely ‘Fry up’, toast, cereal for breakfast. We then decided to go for a walk to the museum nearby as recommended by Trip Advisor.

The Ulster Museum is on one of the TOP 5 things to do in Belfast. So as you can imagine its rather popular amongst folks. The entry is FREE!

TO our advantage, the Weeping Window – a cascade consisting of several thousand handmade ceramic poppies seen pouring from a high window to the ground to mark the loss of life in World War One. It had been envisaged up by Paul Cummins, an English ceramic artist. Tom Piper, a theatre designer, joined him to put the piece together.

I usually tend to get really bored in Museums, however, the museum has a 77 meter long hand made tapestry of the Game of Thrones – beware spoilers if you aren’t up to date!! The tapestry was woven and hand-embroidered from material provided by Thomas Ferguson Irish Linen in Banbridge, one of the last surviving mills in Northern Ireland, and contains over 250,000 threads, all of it hand made!

The museum is located within the ‘Botanic Gardens‘. We did not go inside the Botanic Garden as it is not our thing and smelt a little strange when we did step in for a brief moment. But if you are into your gardening and plants, this place is probably wonderful!

We then decided to head over to the iconic Titanic Museum. We are both not very massive fans of the Titanic, but thought now that we have all day, we might as well pay it a visit and see what it has to offer.

We decided to get the train from near the Ulster Museum and headed off towards Titanic Station. It cost us £3 for TWO people for a return ticket. Hashtag Bargain!

The Titanic is located in the heart of Belfast city (well at the docks!). The building itself is a unique building with a really interesting architecture and design that captures your attention as soon as you approach the area. Titanic Belfast has been crowned best tourist attraction in the world. It takes you through the story and journey of the Titanic.

Instead, we decided to walk across the road. We sat in a cafe, sipped coffee and ate TWO slices of Lemon Drizzle cakes which were delicious! We watched people walk by and spoke about how lucky we had been to have had the most incredible time, but most of all how blessed we were to be safe and unharmed.

We made out way back to the hotel, where we were picked up by the taxi (also arrange by Easy Jet) and got to the airport for a much awaited flight back.

NI surpassed all expectations: the people, the nation, the landscape. And as they say, all is well that ends well!

Morocco

August 13, 2017December 3, 2017 tashas-tales24 Comments

Marrakesh

Riad Utopia Suites and Spa

(+) The breakfast was elaborate and it was lovely by the pool. Upon arrival, we were given a briefing by a member of staff about he neighbourhood, sights and social norms in the city. The bed was comfortable and the room was clean. The roof top was brilliant and it was extremely relaxing to lounge there. The staff gave complimentary Moroccan tea, which was very kind of them. You cannot go wrong with the location. It is within walking distance from the Fana Square, and very quiet at night.

(-) We stayed in a room called ‘Cozy’, and it was extremely awkward since there was only a curtain between the bed and the bath. What looked like the bath was only a shower, which was a let down. One end of the roof top stand of sewage, which was not pleasant to say the least.

Gorges Du Dades, Aït Ouaddar

Auberge Chez Pierre

(+) The room was extremely quirky. It was like being in a tree house. With a lounge area and bathroom/loo on the ground floor and the bed on the first floor, connected with a wooden staircase that adds character to the room. The food was a ‘special’ 5-course meal, that was incredible, accompanied by live entertainment/performance. With in brilliantly short commutable distance from the gorge.

(-) The staff was polite and accommodating in the beginning but on the way out after checking out, the staff didn’t even have the courtesy to ask if we needed help with the bags. On the contrary, they stood in one corner, enjoying their cigarettes/chat while we struggled with carrying the bags down the stairs to the car. The cars had been parked on the road, which wasn’t ideal. The hotel accepts only cash, which was not convenient. We were not told what the dinner options were, and were told ‘it was a surprise’, which didn’t help in decision making whether we fancied food at the hotel.

Fès

Riad Palais Bahia

(+) The hotel manager, Ouday was exceptional in regards to his hospitality and service. The staff were welcoming and friendly as we arrived in Fes. Upon our arrival, we were served moroccan tea which was delicious. As we entered our hotel room, we found a fruit basket which was also a lovely gesture. The hotel was located within close proximity to the souks in the old medina. Everything was within walking distance. The views from the rooftop were absolutely amazing. We were able to see the sunset from our rooftop. Ouday also immediately asked us whether we required a tour guide the following morning. He was not pushy ad was open about what options were available. we opted for a 3 hour guide which meant we were able to see all important sites within the old medina.

(-) I think the hotel would be almost perfect if they could invest in some gowns and slippers!

Chefchaouen

La Petite

(+) La Petite, what a little gem! Our most favourite thing about this little hotel was the hotel employee ‘Aimen’ as well as the other gent (sorry we didn’t get your name!). Aimen was attentive to all our needs during our stay. Firstly he greeted us at the parking which was approximately 5 minutes walking distance from the hotel. The other employee helped us on two occasions, once when we wanted to find one of the local attractions, he took us there physically. Another time we ran out of money and needed to go to a money exchange and he took us there too. Overall the ambiance within the hotel was exceptional in terms of the service, the hospitality, comfort and the location. This hotel was by far the best hotel that we came across within the Chefchaouen region. The hotel rooftop overlooked the entire town where the Spanish Mosque at the top could also be seen very clearly. The sunrise as well as the sunset were both beautiful which made the breakfast in the morning a perfect experience.

(-) Nothing!

Tangier

Kasbah Rose

(+) The location of the hotel was pretty decent in terms of it being located near the Souks. It was not until the owner herself, Lorraine came to the hotel that we started to receive some service. The owners took time out to speak to us which was very welcoming of them. Thus, the best thing about this hotel were the owners and the deco around the hotel. It was beautifully decorated with lots of little intricate details and ornaments. The views from the rooftop as well as our room were absolutely gorgeous. We thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast on the rooftop.

(-) The employee that greeted us on the day we arrived at the hotel could not speak a word of English which made basic communication extremely difficult for us. He was more distracted by being on the phone to someone and texting them instead of showing us our room or offering us some tea which is something all the other hotels all over morocco did. The room had an extremely strong stench coming from the bathroom which made is difficult to use the bathroom when needed. The extractor fan had to be switched on at all times for the smell to stay out of the bedroom. There was no AC in the room which meant that the two nights that we spent in tangier we were fairly warm. During one of the days we came back after a long walk and the only way we could cool down was to have a shower. For anyone with mobility issues, we would not recommend this hotel as you have to walk up several stairs to get to the hotel. Oh and there wasn’t any bottled water in the room, so if anyone with delicate stomachs, we would advice that you purchase your own!

Day 1: Seeing the sites in Medinah before heading to Mecca in the evening

Day 2: A sleepless night in Mecca

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My Qatari Journey

Places to visit

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When my dream became a reality

Day 1: Phi Phi Islands

Day 2: Safari Tour and Boat trip

Day 3: Tiger Kingdom, Big Buddha & FANTA-SEA

Day 4: RELAX

Day 5: Flight to Qatar….

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Glimpse of the Dholki nights

Mayoun

Nikkah

Mehndi

Baraat & Rukhsati

Walima

The End, or was it just the beginning….

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Ella

Negombo

Nuwara Eliya

Sigiriya

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The Planning!

Journey to Scotland

Our lovely AirBnB !

Climbing Ben Nevis!

TOP TIPS!

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When 24 hrs in Northern Ireland become 48 hrs (Hurricane Ophelia)

Why Northern Ireland?

The Cost

Itinerary for Day 1:

Itinerary for Day 2:

Day 3: When 24 hrs in Northern Ireland become 48 hrs (Hurricane Ophelia)!

Day 4: Making it up as you go along.

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Marrakesh

Gorges Du Dades, Aït Ouaddar

Fès

Chefchaouen

Tangier

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