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This blogspot is a medium to share my thoughts and adventures apart from promoting my books. Below are the books which have been written or authored and published by myself.


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Mencari Diri dan Erti".

ISBN 983-42031-0-1, Jun 2006


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Membela Syiar yang Asal"

ISBN 983-42031-1-x, May 2007


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?"

ISBN 978-983-42031-2-2, November 2007


It is interesting to note that while these books were written in Malay it has gained enough attention to merit being part of the collections of the American Library of Congress and National Library of Australia. Look here and here.


While the first three books were published by my own company, the fourth titled "Rumah Azan" was published in April 2009 by a company called Karnadya with the help of the Malaysian national literary body Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. It features beautiful pictures along with stories behind selected mosques which could be related to the history of Islam and the Malays alongside the formation of the Malaysian nation. Look at the article A collaboration of old collegemates - the book "Rumah Azan".


My fifth book "Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and Malay Sultanates", an English translation and adaptation of the Malay book "Ahlul Bait (Keluarga) Rasulullah SAW dan Kesultanan Melayu" authored by Hj Muzaffar Mohamad and Tun Suzana Othman was published early 2010. Look here... My 5th book is out! Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and the Malay Sultanates... . For more information check out my Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU.



Like my fourth book "Rumah Azan", the sixth book "Kereta Api Menuju Destinasi" is also a coffee-table book which is published by the company Karnadya with the cooperation of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (the main Malay literary body in Malaysia). Coming out January 2011 it features pictures and stories on the adventure travelling by train to all of Peninsular Malaysia along with the interesting places which could be reached this way.


My seventh book "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" in turn is a coffee-table book which is written, editted, designed and has pictures taken by me. Coming out of the factory October 2011, this book which combines family history with history of places such as Singapura, Johor, Batu Pahat, Muar and in fact the history of the island of Java and England has been reviewed with me interviewed live in the program Selamat Pagi Malaysia at RTM1. Look at the article Siaran langsung ulasan buku "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" dan temu ramah di Selamat Pagi Malaysia. Some selected contents have been featured in Sneak peek "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah".


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The "Berpetualang ke Aceh" series of novels could be obtained in e-book form. Enter http://www.e-sentral.com/, click general novel and go to page 4. You can also type the word "Aceh" at the search box. Or click straight Book 1, Book 2 and Book 3.


Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The difficult land route to the tomb of Sultan Iskandar Zulkarnain

Now comes the main purpose of our recent trip to Perak, to visit the tomb of Perak's 15th ruler, Sultan Iskandar Zulkarnain which lies at a very secluded area...

After the visit to the tomb of Keramat Kuala Bidor (look at My latest visit to the tomb of Keramat Kuala Bidor) we went further northwards where we got locals to show us how to get to the tomb of Sultan Iskandar Zulkarnain.


For the record I have tried to get to the tomb by boat in April. While I then managed to get to its vicinity I just couldn't find the actual site because of the bushes and thick growth.

This time I've learned that the affected area has been cleared and thus made a new attempt using land route.


Mind you we were not using a four-wheel-drive vehicle but just our trusty Kenari, a simple car more suited for in-town driving.



But here we have to 'pretend' that we have something that could match a 4WD...




We have to do that as far as we could for the sake our one-year-old baby who was brought along with me and the wife. Just imagine driving a small 1.1 litre town car through this area and trying to snap pictures too...





Soon we reached a point where the car just can't come in anymore. That's when the two motorcycles brought in by the locals came in handy...





I took one while the locals continued on another. OK. Obviously I can't take pictures while riding with my wife and baby, what more through such growth and bumpy path. Next, came a point where we have to leave the bikes and started walking...





Thank God, the news I got about the area around the tomb having been cleared is indeed true. Through the bushes I could see the tomb building at a distance and sighed a strong relief. At least I know I don't have to go through the bad experience of April where I couldn't even pinpoint the exact location of the tomb. Look at the old article Looking for the tombs of Sultan Shahabuddin and Sultan Iskandar Zulkarnain....





Nevertheless there's still a distance to cover before mission was accomplished...




For one I was still worried about how the bushes, foliage and drains could block our path.






At this juncture I have taken the baby from my wife...





While we still have to pass through drains and such it was not as difficult as before as the whole area was much cleaner...





The tomb at last. I shall talk more about it in a new article for my bi-lingual blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART).



2 comments:

eddy632 said...

bro...
you`ve got some will power that I envy...
and you call that an easy task????
I was imagining a straight and easier path to the tomb after reading the Berita Harian article...

I was thinking though...how could a computer geek like us readers be as brave as you are....most of us geeks grew up with computer games and tellys...hehehe...

anyway..cheers bro...I salute your family for the support they gave you....we all pray for the such wonderful and respectful families to bless with....InsyaAllah...

Radzi Sapiee said...

Thanks bro. All praise to Allah. Whenever I have to go out and do something like this I always ask Allah to give the strength and willpower, Qudrat and Iradat to accomplish a task. And also ask Him to make it easy and give some other form of assistance too...

Frankly I was scared I couldn't complete this one. If not for the locals I'm not sure I could make it through the land route. I was afraid I have to go by boat again. Last time I had to drive to a place opposite the Perak river, more than 30 km by road from here and find a boat at a small kampung. There's no guarantee you can get a boat, and then you can only get to the tomb during high tide...