Living Alaska : Dari Wasilla ke Soldotna










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Setahun sudah berlalu, Febuari muncul kembali, dengan kehangatan semalam…
Aicheh.. Alleycats la pulak. Old timer aku ni sebenarnya. Tuo.
Ok lah, sambung cerita yang pending agak lama. Sebuk dengan sambutan ulangtahun perkahwinan yang tak seberapa tu. Hari tu aku saja ikut adik ipar aku pegi Soldotna. Dia ada meeting appointment. Memandangkan aku tak ada kerja, so aku ikut dia. Jarak perjalanan dari Wasilla (tempat kami tinggal) ke Soldotna dalam 188 batu (300 kilometer) dan kalau tak stop stop, mengambil masa dalam 3 jam setengah sehala. Istilah jem memang tak ada dekat Alaska. Kalau terpaksa pandu slow tu, maksudnya keadaan jalan terlalu licin atau ada eksiden di highway. So, kau kena pandu slow pada sesetengah tempat lah. Bukan sepanjang highway macam Federal Highway di KL tu ya.
Kami bertolak dari Wasilla lebih kurang pukul 10 pagi. Dan appointment meeting tu at 2pm. So kami tak de la berhenti masa on the way ke Soldotna tu. Sebab takut terlewat kan. Walau adik ipar aku ada offer untuk berhenti. On the way back balik ke rumah baru kami berhenti berhenti. Peta tempat kami berhenti tu ada aku sertakan dekat atas tu. Nasib baik adik ipar aku layankan kejakunan kakak ipar dia ni kan. Sebuk je asik nak ambik gambar. Aku harap korang punya ipar duai pun macam ipar duai aku taw. Baik hati.
Kalau nak kira, tak ada yang tak cantik ceruk mana pun Alaska ni. Kalau aku mampu rakam seluruh perjalanan dengan drone, aku memang nak buat. Tapi tu la, aku masih belum mampu
Musim sejuk di Alaska ni satu je cabaran dia. Sinar matahari. Bila sejuk, awan selalu mendung. Dan kadar siang pendek sangat waktu winter ni. Pukul 4 lebih dah gelap. Kira nasib la untuk ambik gambar cantik. Aku cakap terus terang, aku bukan pro bab ambik gambar. Belajar pun melalui Youtube je. Bab bab imej manipulasi, aku memang haram tak tahu. Lagi pun kalau boleh aku tak nak edit sangat gambar gambar nature yang aku ambik di Alaska atau mana mana je lah. Sebab aku nak kongsikan benda realiti sebenar. Memandangkan ramai sangat orang tertipu dengan kamera 360 tu kan.
Adik ipar aku ada janji dengan aku waktu summer nanti, dia nak bawak aku pegi memancing di lautan. Boyfriend dia baru beli bot katanya. Kalau jadi plan tu, aku akan kongsikan disini, salah satu pengalaman berharga aku hidup di Alaska.
Aku memang tak ada tips macamana nak round satu Alaska dengan berbekalkan USD1,000. Sebab saiz Alaska ni pun 10 kali ganda besar dari Semenanjung Malaysia. Sewa motohome (RV) yang paling kecik pun kos dia dalam USD200 satu malam, itu pun tak termasuk petrol dan makanan. Entahlah. Nanti aku pikirkan lah ya.
UNTUK BAHASA MELAYU, SKROL KEATAS
Last week I accompanied my sister in law to Soldotna. She has meeting appointment over there and I, as usual, has all the time in the world and very less thing to do. Distance between Wasilla and Soldotna is 188miles (300km) and it took 3 and a half hour to complete it (with no stop for toilet and pictures). Road traffic / jam is not in Alaska Highway’s dictionary. People do drive slow here if the road condition is bad (icy slippery road) or accident. But that’s only takes up 10% of your journey. The rest of 90% is a smooth drive unlike our Federal Highway from Klang to KL.
We leave Wasilla about 10am in the morning. The meeting appointment is at 2pm. So we didn’t make any stop on our way to Soldotna in order to get there on time. Although my sister in law did offered me to stop at places where I made “wow, Oh My God” sound. But we made few stops on our way back to Wasilla (see map attached). I was lucky because my sister in law willing to cater to my likings of taking pictures. I wish that you guys have a very nice sister in law like me too. Heee.
There is no ugly sights in Alaska. There is no such a bad road in here too when beauty is all you see right outside your car window. I wish I can record the whole driving journey, or any journey I made here with somekind of hi tech drone that can last for few hours and share it with you on my blog. But, I can’t afford it at this moment.
To get good pictures during winter in Alaska is a bit tricky. Especially sun light. Usually the skies is gloomy and day light is very short during winter. It’s started to get dark as early as 4pm in here. I must tell you that I am not a pro when it comes to photography. I learned most of the skills via youtube and some readings. Don’t mention about photoshop/ image manipulation. I know nothing about that too. But, as I mentioned too many times before, I tried not to edit my pictures unless to make it brighter or sharper. Because all I wanted to share is the real photo that exist in reality since a lot of people nowadays being tricked with Camera 360 application.
My sister in law told me that she planned to bring me to go fishing out in the sea since her boyfriend just bought a boat for that. If that plan happen, I surely will share it here. That will be the most memorable experience (besides aurora borealis sightings) living in Alaska.
Right now I don’t have any tips how to explore Alaska below $1,000 budget. The size of Alaska is 10 times bigger than peninsula Malaysia FYI. RV rental here alone costs you $200 per night, excluding petrol and food. And that’s for smallest RV. Hhmmm.
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