Cuenca Old Town, Spain

This is my last blog of the year and then I'll be off for Christmas holidays. Yipeee!

What I remember about Cuenca is it's a nice little town with very narrow streets where Casas Colgadas (Hanging Houses) is the main attraction to see there and the Cathedral has a beautiful facade.

I drove from Valencia to Cuenca. That was my first time driving in Europe and to me, it was on the wrong side of the road. I was driving OK until we reached the town. We used a GPS and were lost as the GPS brought us to a walk path to our hotel instead. We were lucky to find a restaurant with staffs who could speak English. So we asked for directions and the people there were very very helpful and friendly.

When we reached the old town, I thought the GPS brought us to a walk path again as the road was very narrow and I didn't dare to bring the car in (I found out later that people normally drive through these narrow streets). So we brought down our stuffs and I went to park the car. And Oh my God, the view from the car park was amazing as we were on the highest point of the hill and we could see the houses of the old town below us. It's just breathtakingly beautiful. I felt very peaceful there. I loved it straight away.

The old town of Cuenca was absolutely amazing. There were not many people around and I think that made it special. It seemed untouched and very original. I felt like we were back in the old times. We walked around the town and enjoyed everything about it. The Hanging Houses, which were said to be the most photographed houses in this town, was unbelievable. They are famous because they are literary hanging on the edge of the cliff. It's obvious that these houses are the symbol of Cuenca.

In short, Cuenca is a good place to relax and recuperate. The peaceful moments we’ve had combined with the beautiful scenery are perfect mix. It’s a remedy for tiredness and sore muscles. I think it’s a remedy for everything, really. It’s too bad we couldn’t stay longer as we were moving on to Toledo. To me, this is a city that I would definitely want to come back to again in the future.

The breathtaking view from the car park

From left to right, above and then below: The city square, the Cathedral, the Monastery and the bridge that connects the monastery to the town

The Hanging Houses, and the narrow and winding streets

Magical Night view of the Hanging Houses

Valencia

From Barcelona we went to Valencia by train. It was about 3 hour journey and we reached Valencia around lunch time. So the first thing we did after checking in to our accomodation was to look for the food market and have lunch there. The market, Mercado Central, was not as big as the one we visited in Barcelona but it was quite busy. We tried quite a few things as well as the famous paella. We then continued by walking around the old city following the Lonely Planet's walking tour. We visited the square, took some pictures of the Cathedral and enjoyed our walk.

That day was happened to be World Tourism Day and therefore public transportations such as trains, trams and buses were free. We also got a taste of Valencian Horchata (or Orxata in Catalan) which, I just found out, is made of tigernut. I initially thought it was made of almond. It's an interesting drink, I have to say, very nutty and sweet. I quite liked the taste after a few sips.

Nearby Torres de Serranos walking towards the fine art museum, El Museo de las Bellas Artes de Valencia San Pío V, we passed by 5 huge football fields and we saw people gathered around watching or playing football there. I just thought 'Wow'. I had never seen 5 football fields side by side like that before. We then finished our day at the museum before going for paella dinner.

A part from visiting the old quarter and the museum, there was nothing much to see in Valencia. I asked my friend why we put this city in our itinerary and she said it's because one of my friend wanted to go to the aquarium and due to work related issue she cancelled her trip with us. I supposed after we put it as a city to visit, we never thought much about cancelling any cities. Looking at what we visited I thought we could skip Valencia but maybe we didn't have enough time to appreciate it...

I must say though the paella I had in Valencia was the best I've tasted. Too bad we forgot to take photo of it until it's finished.

Valencia's Mercado Central. This photo was taken by HM.

Some of the food we had from Mercado Central

The Cathedral and Bell Tower from a distance

Details of the Cathedral

Torres de Serranos

I just have to show you this. This is from google map. We were crossing the footpath bridge (the blue dot) and you can see there the 5 football fields. They're huge!

Beware of Pickpockets in Las Ramblas

Las Ramblas is always busy and crowded and therefore it's good to watch out for your belongings. On the last few days back in Barcelona, my wallet was stolen from my bag. I remember all of us were watching a headless street performer sitting down with his head on the table. A lot of people gathered around there and I think that was the time my wallet was stolen. And then we continue walking towards Liceu metro station. I only realised I lost my wallet when I was to buy metro tickets. 

I then quickly rushed back retracing my steps in case I dropped it although I knew it's impossible. I went back to the shop I went shopping before and back to the area where the headless street performer was sitting. But I couln't find my wallet. 

At the point where I sort of accepted that my wallet had gone and thought about what I had to do next, I saw a policeman and a policewoman standing there looking at me. I thought since they were looking at me I might as well tell them about my lost wallet. And that was I did. I told them "I lost my wallet". And he suddenly took out his whistle and blowed it towards a man who was walking away but not too far away from us. He came rushing back towards us and I saw in his hand he was holding my driver's licence and he asked "Are you Josephine?". And I said yes. Apparently, he's an under cover police. He and his partner caught the pickpocket who stole my wallet. It was a lady in her 40s I think. She was caught in the act and my wallet was one of the items she stole. 

I guess the 2 uniformed policeman and policewoman were shown my photo on my driver's licence and were standing there looking for me. That's why he was looking at me when I was passing by. 

After being shown my wallet, I then followed the under cover policemen and went to the police station nearby filling up some forms. And voila! I got my wallet back! I just couldn't believe it! I was so lucky. 

And that's the story of my lost and found wallet.

Antoni Gaudi's Work in Barcelona

Another interesting thing about Barcelona is the people there worship Antoni Gaudi, a famous architect well known for his unique and distinguished designs. His buildings are everywhere around Barcelona. And it's not surprising really, I went into one of his building, Casa Mila (also known as La Pedrera), and was very amazed with what I saw. I don't think I had ever seen something like that before. In his time he already thought about ergonomic designs and use of nature forms in his creations.

I also went to the unfinished church, La Sagrada Familia. I had not seen a church with the kind of details presented there and I think it's definitely the most exceptional building in Barcelona. The outside area was in a better shape than the inside but the church is practically still under construction. Looking at workers working around the church, I had to agree with one of my friend's comment that it was a very historical moment and that when it's completed and we're still around we could tell our kids that we were there when it's being built.

The last Gaudi's work I visited was Park Guell. Park Guell, a UNESCO Heritage Site, is a park with a unique designs of architecture. There is not much activities you can do there apart from strolling around, looking at the building structures and designs in the park and sitting on the long and wavy bench with a very vibrant and colourful ceramic designs. Park Guell is also a great place to view Barcelona from high up towards the sea. In short period of time, I became one of those people in Barcelona who admire him and his creations.

Travel tips:

1. When in Barcelona, it's worth visiting Gaudi's Casa Mila, La Sagrada Familia, and Park Guell. If you haven't seen any of Gaudi's buildings before, then it's good to start with Casa Mila. There you will find a museum explaining his works and the roof terrace is just breathtaking. You have to pay to get into the first two buildings but it's free admission to Park Guell except for the Gaudi's house located inside the park. Another building worth going into is probably Casa Batllo. I only took photos of the building from outside. Click here to see list of Gaudi's buildings.

2. Nearest metro station to Casa Mila is Passeig de Gracia - Green Line, L3.

3. Nearest metro station to La Sagrada Familia is Sagrada Familia - Blue Line, L5 and Purple Line, L2.

4. The best way to get to Park Guell is to take bus no 24 and it will take you up the hill and stop in front of the park. You can catch this bus from Placa the Catalunya and let the bus driver know to tell you where to stop. If you take metro (Lesseps - Green Line, L3), you will have to walk up the hill.

Casa Mila (La Pedrera)

The Roof Terrace of Casa Mila

Casa Batllo

The many features of La Sagrada Familia from outside. There are just too many details for me to capture.

The inside of La Sagrada Familia

Park Guell

Gaudi's house at Park Guell

Oh How I Love Barcelona!

I took Ryan Air flying from London to Girona. It was just me and a friend, and later we were going to meet another 2 friends in Barcelona. From Girona airport we took a bus to Barcelona's main bus station for about an hour and a half and then we continued on by metro to our B&B which is located nearby Las Ramblas, Barcelona's main tourist area.

We walked around Las Ramblas enjoying the atmosphere there. Las Ramblas is a long walkway that's streched from Catalunya to Drassanes metro station. There are all sorts of shops, restaurants, bars, street performers as well as flock of people (mainly tourists, I'd say) along the walkway. There are stalls selling birds and other animals in one part of the walkway, around Catalunya metro station, and then flowers stalls somewhere in the middle and souvenir stalls towards the Drassanes metro station. It's very, very lively. I just loved walking and browsing around the stretch as well as people watching. One thing about it though, I find the restaurants on the stretch are too expensive for what they serve. I also think the shops on the Las Ramblas stretch are overpriced. I was surprised to find a 1Lt bottled water that costs over €3 and most of the shops there sell it around that price. It's just ridiculous.

Shopping was another activity we did in Barcelona and it was fun! There are a lot of shops around Placa Catalunya and on the small streets along Las Ramblas. You can get almost everything in this area. The most interesting shopping place I went to was Mercat St. Josep La Bouqueria. It's a food market selling variety of fruits, meat, seafood, and the lot. It's full of character and literary a very colorful market.

Travel tips:

1. Barcelona Bus between Girona and Barcelona. Tickets can be purchased at Girona airport.

2. We stayed at Vrabac Bed and Breakfast in Barcelona. The location is superb (nearest metro station is Liceu - Green Line, L3). It's only a few steps away from Las Ramblas. The place is warm and has got a character, it felt like living in local apartment. It's also clean and very secure. They provide free tapas on certain days where guests can meet and chat with each other. The only two bad points (and they are very minor) are it's shared bathroom and it's on level 2 and 4 with no lift and many steps.

3. Barcelona metro map.

4. Mercat St. Josep La Bouqeria is located at Las Ramblas. Nearest metro station is Liceu - Green Line, L3.

It was raining the first few days we arrived Barcelona. In this photos: Las Ramblas, the floor pattern of Barcelona, my friend posing with a street performer, Port of Barcelona at night, birds everywhere in Placa Catalunya, and Water view from Port of Barcelona.

Music is everywhere around Barcelona. I just love the atmosphere. Photo at the bottom left: the old man was dancing following the music. 

Some of the food items sold at Mercat St. Josep La Bouqueria. These photos were taken by my friend HM.

La Font de Canaletes (Canaletes Fountain) at Las Ramblas. The rough translation of the words on the floor at this fountain says: If you drink the water from this fountain you shall always love Barcelona. Away you go, always return.

Spain in 2.5 Weeks

I haven't done much with my blog lately as I just came back from my long awaited Spain trip. After I came back, I got what people call 'post-holiday blues' which I named it 'Spain blues'. I was not in the mood to do anything at all especially in the first few days when I was back. The weather in London was cloudy and it was raining most of the time. In comparison, the weather in Spain was very good most days I was there. It was cold at night time but generally nice and sunny in the day time.

And I was torn between continuing the Angkor trip and starting the Spain trip story. It's not easy to continue the Angkor trip as I was just back from Spain with all the memorable journey in my mind. Even until today, I'm still feeling it. So I decided to start with Spain trip and continue Angkor trip later.

And now here goes, the itinerary for 2.5 weeks in Spain:

- Barcelona (2 days)

- Valencia (1 day)

- Cuenca (1 day)

- Toledo (1 day)

- Avila (1 day)

- Segovia (1 day)

- Madrid (2 days)

- Sevilla (2 days)

- Ronda (1 day)

- Nerja (1 day)

- Granada (1 day)

- And back to Barcelona (2 days)

It's the six of us travelling - all girls. Two were lost in transit on the first 5 days :-). And by that I meant they were only joining us from day 6. There was a mixed up with their visa applications and they could only enter Spain on day 6. So they had their own trip to Edinburgh in Scotland and then joined us in Segovia.

We moved very fast from place to place taking trains and buses as well as driving a rental car. It's a very tiring trip, I must say, but I enjoyed all of it. And we had a lot of good food and wines. I guess it comes to no surprise as Spanish food is just very delicious. But during the trip, I felt we ate too much sometimes. I always felt too full after meals. It's yummy but it was a bit too much for me. But overall, the trip was very enjoyable and memorable to me.

Angkor Trip - Day 1 at Angkor

After a good night sleep at our guesthouse, we were quite fresh and ready to visit the temples at Angkor. The question was: which one to visit? There are so many temples around Angkor and we only had 3 days. Fortunately, there was a guide book provided in our guesthouse explaining each temple briefly as well as ranking them by interest (1-3 stars, 3 being the highest). So we went to Angkor Thom, Bayon, Ta Phrom and we spent a little time in Angkor Wat for sunset, all of which are ranked with 3 stars.

The temples were beautiful. The carving, the color of the stones, the statues, the multiple doors, the windows, the surrounding trees, the atmosphere...I can keep going on and on...There was something mystical about the temples. I could feel it when I was walking inside. It's incredible how people in the past could build them without machines and technologies. And it's even more incredible to see how the whole Angkor city was full of them everywhere.

It was the first day... so we were very excited with taking photos of the temples. We have so many photos of them, especially Angkor Thom, the first one we visited and the famous Angkor Wat.

We were having breakfast and discussing which temples to visit on the first day.

This is Siam Reap's version of tuk tuk - our transportation in Angkor.

The gate of Angkor Thom - click photo to enlarge. This is one of the largest Khmer cities with 9 sq km in area. These face-towers are the causeways of the city gates.

The many features of Bayon, another temple with a lot of face-towers. There are also many carvings on the walls which was said to tell history of Khmer's daily life. Click photo to enlarge.

Ta Phrom, a temple where roots of figs and silk-cotton trees are spreading and covering many of its ruins. It has many hidden corners where you feel mystical ambience. Click photo to enlarge.

Angkor Trip - The Road Trip to Siem Reap

And so there we were, getting into our taxis. Hmmm...let me think about how to describe the road trip to Siem Reap. It was a very very long and uneven dirt road. It was bumpy most of the time and I felt sick for the first hour or two in the car.

The driver was very familiar with the road and he skillfully tried to avoid every single hole he saw on the road by turning the car right and left, right and left and sometimes up and down, up and down and at the same time, still maintained his speed. Just imagine yourself in it and being moved right, left, up and down randomly and continuously for about 5 hours. I think you would feel sick too. Then surprisingly at the second hour, I kind of got used to the whole thing and didn't feel sick anymore. But we were all so bored...It was a long journey....

Apart from the bumpy journey, the trip was quite smooth for me. But it was not the case for my friends in the other taxi. They got into a traffic jam which was caused by a collapsed bridge and so there was a line of cars trying to get through (see photos below). And it was amazing how the cars got through the bridge. You have to see it with your own eyes to believe it.

But in the end, we reached Siem Reap at about 7pm. We checked into our guesthouse, put our bags there and then went to a restaurant nearby to have dinner. Ahhh...finally...no more bumpy road...

Travel Tips:

Tales of Asia - Cambodia. The one and only notes we used for our overland journey. It's updated frequently and very thoroughly written so set aside time to read it before your journey.

This was the road we were seeing for about 5 hours. It was uneven and very dusty too. Some parts of the road had been developed and the time to reach Siem Reap from the border is now about 3.5 hours.

Traffic jam due to collapse of a bridge - cars were waiting to get through

Before a car could get through, the bridge was checked and tested

"Ok, it's safe to come through now", said this guy as he was directing a car. Steady...steady...and go...

And that was how it's done!

Making a stop at the driver's house

Playing jenga at the restaurant where we were having dinner. We were so glad to finally reach Siem Reap.

Angkor Trip - To The Border of Thailand and Cambodia

On the third day, we had to get up very early about 5am in the morning to catch a 6am bus to Aranyaprathet. One of my friends woke us up at sometime around 4am thinking it was 5am and when he realised it he went back to sleep. But I had trouble sleeping after that and so I got ready and waited at the lobby. It was actually quite a funny story at at that time. Now I don't remember what was funny about it but I remember cursing him for waking me up too early.

It was still very dark and quiet. When everyone was ready to go, we went to look for taxis which then brought us to Morchit, one of Bangkok’s bus terminal. Once I was on the bus, I went to sleep right away. The trip to Aranyaprathet took about 5 hours. I don’t have any photos of us in the bus. We were all mostly sleeping throughout the journey. I don’t remember much of the bus trip to be honest. Once we reached Aranyaprathet, we took tuk tuk (this is public transportation known in Thailand and Cambodia) to the border of Thailand and Cambodia, which is not far from the bus stop. The border was quiet. There were not many people around. I wasn’t feeling safe there and wanted to quickly go through the immigration process to enter Cambodia. We had all of our bags tightly with us as we knew the area was not safe. And there were kids, I think 2 or 3 boys of 8 or 9 years old following us around and managed to snatch 2 plastic bags of bottled water and snacks. They snatched them from my friend’s hand so hard until the plastic bags were torn and all the things inside dropped. We just went on and walked towards the immigration office and let the boys took everything.

At the immigration, they charged us 1000 Baht per person (US$25 at the time) for a visa although we had notes telling us to insist on paying US$20. We thought there was no point haggling for $5. Not everyone had to pay for a visa though. One of us, who’s holding a Malaysian passport, didn’t have to pay a penny.

A few steps later, we were in Poipet, Cambodia. Then a shuttle bus brought us to the transport depot, where we had to wait for 2 taxis to bring us to Siem Reap. We waited there for quite sometime and there were a few people before us waiting for taxis as well. I remember feeling a bit daunting. Everything was a bit hazy. I was not sure if we’re doing things right and wondering if the people there could be trusted. I felt better after we got into our taxi...or so I thought...

At the border - we were holding all of our bags very tightly

Waiting for taxis to bring us to Siam Reap

Angkor Trip - The Grand Palace Bangkok

The next morning, after we had breakfast at our hostel, we were then off to The Grand Palace. We walked there as it’s within a walking distance from Khao San road. The Grand Palace is a must see for people visiting Bangkok. It’s just simply beautiful! I was amazed with the elegant architecture and the detail of each wall, ceiling, roof and statue. Basically everything attached to it, everything in it and everything around it, is designed for the pleasure of the eye. They’re just amazing. I couldn’t take photos enough.

Travel Tips:

1. Official site of The Grand Palace. It opens everyday from 8.30am to 16.30pm. Tickets are sold until 15.30pm. Ticket costs 250 Baht.

2. The Grand Palace is Thailand’s most sacred site and therefore strict dress code applies. There is a booth at the front gate that provides clothes to cover you up if you turn up without proper clothing (a deposit is required). At the website above, select ‘13. Helpful Information’ at the drop down bar for more information on this.

Phra Sri Rattana chedi

Buddha statue at Phra Mondop

Taking a break - palace complex in the background

One of demons cast in metal is guarding stairways into Phra Mondop

Close up - the intricate detail of one of the walls

Angkor Trip - and so the trip began at Bangkok...

We arrived Bangkok in the evening and the first thing we did after arriving at the Airport was to look for a bus that could take us to Khao San Road. Khao San Road is basically THE place to look for cheap accommodations for budget tourists like us and we had to get one that night, as we didn’t make any bookings for the 2 nights there. I was a little panicky myself when I found that out. I didn’t want to sleep on the street especially in a place I knew nothing about. I guess the reason why we did that because we were sure we would get rooms easily. And so we looked at several places and finally found one room available for the girls at one hostel and another room for the guys at another hostel. It’s not ideal but it was the best we could do. I don’t know if this is normal practice in Khao San road but apparently you can ask to look at the rooms first before you decide.

Khao San road was very happening that night. It was 31 October and people were celebrating Halloween. The streets were lit up, the bars and pubs offered deals to passers by, people were out and about wearing fancy Halloween costumes and there were many street performances too. And another good thing about Khao San road is the abundance of street carts lining up and selling street food. We had pad thai (Thai fried noodles), pancakes...I remember having banana and chocolate pancake, and I don’t remember what else we had that night but I do remember we stuffed ourselves with a lot of yummy but unhealthy food...not that I'm complaining :-). Then we spent the night walking and enjoying the atmosphere before eventually went back to the hostel and rested.

Travel tips:

1. The bus ride from Airport to Khao San (Route A2) takes about 60-90 minutes depending on traffic, as Bangkok can get very congested at times. The cost is about 100-150 Thai Baht per person.

2. I can’t give you much tips on accommodations in Khao San road as we didn't make any bookings in advance. We walked in and paid cash. We paid around 600-900 Thai Baht per person per night (this was 3 years ago). The good thing about walking in is you can have a look at the room before hand so you know exactly what you're paying for. There is a site that you may find useful (Travelfish.org) but I haven’t used it myself so I can’t say much on it either. If you have used it, please let me know if it’s a good site.

Waiting for the bus at the airport

This is the lounge of one of the hostels we visited while checking for room availability. Unfortunately there was no room available in this nice little hostel.

Yummy street pad thai cooked for you on the spot

Posing with a guy in fancy costume

The lively atmosphere in Khao San road. This was around 1 am in the morning.

Angkor Trip - The Highlights

I thought I start with my trip to Angkor Wat, a famous temple at Angkor, Cambodia. The trip took about 2 weeks. We started with a few days in Bangkok, Thailand, and then we took the overland route from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet in Thailand, then to the border of Thailand and Cambodia, and then the Cambodian side from Poipet to Siem Reap. We spent 4 days looking at many temples at Angkor using the 3 days pass. And then we're back on the road again to Bangkok and ended our trip shopping in Bangkok for another few days. I think we spent about an overall 3-4 days on the road.

The overland route is probably the most talked about route for its overpriced visas and taxis, and the very terrible and awful roads. Not to forget the scams everywhere! To me, the roads were so terrible that it's actually the most unforgettable part of the trip :-). I don't think I will use this route the next time I visit Angkor though. Once is enough. Having said that, this route shows you the side of Cambodia that you will not see if you were flying straight to Siem Reap. So it really depends on what you're looking for.

The next few blogs will be about this trip in details. Also, please note that the photos presented here were not all taken by me. At the end of the trip, we merged all of our photos and so each of us has all photos of the trip.

It was 7 of us on this trip. 

When we started off at Bangkok we met with 2 friends who were visiting Bangkok as well.

The 7 of us at Ta Phrom, a temple made famous by Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Rider

The magnificent view of Angkor Wat. It was a bit cloudy when this photo was taken.

The second layer of Angkor Wat.

There are many temples at Angkor. This is Banteay Srey - famous for its beautiful carving on every sides of its temple.