Spain Travel Diary #3: Seville

After feeling satiated with the chocolaté  con churros and other delicacies in Madrid, we headed all the way down to Southern Spain, to the city of Seville in beautiful Andalucía region. People rave about this city and I didn't know why until we reached there. According to me, Seville is one of the most charming cities in the world.  It didn't take me more than a couple of hours to fall in love with the city, almost like love at first sight! It is now easily among my top 3 favourite cities in the world :)

 

While in Seville, we stayed in the historic old town area which has the rustic look with ancient monuments, cathedrals, palaces, towers etc which give you a completely different experience compared to staying in the new town. The lovely Moorish architecture is definitely something to experience!

 

It's very easy to explore all major attractions in the town by foot and we loved walking through the narrow cobblestone streets and shopping on the way. One of my favourite places in Seville is Plaza de la Encarnacion. You can walk up the building in the centre of the plaza to get a 360 degree view of the entire city. It is breathtakingly beautiful and an experience not to be missed!!! I would easily rate this place as the MUST DO while in Seville. You get a free drink along with the ticket that you purchase to go up and you can enjoy a glass of Spanish wine soaking in the charm and beauty of the city. Go especially during sunset time and then wait up until it is dark to see the city in lights.

 

 

Another day was spent exploring the Cathedral, Giralda tower and the Alcazar Palace in the old town. The architecture of these buildings is simply stunning and you can stand there for hours admiring the beauty of it! While you are here, make sure you go restaurant hopping along the street by the cathedral, relishing Spanish tapas, Paellas and some local wine. They have outdoor seating and you get to enjoy a romantic dinner with the cathedral/tower view!

 

 

 

 

If you are in Spain, you would have heard of Flamenco dance. Did you know that it originated in Seville?! We made it a point to watch a traditional live Flamenco show here where it all originated!! It was truly an experience of a lifetime. The guitarist, singer, dancers everyone was extraordinary and I got goosebumps watching them perform with so much passion and energy. These shows get booked in advance, so make sure you purchase the tickets online and go early to grab a front seat..

 

 

 

The day we were leaving Seville we rented a car and we were so glad we did that 'coz there is no way you can drive around in the town in those narrow crowded streets and don't even expect to get a parking place! Even if you have a car, highly recommended that you leave it at the hotel and take a cab or walk around. You get to explore, enjoy and soak in so much more of this city by walk than by drive. Make sure you carry a map though while navigating as it is easy to get lost!

 

We had a few hours before heading out of Seville and Plaza de Espana popped out. Am glad we visited this place. It is one of the most beautiful plazas I have seen in all of Europe! The details inside are incredible and it also has a small river/ pond inside where you can go boating to see the plaza as well. Another must visit place in Seville!!

 

 

 

Last but not the least, if you are an adventure seeker/adrenaline junkie, then Seville has a dropzone nearby about 45mins from the city where you can skydive. We couldn't do it as the weather wasn't good during our stay but I would definitely go back here someday just to skydive to get a bird's eye view of this lovely, beautiful, charming city!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spain Travel Diary #2: Madrid

You cannot go to a country and miss visiting the capital city. Even though Madrid is fairly a new city compared to rest of Spain, it has rich culture and history. Not as big as Barcelona or exquisite as Valencia or lush with heritage as Granada but there is a charm to this city which no other has! It is chosen as the capital merely because of it's geographically convenient location, in the heart of Spain.

 

I expected an urban environment, with tall modern buildings, corporate crowd, heavy traffic etc, like most other capital cities in the world but this one took me by surprise. In the historical part of town, there are still a lot of ancient buildings with stunning architectures that are well preserved and they look like jewels of the city. We stayed on Gran Vía street, one of the most popular streets in Madrid and I could spend hours just looking at the buildings there and admiring them!! They are indeed extremely beautiful. No matter how many photos I clicked, I wasn't satisfied as you just cannot capture that beauty but only soak it in and experience it! So if you visit Madrid, I highly recommend staying on Gran Vía and no where else..

 

  

After enjoying long walks on Gran Via, shopping, eating, strolling, photographing (sometimes in rain), our next stop was to explore Plaza Mayor. The advantage of staying on Gran Vía is that it is very close to many of the city's attractions and they are all in walking distance. Walking is a great way to explore any city, in my point of view. The walk from Gran Vía  to the plaza is enjoyable especially if you go through the alley ways and some of the narrow streets. Plaza Mayor is a very touristy place so it can get very crowded so be wise in choosing what time you go there. We went there during sunset and it was raining lightly at that time so there weren't too many people. It is surrounded by several tapas bars, cafes and restaurants where you can indulge in Spanish cuisine to your heart's content.

 

 

Talking about food, one of the specialities of Madrid is 'Chocolaté con Churros' which is thick dark chocolate (with or without milk) along with salty churros. It is delicious and you should not leave Madrid without having this for sure!! And of course, there is the usual list of tapas you can try all over spain, one of which is Patatas Bravas.  There is a chain of Pizzeria called 'Papizza' where we loved eating. They have a good variety of vegetarian pizzas and pastas and it is an eye candy and mouth-watering to watch those pizzas in the counters with fresh cheese and tomatoes!

 

Chocolate con Churros

Patatas bravas

 

If you are a football fan, you will love visiting Santiago Bernabeu stadium which is the home for Real Madrid football club. I am not, so it was a no brainer for me to skip this one!

 

If you still have time left after indulging in tapas and pizzas, then Royal Palace would be a great option to explore. The palace itself from outside is nothing exquisite, but the gardens around are very beautiful and worth spending time. Once you go inside the palace, into the courtyard, the open space and the views are gorgeous and so are the paintings and artwork inside the palace building.
 

 

There is more to explore in the city but it depends on what you are interested in. I am not a museum person but if you are, then Prado museum is something you would want to consider. I was happy with the 2 days we spent there and what we explored because I could get a flavour of the city, which I loved.

 

Spain Travel Diary #1: Barcelona

Spain had always been on my list of countries to visit. Everything about that country has been very attractive to me - culture, language, cuisine, people and more! It was literally calling out to me this year and we finally made a trip there is month! The weather was just perfect, not too hot, not too cold, just pleasant and nice. I am so glad we didn't go there during peak summer or tourist season. Not that there weren't many tourists now but it would have been way more crowded in summer.

So according to me, the best time to visit is October/November.

 

As always, when I plan a trip I ask which places would be the most contributing to visit and I look at which one invites me energetically. So the itinerary started with Barcelona to Madrid, Seville, small towns in Andalucía mountains, Granada, Murcia, Valencia and back to Barcelona. The trip was a combination of trains and car. Driving around in southern spain has an advantage as you get to see these small villages which are not accessible by train or bus easily.

 

Started this awesome journey in Barcelona. Having spent just 4 days in that city I would still call it one of my favourite cities in the world. I loved everything about it. The city has it's own charm, even though it is seen as very touristy, you can get the local flavour of Catalonia everywhere you go. Apart from visiting the famous Sagrada Familia cathedral, we lived there like the locals, exploring restaurants, cafes/bars and relishing on the delicious tapas, shopping in La Rambla, strolling through the markets and the neighbourhood. This is a totally different way of enjoying a place when you travel, rather than visiting the museums, standing in long queues at the attractions, taking guided tours which most people do. Try it, at least in Barcelona and you will fall in love with the city for sure!

 

As we didn't visit all the touristy attractions, obviously I will not be listing all the places to visit, on this blog! ;-) You can find that on google or any travel book in the store. But what I am writing here is the way I experienced the city and hopefully that would inspire you to go there too!

 

What we did -

 

1) Sagrada Familia - is the famous Roman cathedral by Antonio Gaudi. This church is a UNESCO world heritage site and I didn't know about it until I visited. (There is something about UNESCO world heritage sites that always attract me!) You will find loads and loads of cathedrals all over Spain but this one is truly unique. The gothic architecture is extraordinary and stunning to say the least and I stood there just admiring the building from outside for a long time! This place can get very crowded, so if you want to go inside, then highly recommend buying tickets in advance from their website. They have limited/fixed slots too.

  

2) Montjuic mountain - If you want a beautiful bird's eye view of Barcelona city and the coast, then definitely don't miss going on top of this mountain. It's extremely beautiful up there! You can either take a cable car up, a train or even a cab. We took the cab as it was the fastest. There can be an hour long queue to go up the cable car!

 

 

 

 

3) La Rambla - a very popular street in Barcelona, for food, drinks, shopping, artwork, galleries, flamenco shows  and more! Just taking a walk up and down the street is an amazing experience. Even though it gets very crowded, there is still an ease and joy in strolling through. It is beautifully lit, very lively even past mid night and so much to do and explore. There are people who do sketches by the street side and you can get some caricatures/ sketches of yourself done as a souvenir!  Do not miss the La Boqueria market on this street. Never been to a market which was this crowded! Watch your bags/wallets while you are here. You will find the best local fruits and fresh fruit juice here along with many other local delicacies and pizzas and tapas bars.

 

 

 

4) Eat tapas, tapas, and more tapas - yes, you heard it right! Spain has a popular tapas culture which is small portions of finger food/starters served along with your drinks. If you are a vegetarian like me, don't be disappointed, there are still good variety of them to try. Patatas Bravas, fried padron peppers, stuffed olives, croquettas, bread with tomato and olive oil, and so much more! Try them with wine /Sangria for sure.  I went crazy happy eating all of these. Just for tapas I would go back to Spain again. Simply loved this culture!!!

 

 

 

5) Plaza España - Barcelona has a lovely night life and it is best spent in Ramblas and Plaza España! There is a building called Arena at this plaza where you can go on the roof top to get a view of the entire plaza. Even the elevators going up here have great views. The fountain in the centre of the plaza is worth a look!

 

 

 

6) Take a day trip to Montserrat - When you have soaked in the city enough, consider taking a day trip to Montserrat mountains, which is about an hour by train from Barcelona. You can even do it in half a day but a full day is a better option. The serrated mountains, monastery, trains going on steep slopes, cable cars, hiking, shopping and so much more. It's truly a memorable experience, to be missed and you get to see the outskirts of Barcelona too. I will be writing another post with more details on this trip...watch this space!

 

 

 

7) Watch a live Flamenco show/Opera - We did this in Seville where Flamenco originated but if we hadn't planned it there, Barcelona would be a place where we would have watched it. There is a theatre in La Rambla which had great reviews. Flamenco is unlike any other dance form and gives you a great experience of Spanish culture! And if we had an extra evening we would spend it watching Opera on La Rambla for sure....

 

 

When in Barcelona, be a local and soak in the culture!!

 

 

 

Cambodia Travel Diary: Siem Reap

Cambodia is one place that had been on our minds to explore for over a year now.  Why? Because it has one of the world's wonders and it is a UNESCO world heritage site! My husband and I finally planned a trip there to celebrate our anniversary few weeks back. One of the advantages of living in Singapore is that it makes all of South East Asia easily accessible. It was just about 2~2.5hrs flight and visa on arrival for Indians (you will know what a relief that is, only if you are an Indian!)

What is one of the top 5 things you do when you plan a travel? You check the weather and the best time to visit the place. And we being very cute, forgot to do that and ended up there in the HOTTEST (note the bold letters) season of the year. It was around 38~39 degree Celsius but felt like 45deg. Not a smart choice, considering that majority of the places you have to visit are temples made of stone which heat up like crazy! So please don't go there in May/June unless you want to get a tan, sunburn or badly roasted.

Siem Reap is a small town and thrives mainly on tourism. So be prepared to be hounded by the local sellers, tuk-tuk drivers and tour guides wherever you go. We stayed at the Royal Angkor Resort which was a French colonial building, on the national highway slightly off from the town centre but the tuk-tuks make it accessible to get anywhere around easily for just under $5, if you know how to bargain with them. It had a lovely ambience and very friendly staff and I highly recommend it!

We had just about 4 days to explore and we started off with the Bayon and Angkor Thom temples as you get the best sunset view from near there. We got a 3 day Angkor Pass which would allow us to visit the entire set of temples for 3 days as many times as we wanted and cost about $40.  It was an adventure exploring this during peak afternoon with scorching heat and we were so dehydrated that I thought I would faint anytime  (which is why you have to be smart and not go there during summer time!) But it was worth all of that hardship as the temples are beautiful and the guide we hired gave us a lot of the history which made it more interesting. Hinduism and Buddhism are very predominant there and as I am familiar with both, it kept me very engaged while I gulped down 2 isotonic drinks, 3 bottles of water and some tender coconut water. 

We went on later to explore the famous Ta Prohm temple also known as the Tomb Raider temple as a small part of the movie was shot there with Angelina Jolie. So it is a major tourist attraction and it was completely packed with people, especially the Japanese tourist groups (we see them in action everywhere :))

Another full day was spent exploring the main Angkor Wat temple, both at the time of sunrise and sunset. They look very different as the temple gets fully lit up for a few minutes at the time of sunset and the sun rises behind the temple during sunrise if you are at the west gate, so you can capture some amazing photos. It is very important from which entrance you go in if you are looking to do photography based on the sun's position. So make a note of that! As it was summer, there was hardly any water in the mirror pool in front of the temple, so we couldn't get great pictures of it with the reflection in the pool, which are the signature photos taken at this location. But nevertheless, managed to capture a few decent ones!

During Sunrise

During Sunset

Honestly I was a bit disappointed with the Angkor Wat temple maybe because I had huge expectations. So it didnt take my breath away or made me feel like I should come back here again. I was happy to just tick this off my list of places to see. 

Apart from the countless temples to visit, you also have the old market to explore in the heart of the city. There is a night market if you are someone who loves to shop till you drop, like yours truly! There is nothing unique to buy except for some wooden handicrafts and regular clothes and decorative stuff. Cambodia uses USD as their main currency even though they have their local cambodian currency. So all transactions are in USD which means no hassle of exchanging currency. People work really hard there, manage to speak english and are very polite as their economy thrives on tourism. So you will feel at ease while you are travelling there.

There is also a pub street nearby which as the name suggests has loads of pubs and restaurants to tingle your tastebuds. Make sure you don't miss tasting Khmer cuisine, which is the local cuisine of Cambodia. It is mainly non-vegetarian but if you are a fussy vegetarian like me, you can go to this restaurant called Chamkaar near pub street which serves only vegetarian Khmer cuisine. To my surprise, I loved a couple of their dishes! And if you get bored there are many Indian, Italian and Thai restaurants as well to explore.

Apart from the above, you can visit the cultural village on the national highway and a floating village to do some boating and other short trips all of which we skipped simply because of the weather. Instead we chose to indulge and pamper ourselves in the spa with some amazing body massages, head massages and foot reflexology. You have to use your awareness and choose a good place for this to have a nice experience.

Overall it was a good vacation. Will I go back there? May be during winter just to see if the experience would be different. 

Japan Travel Diary: Kamakura & Nikko

This is a continuation from the previous post - click here

 

We kept Tokyo as our base and did day trips on the last 2 days of our journey, to Kamakura and Nikko - which is a UNESCO world heritage site. These 2 cities do have good hotels to stay if you want to explore the place more, but we were quite happy just spending a day each.

 

KAMAKURA

 

The fastest and best way to reach Kamakura is by train. While you are in Japan use the trains everywhere. They are super fast and super easy!! Take the JR Yokosuka line from Tokyo station which takes about 90 mins. If you feel adventurous then get down at Kita Kamakura then you can trek down the next 2 places till you reach The Great Buddha statue, Daibutsu. It may take about 3 hours. While we were there it was raining due to Typhoon, so we chose not to trek and changed over to the Enoden train line to see the Buddha statue. Daibutsu statue has it own charm. You can just sit there and keep looking at the peaceful Buddha and you won't realize how time flies. The energy of the place is very positive, peaceful and serene. If you are going all the way to Tokyo then I highly suggest visiting this statue; energetically it can contribute a lot to your life :)

There are 3 really beautiful Zen temples near Kita Kamakura station (Engakuji, Kenchoji, Tokeiji) and the most important Shinto shrine - Hachimangu shrine and the Hasedera temple near the Buddha statue. These are a must see. Engakuji is right behind the train station and it is surrounded by a canopy of lush green trees as it built on the slopes of the forest trails. The moment we entered the temple it felt like the temperature dropped down by 2 degrees. It is extremely peaceful and truly Zen like (pun intended) inside!




Engakuji Zen Temple Main Gate

 

 

If the weather is good and you love beaches then you can continue your journey all the way to Enoshima on the Enoden train line where there are popular beaches for surfers. But we skipped it due to lack of time and not so favourable weather.

NIKKO

Nikko is a world heritage site which is about 125kms north of Tokyo and can be easily covered in a day trip. Again, the easiest and fastest way to reach is by taking the Asakusa line from Tokyo/Ginza station to Asakusa station. From here, there are hourly rapid trains to Nikko which take about 2 hours. There are also few limited express trains which take only 105 mins, if you want to reach faster.

All of Nikko's shrines and temples are clustered around the Nikko main station. So we just took a bus from the station and got down 10 mins away and explored everything on foot for the next 4-5 hours.
The temples are worth a visit and the carvings and gold colour decorations are extremely intricate and very impressive! It is a treat to the eyes. Some of these temples allow you to go inside the prayer room and there will be a monk to explain the history/culture inside. If you can understand Japanese then you can follow him else you can just admire the beauty inside (like we did) ;-)

If you keep sufficient time (shops usually close by 4pm), then on your way back to the bus stop to go to the train station, you can do a lot of shopping in Nikko. Apart from the usual good luck charms and souvenirs, you get a wide variety of green tea, ceramics, incense sticks, kimonos, antiques and more!

Don't forget to visit this famous red bridge. I have no idea why it is famous or why you need to buy a ticket to walk on it, but nevertheless, when in Rome be a Roman! :)

The temperature in Nikko can be much cooler compared to Tokyo, so make sure you carry some warm clothes if you are on a day trip (lesson learnt from experience!). Nikko also has some traditional Ryokans, Japanese guest houses if you wish to spend a night there but I felt a day was good enough to explore the entire place.

 

Japan Travel Diary: Tokyo

This year has been adventurous in terms of travel. We managed to squeeze in a 2nd vacation to visit the land of the rising Sun. I have been lazy to write the travelogue for the Europe trip and I am positive that I will get to it before this year ends :-)

 

The best time to visit Japan, obviously, is the Cherry Blossom time in April/May. But we missed it, hence chose the 2nd best which is during Autumn season in October. The leaves become colourful while the trees are preparing for winter and it looks vibrant and a gorgeous treat to the eyes. And the best thing is it is still not full blown winter, so it is not too cold; just pleasant and perfect weather!

 

Japan is a huge country and definitely you can't do justice to experiencing it all in 1 or 2 weeks. So for a week's travel we chose Tokyo as our base and visited Mt.Fuji, Hakone, Nikko and Kamakura.

 

Tokyo is the current capital of Japan and interestingly there is no airport in Tokyo. So you have to either land at Narita or Haneda International Airports which are a couple of hours train ride from Tokyo. And considering the super fast trains in Japan, this surely isn't something you would mind :)

 

How to get around?

The best way to get around in Tokyo (or anywhere in Japan for that matter) is by trains. Taxis are way too expensive and we saved it only for occasional use. It does take a while to comprehend the complicated maze of the train map. So make sure you have done your research on how to get to your hotel from the airport, well in advance :) Also if at all you end up in the trains during peak hours then trust me, you will not miss Mumbai!! There is such a huge crowd that when you are walking and you happen to stop for a second or change direction suddenly, someone will bump into you.

 

Where to Stay?

We chose to stay in Tokyo's most upmarket Ginza district which is the shopping centre. So it is no surprise where literally every brand name in fashion and cosmetics can be found here. Ginza is also the most expensive real estate area in Japan. I loved it. It has a very vibrant energy and feel. You just walk out of the hotel and there are loads of restaurants, cafes, shops, bars etc. And every street seems to have an exit to the train station. But prepared to pay a lot for a room that is less than the size of a matchbox! We stayed in the Ginza Nikko Hotel which was way too small than even words can explain but the Courtyard Marriott was at least worth the money.

 

What to do?

Some of the must see things in Tokyo according to me are

 

1. Metropolitan building, on top of which there is an observatory to get a lovely view of Mt.Fuji and the entire Tokyo city skyline

 

 

 

2. The Asakusa temple, has a Shinto shrine and definitely worth a visit

 

 

 

3. Some of the freshest seafood is found right here in Tokyo. So what better way to savour them all than to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market?. Although certain areas have now been made off limits to tourists due to sanitisation and food safety, you’re allowed to visit after 9am and have the freshest sushi breakfast or lunch at the local restaurants there. If you are keen (and lucky), you may be one of the 120 visitors allowed into the tuna auction area to view the transactions. Supposedly Application can be done at the Osakana Fukyu Center at the Kachidoki Gate, starting from 5:00am on a first-come, first-serve basis.

4. Meiji Shrine /Yoyogi park - the moment you enter, temperature drops by 2-3 degress due to the thick green cover of the trees. The park is very peaceful and the Meiji shrine is 1 or 2 kms walk inside the park.

 

 

 

5. Shop for electronics - visit the Sony showroom in Ginza district and the Yodobashi camera/ Bic camera shops for great deals on electronics. Sony has an international section where the gadgets are tax free and have good promotional offers.

 

6. Roppongi area is one of the popular party areas but you are warned to be careful as you can get mugged there. The recommended club in this area is NEWLEX Edo, 1 3-13-14 Roppongi, Minato-ku, 03-3479-7477, though we did not visit this place. It is also apparently one of the best nightspots to spot international celebrities and models alike.

 

7. Tokyo tower (Skytree) also has some breathtaking views of Tokyo

 

 

 

8.Do Not Miss Shibuya Crossing

It is said to be the world's busiest crossing where all 4 traffic lights go Red at the same time and people cross in all possible directions. As a friend of mine pointed out, for a directionally challenged person this can be the toughest challenge! You definitely should experience this well organized chaos (pun intended)!

 

 

 

And if at all you are a vegetarian like me and end up with least options for food, you can try this really good Indian restaurant called MUMBAI in Ginza, which is few blocks away from the Courtyard Marriott Hotel. They serve absolutely delicious food and trust me it's a treat to your taste buds when all you can get is margarita pizza!

 

 

 

South America Travel Diary: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

This travelogue is continued from the previous post

 

Rio is definitely one of the most popular travel destinations these days. So we would not go all the way to South America and not spend time in Rio! I especially wanted to visit this city after I watched the animated movie "Rio" where it was shown so beautifully! Little did we know that it would turn out to be insanely expensive and not live up to our expectations.. Heck.. I didn't even know that it is pronouced as 'Rio de haneiro' and not 'Janeiro' till I went there!  That's some intro to Portuguese for you :)

 

After spending 3 days in rainy Santiago de Chile, we were happy to catch the flight to Rio. It was a long flight (considering the countries are adjacent) to Rio...about 8 hours with a short stop over in Sao Paulo. I was already getting claustrophobic getting anywhere close to an airplane, with flying almost once every 3 days...South America is one gigantic continent! It will probably take you 3 full months to visit just the main cities all over the continent..

 

We spent 4 nights in Rio and I felt that was good enough to see the main attractions. There isn't much to do there if you go in the non-carnival season. If you are there for the carnival then its a different story!

 

Where to stay?

I had heard and read about Rio being a very high crime rate city and that it isn't very safe for tourists and locals equally. So we were very apprehensive of booking just any hotel. We were warned of staying in Copacabana as its supposed to be not too safe in the nights. So we restricted our stay in the upmarket areas like Ipanema/Leblon/Lagoa though they are friggin expensive. The cheapest hotel you may find in non peak season will cost 200USD for a Double bedroom. Anyway we chose the Ipanema Inn which was a block away from the Ipanema beach. Was happy with the service but the hotel was too old and rustic with very basic amenities and we were paying through our nose!

 

 

Things to do

Of course you would not miss 'Christ the Redeemer' whether or not it is worth seeing! It is definitely over-hyped and when I went all the way up and stood near the statue, I was dumbstruck as I was trying to figure out one reason why it was chosen as a new wonder of the world!! Personally, I feel there is nothing great about the statue (no offense meant, to anyone!). The view from the top of the Corcovado mountain (which is where the Redeemer statue is) is absolutely breathtaking. You reach there in a cogwheel train through the Tijuaca Rainforest, where you can choose to trek as well. You definitely have to go there for the view and not to see the statue. So have your expectations set right else you will be disappointed like I was..

 

 

 

Sugar Loaf mountain is another thing you might want to see. Take a cable car to reach on top of the mountain from where you get a lovely view of the copacabana beach and the city of Rio. You can also see the Christ on top of Corcovado, from this mountain top.

 

Sugar Loaf Mountain

 

 

We booked  a day tour through Viator and did Sugar Loaf + Corcovada on the same day as we did not want to venture out alone for safety sake. At the end of the day we realized that the total time spent at the venue was just about 1.5 to 2 hours and remaining 5hrs was wasted in picking up & dropping people and having lunch and what not! So I highly recommend doing it by yourself, and not wasting time & money on any travel companies...Wish someone was there to tell us that 'before' we went! Lessons learnt through experience!

 

 

View of Copacabana beach from top of sugar loaf

 

 

We also did the Sepatipa Bay cruise for another full day to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary! It was a nice chilled out, lazy day on the cruise with not much activity. It's good if you love the waters and wanna lie down at the beach and get some sun. Well, we did that at the Ipanema beach as well, the next day :)

 

Sunset from top of Corcovado mountain

 

 

Samba Dance is another attraction. The most popular one is the Plataforma Samba show which happens in the night 9pm to midnight and is combined with dinner. It's crazy but you should definitely watch it for entertainment!

 

Plataforma Samba Show

Food

Be prepared to spend a lot on food as restaurants are very expensive too. If you are a non-vegetarian then you have no problems in finding some amazing cuisines out there but if you are a veggie, like me then your options are *very* limited. Survive on pizzas/pastas/salads as long as you are there! But we did find a lovely Thai Restaurant called "Nam Thai" in Leblon, which surprisingly was EXTREMELY GOOD! I highly recommend it.

 

Drink

And while you are in Brazil, try their national alcoholic drink Cachaca (pronounced as Ka-sha-sa), which is a cocktail made from fresh sugarcane juice (not molasses) distilled & fermented. Contains about 38% to 48% alcohol. And Brazil's national cocktail is Caipirinha which is made from Cachaca and Lime. Extremely strong and it goes straight into your head with the first sip! You cannot go there and not try this :) And make sure you buy some at the duty free as well to carry back home ;-)

 

Shopping:

I cannot complete this travelogue without talking about shopping! Rio is a shopper's paradise, especially for a woman, as you will find amazing jewellery, accessories, clothes etc at throw away prices...and very unique designs! It's also a crystal lover's paradise. Huge raw crystal clusters, geodes, caves are available on the road side market for dead cheap prices! Just carrying it back home is a problem due to the weight. Else I would have bought lots more. You should definitely visit the Sunday Hippie Fair at Ipanema and also the daily night market at Copacabana if you love to shop... 

 

 

 

 

And last but not the least, learn some basic portuguese or carry a dictionary or a phrase book to translate the basic words so that you can get around, if you are on your own. Even airports do not announce any instructions in English. So best advice - follow the crowd ;)

 

 

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South America Travel Diary: Chile

None of our vacations can be complete without a Wine Tour & Tasting!!! So after visiting the amazingly beautiful Machu Pichu, we headed down South to Chile, the wine country! I badly needed to rest, after all the travel, altitude and treks and lack of vegetarian food (sigh!). We flew from Cusco to Lima and then to Santiago de Chile (There is another Santiago de Atacama, mind you!)

Santiago de Chile
Stayed in a serviced apartment in the heart of the city of Santiago, right next to the MRT and all the restaurants. It pays to do a lot of research before booking the hotels!

Chile was extremely 'chilly' as it was winter in May/June and on top of that it was raining all 3 days we were there. What a spoil sport! Anyway, there is nothing much to see in the Santiago city, its just like any other city in the world. So off we went to the suburbs to visit the vineyards, the place of our interest. We chose the Concha y Toro Winery as its among the top ones out there. Booked the wine tour online, by ourselves and it worked out cheaper than going through an agent.
Here is the link if you are interested http://www.grayline.com/Santiago/Concha_y_Toro_Winery  . There wasn't much of a taste I could get out of the wines, in that freezing weather! But this winery is highly recommended!!

Useful Tip: Travel in the Metro, cabs are way too expensive and of course they dont speak English :)

  Visit the Delhi Darbar restaurant for "authentic" Indian food in Providencia district. A small restaurant hidden in the centre of the city but serves amazingly tasty North Indian food! We were surprised to find such a restaurant in our entire trip!

One of their wines that you must try!

 

Valpraiso & Viña Del Mar

These are the coastal towns of Central Chile, on the line of Pacific Ocean. Just A couple of hours drive from Santiago and can be seen in a day. We had booked a day trip with Viator but unfortunately it was pouring heavily the whole day and we could hardly enjoy the trip. But these 2 towns are very beautiful and it's worth spending a night over if the weather is good. While you drive down to the garden city of Vina Del Mar, you travel through the wine country and can stop over several vineyards for wine tasting if planned in advance.

 

 

 

Valpraiso port is extremely picturesque and built in the 16th-century on a total of 43 hills which are reached by narrow windy streets, staircases and a series of lifts (funiculars). This area has been declared by UNESCO as patrimony of humanity due to its eclectic architecture and urban development.

It's disappointing to say that I have no photos of the beautiful view of the Valpraiso port due to the heavy rains that day :-( You can google it to see how beautiful the city is!!

Few other things that you can do while in Santiago, which we didnt do (but I had researched on it!)
1. take a trip to Cajon de Maipo
2. go on casablanca valley/san antonia valley wine tour and stay overnight at casa marin in vineyards
3. Go to San Pedro and Visit Atacama salt lake & Moon Valley (in Northern Chile)
4. Santiago city Hop on hop off tour
5. Visit Easter Island