Morocco: Autumn - November 2012



After a hiatus of holidays due to a major house renovation work, I broke it by going to Morocco. Initially I thought of going to South Africa as I was inspired by a friend who went there in October. Unfortunately it was too expensive, close to RM15k per person! I need to financially "recover" first from the effect of the renovation before I can even think of going there.

Since I cannot afford to go south, I decided to go north instead. Morocco did not disappoint. It is a country with beautiful landscapes, interesting history and unique culture. During my visit, the weather was marvellous too. Even though it was close to winter, the temperature was between 5-25C, depending on which city you were at.

 

A few things caught me by surprise in this trip. First was the travel time from Kuala Lumpur to Casablanca. Since Morocco time zone is the same as London, I thought that the flight time will be around 12 hours. It turned out to be 16 hours! And that is not inclusive of the 3 hours transit time at Abu Dhabi.

 

Secondly, which turned out to be the most memorable was that on the 27 November 2012. On our way from Fes to Erfoud we got to experience three seasons in a day! Autumn splendour at the "Alpine" town of Irfane. It was snowing while we were crossing the Middle Atlas and a few hours later a bright hot sun at the desert. Surreal!

 

Thirdly, this is with regard to their main dish. When I expected it to be savoury, it turned out to be sweet! So if you are a "cili padi" lover, better stick to their shish kebab - be it chicken, mutton, beef or fish. I think the Moroccans have perfected the dish. Soft, tasty and juicy! Delicious :)

 

This trip also marked a few firsts:

• First time I flew via Etihad. The in-flight meals were not as good as Qatar Airways. Their Abu Dhabi International Airport however is better than Doha's. I like the colour of their plane interior. The colour of their blankets are attractive too and what surprise me most is they allowed their customers to take them home! Not all airlines are that generous. Etihad also offers plug point at all seats. Something that should be emulate by the rest of the airlines don't you think?
• First time I went for a holiday without a companion. I did not actually travel solo in a real sense cause I joined a travel group. Hehe .. baby steps ;p The tour members were great so I did not feel as though I was alone :)
• First time I took a trip after I started this blog which resulted in me being a little bit over-board with photo-takings. Wanting to record every thing and their gorgeous landscapes did not help either ;p

The tour was organised by Parlo Tours. It run from 23 November to 2 December 2012. The price was RM6.3k per person (twin-share). RM7.2k if you opt for a single room.

 

I've uploaded 642 photos for your viewing pleasure. I've broken my blog record (again!) I really need to control myself in my next trip :( Frankly, en route to Marrakech I am totally in awe with our Creator effortless creations. I hope you will find the time to go through the pictures and appreciate them too. Stop for a while from your busy schedule and smell the roses ;) 

 

You can access the photos at my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mkhasha.n.travels/. Go to the photo albums.

 

Njoy!!

Spain: Spring - April 2011

 

We went to Spain during second half of April. It was in a middle of spring and definitely one of the good times to visit temperate countries. The whether was not so hot and neither was it so cold. Decent daylight hours as well.. very important for photographers without state-of-the-art cameras ;p

 

The trip was very satisfactory. The places we visited were beautiful, the Spaniards are mostly good-looking, the food were tasty, the hotels were comfortable and the weather was great. I love every minute of it!

 

The dish that I like most during the trip was Seafood Paella. I like it so much that when I came back home I tried to imitate the dish but with a dash of local flavours. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all. The result was Seafood Biryani. It got rave reviews from families and friends who were fortunate enough to sample the dish since I don't really like cooking and even if I do I rarely make complicated dish like biryani ;p

 

The picture above was taken from one of the Harem's windows of the Al-Hambra. Going through the building you can imagine the intrigue of ancient times. Similar feelings of going back to the period long forgotten can be experienced in all the ancient cities of Toledo, Cordoba and Seville. The feelings were however dispelled by the sight of Starbucks and McDonalds.. hehe

 

The trip from 16-27 April 2011 was organised by Parlo Tours. It covers two countries Spain and Portugal but mainly covers the cities of Spain. Only two days were allocated for Lisbon, Portugal. Tour price was RM8.3k per person. The most expensive tour that I've joined to-date but worth every penny :)

 

Since the country is so wonderful, it was not suprising that I went a bit overzealous with the photo-taking. I've uploaded 595 photos! I thought Istanbul was bad.. I broke my blog record (again!) with Spain ;p

 

You can access the pictures at my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mkhasha.n.travels/. Go to the photo albums.

 

Njoy!! 

Portugal: Spring - April 2011

Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal is the westernmost large city located in Europe, as well as its westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. It is a hilly city but luckily we do not have to do a lot of walking or else you will see a lot of panting tourists around ;p

Our visit to Lisbon (or Lisboa in Portuguese language) was part and parcel of a greater Spain tour. We were there from 19-21 April 2011. It was during the time when Portugal was experiencing The Financial Crisis. The local tour guide was very polite and thank us for visiting their country and helped contribute to its recovering economy. Frankly that was the first time that I encountered a local tour guide with such humility. Most of the tour guides that I met over the years were mostly charming but proud. In rare instances there were some who were downright arrogant!

Our local tour guide highlighted the fact that there were historical links between Malays and Portuguese which resulted among others some borrowed words between the races. Words like "jendela" (window), "almari" (cupboard), "garpu" (fork), "bendera" (flag), "keju" (cheese) are some of Malay words borrowed from Portuguese language.They borrowed "nanas" (pineapple) from us. I'm sure there are many more but I can only remember that one ;p

We went to Cabo da Roca (Cape Roca) which forms the westernmost extent of mainland Portugal and continental Europe. On a clear day you can see the United States of America from there.. I'm kidding!! The cape was beautiful in spring with wild flowers everywhere. A must visit if you go to Lisbon :)

I've uploaded 194 photos for your viewing pleasure. You can access them at my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mkhasha.n.travels/. Go to the photo albums.

Njoy!!

Vietnam: Summer - February 2011

 

A super short visit (7-8 February 2011) to Ho Chi Minh en route to Kuala Lumpur from Seoul. Sufficient enough for a half-day city tour and shopping ;p

Bought a few tops at Ben Than Market which on a hindsight I should probably just buy one. Frankly I should have just stick to buying fridge magnets and food stuff. What is with holiday that rational people can lose their heads caught up in the frenzy of fellow travellers' enthusiasm?

To be fair of my holiday shopping there are a few things that I still cherish until now but the numbers are too miniscule compared to the rest of the useless stuff that I bought over the years. Water under the bridge. Lessons learnt. Now I am more careful with my purchase :)

Ho Chi Minh or Saigon, as it is known to all but city officials, is a high-octane city of commerce. The streets are full of motorbikes. There are no zebra-crossings or even if there is, do not bother thinking that it works as it should be. If you want to cross the road, never hesitate. Walk slowly but surely. The motorbikes will give you the right of way. But becareful of lorries, cars or buses though. I found that they are less cooperative. Whatever it is do not run hysterically across the road ;p

One of the dish that we had for dinner at a Malay restaurant was fried eggs with soy sauce. This is something that I observed when travelling with Malaysians overseas over the years. No matter how good the other chicken, beef, lamb or seafood dish were the eggs will finish first! I personally like to eat fried eggs even at home. But when overseas if there were fried eggs on the menu, they gave me such joy.. I guess deep down I'm just a simple girl with simple taste ;p

Since this is a very short visit, I have only 42 photos to share with you. You can access them at my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mkhasha.n.travels/. Go to the photo albums.

Njoy!!

South Korea: Winter - February 2011

This was my second visit to Seoul. The first time was back in year 2002 when "The Korean Wave", 한류 (Hanryu) had not touch a lot of Malaysians yet. It was also prior to my digital camera era so no pictures to share during that trip. What I remember of that trip was we went in August. It was summer so even though we went to the mountains and lakes, it was as though we were in Malaysia. My camera also went kaput. So we ended up using disposable cameras that we bought at their equivalent of 7-11. Lessons learnt. This time, I chose winter and brought more than one camera ;p

 

Before I proceed, I must confess that I am a fan of K-dramas. It started in year 2005 with "Winter Sonata" and by the time I got to "Full House" I was totally hooked. Formerly an addict, I was willing to watch till wee hours of the morning. Depriving myself of a much needed sleep. Luckily I have semi-recovered. Now I watched only selected dramas and try to limit to one or two hours per day ;p

 

I like their food. Spicy and also very pretty. Like Japanese, they made it an art of its preparation. I wish I was there longer to sample more of their local food.. most especially the grilled fish. Hemm.. maybe one of these days I will go and stay there for a month or two to sample their food and do a tour of K-dramas filming locations ;p

 

We went there with Poto Travel and Tours. It was a twin-cities tour of Seoul-Ho Chi Minh. 5 days 4 nights (3-7 February) in Seoul and 2 days 1 night (7-8 February) in Ho Chi Minh. Tour price was RM3.2k per person. Needless to say that the trip was too short. Furthermore, we went during their Lunar celebration thus Iteawon and Dongdeamun markets were closed. Luckily I didn't plan to shop but I'm sure the rest of my tour members didn't share my sentiments. Having said that, their Duty Free shops at Incheon International Airport are pretty good. If you wish to procure branded stuff, they are cheaper than in Malaysia :)

 

I've uploaded 141 pictures for your viewing pleasure. I must apologise that I don't have a lot to share cause most of the pictures taken in this trip have my face in it :)

 

You can access them at my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mkhasha.n.travels/. Go to the photo albums.

 

Njoy!!