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Fes – the Imperial City of Morocco

Aaron — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:34:41 +0000

Our desert tour came to an end in Fes, the oldest of the Imperial cities and some say the symbolic city for Morocco. Well, it took us a long day to get from Merzouga to here, passing by the scenic Ziz Valley, cold Mid Atlas range and the upscale town of Ifrane. We didn’t spend much time at these places however, which is why I skipped straight to Fes, where we spent the remaining part of our Morocco trip. It was late in the night by the time we reached Fes, but this was when we had our first encounter with its infamous narrow winding alleys. The porter from our riad guided us from where we dropped off through a series of lefts and rights from, telling us to remember how each corner looked like along the way. Honestly, it would have been impossible to find our riad even with Google Maps! Finally we stopped in the middle of a random alley, where a plain brown door led us to our humble abode for the next 3 nights. While some may say Fes is worth a few days, I would say one is enough, or maybe two if you want to take [...]

Our camel trek experience into Sahara desert

Aaron — Sun, 05 May 2013 09:00:01 +0000

Joining a camel trek in the Sahara seem like the de facto experience in Morocco, and is definitely the highlight of our trip! These treks usually start in the late afternoon, when the sun is about to set and the weather in the desert becomes cooling. Starting from our riad, we were each assigned a faithful camel, before starting our slow trek to the overnight camp an hour away. But don’t keep your hopes too high as an hour of camel ride will only bring you within the border regions of the desert. Not only was the journey windy and comfortable, the sun that was low on the horizon gave the photos great lighting. Don’t get too carried away taking photos though, take some time to enjoy the tranquility and listen to the wind. :) After an hour or so, we arrived at our camp, which consisted of a few tents in the shape of a rectangular compound. To our surprise, there were actually proper beds in the tents, and even a toilet! While our guide starts preparing dinner, we had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves. We took off our shoes and hiked up the highest sand dune right [...]

The journey to the Saharan borders

Aaron — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 09:10:39 +0000

After visiting the Dades Gorge in the morning, we drove to yet another gorge – Todgha Gorge. Instead of viewing the gorge from the top, we went down to foot of the gorge, where the centre of activity in this area resides. There is a well-maintained path once you reach the foot, and this is where you stop for a lovely walk through the most spectacular portions of the gorge. The rock walls are up to a few hundred metres tall, and as narrow as 10 metres wide! Todgha Gorge has also become a famous spot for rock climbers, and we saw a few of them attempting to climb the wall where we were there. Our tour at the High Atlas region came to an end here, as we took an afternoon’s drive towards Merzouga, the gateway to the famous Erg Chebbi dunes where most people go for their camel treks. Slowly, we transited from healthy green countrysides to vast, barren lands of sand and dust. Well, this means that we are finally reaching the desert! But just as we were about to turn into the highway to Merzouga, our driver, Hamid, told us that he was going to bring us [...]

Through the windy roads of High Atlas

Aaron — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:02:48 +0000

The highlight of our Morocco trip was no doubt the 4 days we spent travelling through the mountains, valleys and the borders of the desert. Being able to get out of cities and enjoy the rural countryside has always been something I look forward to when travelling, and clearly Morocco is one good place for it! Prior to the trip, I was under the impression that there would only be barren lands and desert-like conditions out of the cities. But I was proved so wrong – the green fields and lush valleys are just as amazing. After an hour of drive out of Marrakech, we entered the High Atlas region, a long mountain range in Central Morocco. While we drive through the windy mountain roads of Tizi’n'Tichka, we stopped at several spots to get a good view of the valley below us. A stretch of river passes through the foot of the High Atlas mountains and occasionally, you can spot settlements and plantations alongside the river. Yet, the stretch of road we are on is not completely like this. Soon after we enjoyed the green valleys surrounding us, we entered a region of barren, brown slopes – an entirely different [...]

Exploring the medina of Marrakech in a day

Aaron — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:36:28 +0000

I must admit, I wouldn’t consider Marrakech as one of my favourite cities. The narrow alleys that are barely lit at night. The unkempt but ever-busy streets. Walking in the old town with the occasional stares or “Konnichiwa”s isn’t the most comfortable experience one can ask for. But then again, I ask myself what was it that I was looking for when Tiantian and I decided to visit Morocco. If it was to visit a place uniquely different from the clean and orderly European cities that I’ve grown bored of, I guess it couldn’t have been a better choice. The first day of our Morocco trip is spent exploring the medina (old town) of Marrakech. Armed with a rough map and some advice by our riad’s butler, we set off into narrow streets of this foreign city, in search of the main marketplace and square of the city - Jemaa el-Fnaa. And here’s the first rule for navigating the medinas in Morocco – Google Maps won’t help at all. > < While we were lucky that Jemaa el-Fnaa ain’t too far from our riad, it wasn’t a place like what we thought it would be – a bustling city centre with snake [...]

Day trip to the pebble beaches of Brighton

Aaron — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 07:42:47 +0000

For only £10 return, Tiantian and I bought advance tickets to the seaside town of Brighton, located just 1 hour south of London! To be honest, there isn’t much to do visit and explore here – the best thing to do is to simply relax on the pebble beach and watch the sunset. Along the beach also lies the Brighton Pier, an old-school theme park which is free to enter. Beach chairs are even provided for use on the pier itself, which we used to enjoy some sea breeze and beach view. Besides the beach, we checked out The Lanes and North Laine for some shopping. Both areas are filled with quaint shops selling all sorts of items – boutique accessories, vintage items, cute souvenirs, etc. Cafes, bars and restaurants can be easily found anywhere as well, it wouldn’t be too bad to stop for a while and have a cup of coffee and sandwich. Don’t be surprised if you happen to see many LGBT flags around because Brighton is known to be gay-friendly. And such open culture can be seen amongst the stores and souvenirs sold. If you’re looking for some historical attractions in Brighton, you may want to [...]

Walking on the cobblestone streets of Prague – Part 2

Aaron — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 10:45:31 +0000

Connecting the Old Town and Lesser Town, Charles Bridge is the most popular structure in Prague. In the day, it is bustling with activity as artists sell their paintings or jewellery on both sides of the bridge and musicians busk amidst the walking traffic. In the night, it would turn into a romantic place to see the city of Prague lit up in orange. There is even a museum dedicated to this much celebrated bridge. If you’d walk slightly north along the river bank of Lesser Town, you will reach the Franz Kafka museum. But what brought us there wasn’t the museum itself, but the Peeing Statues designed by controversial Czech sculptor David Cerny. In case you think they are actually stationary, they are actually peeing the shape of Czech Republic out! I heard you can even SMS to a number and the statues would actually draw the message out… A visit to Prague wouldn’t be complete without visiting the Prague Castle – the biggest ancient castle in the world. Our hostel is a mere 5 minutes walk from the castle, which made it a simple day trip for us. All the attractions within the castle can be visited with a combined [...]

Walking on the cobblestone streets of Prague

Aaron — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 03:36:30 +0000

After visiting Munich, Fussen, Salzburg and Vienna, little did we know we saved the best for the last – Prague. Having just walked out from the Soviet sphere of influence, Prague has a charm that can’t be found in the cities we visited earlier. The cobblestone streets, the occasional non-classicist architecture, the shades of communist past and the constant energy are the many reasons why Prague is such a magical place. In fact, the well-preserved and extensive city centre of Prague is a UNESCO World Heritage Site by itself – not many cities can hold such an achievement! Walking from sight to sight within the city centre is highly feasible and preferable. Within three days, Tiantian and I visited a few of the main attractions, watched an opera, and took in the charm of Prague simply by walking. We started off with a Sandeman tour that brought us around the Old Town. The enthusiastic tour guide gave us a tour that was akin to a history lesson, giving us a short history of how Prague became to be, and several short stories about the wars and Velvet Revolution. It would be a shame not to understand the history when visiting such a historic city! Prague’s [...]

Vienna explored – Musikverein, Schönbrunn Palace, Stephansdom and food

Aaron — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 11:59:52 +0000

Vienna may not be the prettiest city we’ve had seen, but there’s no reason to skip it as well. In the cultural and economic centre of Austria, the word ‘grandeur’ is exemplified in many aspects, including music, architecture and even food (the coffeehouse culture). Within a short 2 days, Tiantian and I tried to capture the essence of Vienna, but honestly, there’s still much more that we have yet to explore… Musikverein In the European capital of classical music, it would be a shame not to attend one of the many concerts in Vienna. Before our trip, we managed to secure a pair of tickets to one of the weekly concerts by Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein. The concert hall is no short of being lavish and to befit such lavishness, almost everybody dresses to the nines to attend a concert. If the first piece wasn’t enough to bring the whole audience to standing ovation, the second piece involved the famous Vienna Boys’ Choir as well. Even for someone without a musical background, I thoroughly enjoyed the music and atmosphere, and this is probably one of the defining moments of our trip. (: We had balcony seats for about €30 each, [...]

Museums in Vienna – Kunsthistorisches Museum and Sisi Museum

Aaron — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 04:34:35 +0000

Vienna is another one of those cities with a treasure trove of good quality museums. If you’d love museums, I dare say you can spend 4-5 days here simply visiting one or two of each per day. However, for the casual travellers that just want to check out a select few, we would recommend visiting the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which ranks among the finest museums in Europe. Kunsthistorisches Museum is an art museum which contains an excellent collection of Egyptian, Greek and Roman art. On its top floor, there is an extensive collection of coins which start way back since the early ages of civilisation. Even if paintings or coins do not interest you greatly, I think the museum itself is a work of art, reflected in both its grand architecture to the finest interior design! Don’t be surprised if you see people painting the interior of the museum. Besides KHM, we visited the Sisi Museum in the immense palace complex of Hofburg. A ticket will allow you entry to the Imperial Apartments (Kaiserappartements), Imperial Silver Collection (Silberkammer) and Sisi Museum itself, inclusive of an audio guide. Sisi is the nickname for Empress Elisabeth of the 19th century Habsburg empire, and after visiting [...]