The Opera in Vienna

I only had two days in Vienna, by the end of the most spontaneous trip I ever made. The thing is I didn´t really have a budget, cause it was a really unplanned trip.

I arrived to Vienna at night, very tired, so I searched for a place to eat (which I didn´t find and ended up eating a twix bar with a beer at the hostel. Yeah, really weird!). The next morning I woke up and started my marathon to see Vienna in one and a half day. Beautiful city. But the greatest gift in Vienna was to go to the Opera. I didn´t even dream of going, as tickets are generally quite expensive, however, during the free-walking tour, I met an Argentinian and a Uruguayan who told me that there are 3 Euro tickets if you go around 20 minutes before the start time of that day´s performance. You have to watch it standing on your feet, no seats, but still, you get to go to Vienna´s Opera! 

With my only night left in the city, I went some hours earlier to ask which performance was scheduled for the night, and for my absolute joy, I found out the Nutcracker was! Did I mention I used to be a dancer and love Musicals and Dance? I would have enjoyed any performance and the place itself is worth seeing, but it was a dream night.

If you ever go to Vienna, don´t miss the chance to go to the Opera and see whatever there is to see, totally worth it, and price friendly! Ask some hours earlier just in case.

Animal activities: to do or not do, that´s the question

I wasn´t sure whether to go on an elephant ride or not. I love activities with animals, every time I have done any I feel happy and even empowered by the contact with their wildness, purity and majesty. But it should never part of an activity that implies that those animals are deprived from their freedom, teared apart from their families, working in our crazy system, being profitable for their owners.

I did an elephant trekking, but it was one of those with seats on the animal, and a very organized path. I loved the experience of being in touch with elephants, but hated the fact that they were using seats, which seemed really uncomfortable for the elephants, and that they had such an organized life. That is definitely anti-natural and something I do not want to be a part of.

After some research I found a reservoir that rescued injured wild elephants and cured them, and at least they claimed, that with the money they charge from visitors they kept them and rescued more. The ride was different this time, no seats, and you would go at their bathing time, and the route of the trekking was their way to the river and waterfall, you would bathe them and then go back to the camp. It seemed more respectful, and I thought maybe this time I would not have the bittersweet feeling after, so I decided to try it out.

The trek was beautiful, very natural, nothing between you and the elephant, the bathing time together amazing... But the bitter-sweetness was there anyways. My elephant didn´t seem to want to go for a bath at that particular moment, and even though it seemed like the people there were very nice and really cared for their animals, when the trek finished, the elephants were tied on their foot.

On one side I love the experience, it makes you humble to be in contact with elephants or tigers, or other animals, and at the same time it´s bonding time with nature which is so poor in our daily lives. But we must be very careful which places we choose and support, respecting animal life and not encouraging the use (or abuse) of animals as a profitable activity. 

The trek, my elephant was tired...

Bathing time, really beautiful

After, the elephant tied

Cambodian Music by admirable people

Throughout many places in Cambodia, specially at Angkor and some night markets, you may bump into some really amazing music, played by injured men. It's part of a rehabilitation program. 

In Cambodia there are still mines that explode and injure men, women and children. Cambodians have a huge challenge to help these people after these type of awful accidents.
One of the things they do, is teach them to play instruments, and gather them in groups, and they play together the traditional Kmer music. It's both emotive and very sad, you feel a deep respect and sorrow at the same time for these people who go on, and not only go on, but they bring to the rest of us this beautiful Cambodian sounds, that add such a magical atmosphere to the already mystical Angkor.

Pay attention, give a smile and an applause. Be thankful.

Angkor

Neguev Desert: spots, tips and pics.

I´m more of a beach lover, and I love the water, but for my surprise the desert turned out to be one of my favorite landscapes. The immensity, the silence, the seeming stillness, it is truly majestic. 

I went to the Neguev desert in Israel, which is amazing. Just to drive along the road with the desert surrounding you is pretty amazing. There are some cool places to go to also. The Geological Park with rocks in many colors is really interesting and beautiful. Another cool spot is the Timna National Park where  you can appreciate the erosion of the rocks over the years and some spectacular desert views. There are also touristic Bedouin tents where you can stay and learn about this interesting culture, try their food, ride camels, hang by a fire at night and enjoy the amazing starts in the dark night sky.

Some desert tips: during the day very hot, but at night: cold! So if going to the desert don´t rely on the sunny hot image and take some warm clothing. Also, drink a lot of water. The heat in the desert is dry, so you may not feel as thirsty as in a humid warm climate, but you get as dehydrated or even more. And the most important tip: take your camera with plenty of battery, you will want to take hundreds of pictures ;)

 The camels in the Bedouin Tents

 

Bedouins

The sunset in the desert

Desert views

The Geological Park

The Road

Timna National Park

Sunset @Freedom Beach

Freedom Beach is a beautiful spot to enjoy an awesome, romantic, nature-love sunset.
Here are some pictures:

Thai Cooking Class

In Thailand, it´s a great idea to take a cooking class. The way they cook, without salt and a lot of other flavors, not only taught me how to cook some Thai delights such as Pad Thai and Green Curry, but also to cook my everyday meals in a new different way.

I took a class at Silon, in Bangkok, and it was great, we went to the market to pick up the ingredients, and had a great time with our very cool teacher. We ate better than ever and learned. I´ve been told anyway that the best place in Thailand to take cooking classes is Chiang Mai, due to the better prices and high quality of the courses.

Eat up!

 The ingredients

Everything´s ready to start

Coconut soup

Pad Thai

Green Curry

Mango sticky rice

Jerusalem's little streets

Jerusalem is a beautiful, magical city. You've probably seen the typical image of the Western Wall and the mosque. It's an amazing view, and the spiritual feeling you have while there is indescribable. But, I must say that one of the things I loved the most about Jerusalem, and some other little religious towns in Israel, were the little labyrinthine streets. You can wonder around, feeling as if you were in some other time of human History. But there's so many people that actually live there, it's incredible!

It's very easy to get lost, but it's really small anyway and people helps you around.

If you go to Israel, not only go to the touristic sites, but take some time to wonder. 

Collect moments not things