There’s nothing more elegant and classic than Flamenco dancing in Spain. The arms behind the head; the flowy skirts; what’s not to love?! So, without further adiu, I present an article by Maike on where to see the best Flamenco dancing in Sevilla!

Flamenco Dancing in Spain - Courtesy of Viajar24h.com

“Flamenco in Spain is not merely a dance and a music genre. It is an entire culture, particularly in its birthplace Andalucia. The UNESCO has recognized it as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

If you are visiting Andalucia you will find that Flamenco is an essential part of life and that the heart of the people beats to the rhythm and the spirit of this music. One of the best places to watch a Flamenco show is a so called tablao. It is a particular type of establishment that often has its own company of performers. The authentic tablaos are usually rather small and intimate.

If you are planning on staying in apartments in Sevilla you simply can’t miss an authentic Flamenco performance. Of course Flamenco is what attracts many visitors to this area and there are some shows that are more touristy than others which doesn’t mean that the dancing is not as great and authentic, however the show is very choreographed. One of the beauties of Flamenco dancing is the spontaneous interpretation of the melody. Here are a couple of recommendations about where you can see this kind of more spontaneous performances:

El Patio Sevillano (Paseo Cristóbal Colón, 11 A)
This tablao is among the most traditional and longest running ones. It is not only known for its great shows but also for the quality of service. You can enjoy traditional local tapas and liquors while watching a great show.

Flamenco Dancing in Spain - Courtesy of http://www.arteyfotografia.com.ar

El Palacio Andaluz (Avda. María Auxiliadora, 18 B)
Here you get a great overlook over the various Flamenco styles that exist. Furthermore, the shows are an exquisite mixture of spontaneity and perfect choreography.

El Arenal (Calle Rodo, 7)
Located in one of the most prominent districts of town that goes by the same name this place offers a great Flamenco show since 1975 serving the best Andalusian cuisine.

Los Gallos (Pza. de Santa Cruz, 11)
The creme de la creme on a national and international level dances here. The renowned dancers promise their audience an unforgettable night that will make you return to your Sevilla apartments dreaming of more “Flamenco feeling.” It might even animate you to take a class and learn the steps yourself.”

Images courtesy of Arte y Fotografia and Viajar 24 Horas

This post was written by:

Maike accidentally on purpose stumbled into writing. She is the daughter of a German father and a Filipino mother; she grew up in Germany, lived in the US, Denmark and currently resides in Barcelona. To see more of her writing follow her on Twitter @antsinmypants15

Ice is delivered in carts and cut with a saw before being taken into bars and restuarants for use

I am obsessed with the way ice is delivered. Every day, a truck or van or bike comes by with a giant block of ice. Street vendors, restaurants and individuals come up, tell the ice man how much they want and he proceeds to saw it off with a rusty saw and hand it to the customer. They then cart it off by hand, in a bag, on a bike or any other way they can. Some times they rest the ice on the ground before paying and hauling it away…and I’m sure it’s not washed before ending up in my drink!

Every day it seemed to rain, but the skies parted and beautiful weather blessed us for our three days in Angkor.

After seven months we finally started taking our malaria medicine.

Lots of sellers are very whiny “Pleeeease buy my teeeeeshirt. Why don’t you want my waaaaater?”

Rather than carry guidebooks for each country the whole time, we find that most countries have photocopied versions of Lonely Planet country guides available for less than $4 each. They cost at least $20 at home.

I got my Cambodia Lonely Planet guidebook copy at Sadhana Forest from a friend in February, 2009. It was July 2009 when we visited Cambodia. Yet, the published date on the book was August 2009. How is that possible?

Gas stations are attended by children at times

Our gas station attendant on one tuk tuk ride was a little boy.

One bus ride stopped at a side of the road fruit stall, during which most of the locals got off to shop and, in total, brought back on at least 200 pounds of jackfruits and durians.

Even paved highways are covered in dirt due to the sides of the road bleeding onto them during heavy rains.

I saw a very stern and professional army officer walking around with a little pink backpack.

Children are very rarely supervised and wander all over the place.

Cambodia has far more undeveloped countryside than the rest of Southeast Asia…as far as I’ve seen.

Most houses in the countryside are built on wood, built on stilts, have shanty stairs or ramps leading up to them but have the most beautiful roofs.

I have seen more US $2 bills in Cambodia than I ever have back at home.

Every bus we were on seemed to play a dubbed movie where a bald Asian kid fights demons and zombies by kicking and flying through the air. I find them entertaining, but the Cambodians LOVE them, laughing and cheering along the whole time.

Giving blood for the first time in Siem Reap

I gave blood for the first time in my life at a Cambodian blood bank in Siem Reap. Apparently I’m A-Negative.

While giving blood, the doctor, and educated man, was commenting how my blood was better than Carrie’s because I’m a man. He said to Carrie, “can you throw a football? I think not. He can. Can you climb a tree? Probably not, but he can.”

Giving blood was Carrie’s idea but I’m the one who walked away unscathed. She had a massive bruise and lump where the needle went in for more than a week.

More than 800 tourists a year donate blood to the clinic we went to…probably because they offer a free tee shirt. What traveler can say no to a free tee shirt?!

Many hotels have tuk tuk drivers waiting around for people to check in. They show the room then explain that they are a driver and can take the person wherever they want to go. You then become their property and they get really angry if you use anyone but them. I’m sorry, when did I become your possession?

Many bus companies sell your name to their friends at your destination, so when you get out of a bus there is someone there with your name on a sign waiting for you.

Traditional Cambodian dance costumes

We saw some local dance and music performances, which were pretty cool.

Cambodian money uses no change, only bills.

Seriously, if you don’t understand what I’m saying, don’t nod your head and say yes and then do something else. Like when a moto driver takes you somewhere that is not your destination. It just gaurentees an argument and possible non-payment.

Most prices are in dollars and ATMs only give out US Dollars. Change is given in local currency. So 1,000 riel is 25 cents. If something is $3.50, you pay $3 US and 2,000 riel. Very weird.

A tuk tuk driver that we used our first day at Angkor came and found us on our second day to make sure that we were really using bikes and not just going with someone else. Seriously, we’re not you’re property!

Despite how many streets there are and how many cars and bikes are on the road, there are amazingly few traffic lights. Still, traffic seems to flow just fine.

Carrie at Thommanon after we had a shot of rice wiskey with local workers

All gardening and manicuring at the Angkor complex is done by an army of workers. We stopped and had a drink of rice whiskey with a few of them at the end of our bike riding day.

The workers we had rice whiskey with told us that gardeners, guards and other workers at Angkor make around $25 per month for 12 hour work days and most have second jobs to make ends meet.

In order to get a souvenir vendor who was following me in Angkor to go away I told him that a different group of people wanted to buy his stuff. He replied, “no, they are Japanese. They no buy.”

Every day in Siem Reap I had a bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast. It was amazing and a little taste of home. Well, minus the Kraft singles…

Cambodian tourist sites are filled with kids selling books, such as these that found us on a patio by our hotel in Phnom Penh (taken by Carrie)

Cambodia is filled with kids selling all sorts of books wherever tourists go. The most popular ones are photocopied Lonely Planets, biographies of Pol Pot and tales relating to the Khmer Rouge.

The little kids at tourist stops are extremely smart and usually speak at least 4-5 languages. They also know most of the world and city capitals. All in a never-ending effort to impress tourists enough to buy their wares.

While wandering the streets of Siem Reap at night, our group was surrounded by cute little kids who all wanted to hold hands and be friendly. My hand was, of course, guarding my pocket the whole time. One girl complained that the girl holding her hand tried to slip her ring off.

Everyone is friendly until it’s time to talk money.

Every time Sportscenter comes on the TV I get excited that I might see some baseball highlights…instead I just see cricket.

In many convenience stores in Siem Reap the counter contains a row of condoms right next to a row of Viagra and other performance enhancing drugs

In many convenience stores in Siem Reap the counter contains a row of condoms right next to a row of Viagra and other performance enhancing drugs. Hilarious! (and I’m curious to see how much this blog gets spammed because I used the word Viagra on a Web page)

Most people we talked to have great English skills…way better than anywhere else on the trip.

Finally, we got a massage from blind people in Siem Reap. Recommended by Lonely Planet and countless other travelers, it was one of the sketchiest activities ever. We went down a dark alley to a dirty building used as the massage parlor. We shared a hot and stuffy room with another couple. The masseur felt me up from head to toe to figure out my body dimensions (understandable since he’s blind).

The four massage therapists were talking to each other in Khmer the whole time and laughing. We had to put on thick hospital scrubs that were too small and made us sweat like crazy. The massage was mostly pushing down and was super painful. And, after it was over, one of the massage therapists grabbed the other’s crotch…probably to check for an erection. Even Carrie, who has had countless massages, ranks it as one of the strangest of her life.

And one final video…the Coconut Dance as performed by kids in Siem Reap.

Dancing under the full moon

Imagine a beach with a few hundred feet between the water and a row of bars roughly a quarter mile long. Each bar is blasting music at concert volumes and selling buckets full of alcohol to anyone regardless of age or level of intoxication. Add some blacklights, body painting, glow in the dark items, food stalls and stages for people to dance on. Now put 10,000 people on the beach and see what happens.

While many revelers arrive on the day of the party, we got to Koh Phangan a day early so we would have time to check it all out before the madness began. After waking up in the late afternoon on our first day we wandered around and saw everyone setting up. That evening we attended a pool party next door to our hotel that was filled with a combination of people having a great time horsing around in the pool and others dancing on the dance floor. A wild scene unlike anything I’ve seen before, but as we were not in bathing suits or dancing, it was time to check out the beach.

Even though it was a warm-up night, there were still a few thousand people dancing away on the beach. The music was great, though it was a bit hard to hear at times as the bars are all right next to each other and the different songs mix together. As for the selection it was mostly trance, techno and an occasional hip hop song.

Over the course of the night our group was both together and separated, but every time we saw each other it was like finding a long lost friend in the crowd. At around 5am a flaming jump rope came out and we had a blast watching the drunks try and play. Carrie and I spent the night and early morning dancing our hearts out until the sun came up over the ocean behind us and they shut the music off. By the time we finally made it home it was past 7am.. Quite a warm-up.

While we all slept until 5pm the island underwent a transformation. People arrived in packs, every local was out selling something and the island felt positively electric. Tonight there was no pool party, no other activities…just the beach. The sky was clear, the moon full, the music blasting and we were ready to go!

Upon arriving at the beach the first thing we noticed was a huge police presence that was lacking the night before. There was also a “sleep area” where people who had a little too much fun could go and be kept safe by the on-site medical staff. It was good to see that precautions were being taken, as we had heard horror stories about full moon parties in the past.

Carrie shows off her glow in the dark tattoo in front of a wall filled with all of the options one could get painted on them

For those not needing police or medical attention, there were rows of stalls with blacklight body paint. Each one had pretty much the same designs, which they would paint on you for a price. The beach was also filled with people selling glow in the dark bracelets, hats, glasses and necklaces. Pretty much everyone on the beach had some sort of neon aspect to them. Mine was a bright green neon stick around my wrist.

Food stalls were set up all over the beach and taxi speedboats were waiting to take people to private parties on yachts anchored just off shore. Countless people were out in the water swimming, sitting, standing or laying down in one of the boats foolish enough to park there for the night. Pretty much everyone had a bucket of booze.

The actual party was the same as the night before: just about five times bigger. Pretty much the entire beach was filled with people dancing, talking, walking around, flirting and having a great time. There were fire dancers, people blowing fire, guys and girls spinning fire and, of course, more fire jump rope.

When sunrise finally came, there were tons more people on the beach than the day before. The music also never stopped. While we went back to the room around 7:30am, we met people who were dancing until nearly 3pm. Crazy!

Carrie and I in front of a full moon sunrise

So is it the greatest, biggest and best party in the world? That’s what they say and I do see some merit in the statement. The beach layout is great and gives people a large area to do things without having everything too spread out. Even with 10,000 people there is still room to move around.

At the same time, the closeness of the bars gets a bit old when the music mixes together. Also, if dancing the night away isn’t your thing then this is not the place to be. I feel like the best party in the world would have more options. For now I’ll label it a pretty awesome party and revisit the statement when I go to more of the “best parties in the world.”

Sunrise dance party at 530am

The beach is full of people partying

Pool party at Coral Bungalows

Firedancing with a double sided light saber stick

Blacklight body painting