Trip to Cuenca, Chorreras de Cabriel and Pantano de Chera (with video!)

 

Last month I had to go to Madrid to do some paperwork. On the way back, we stopped at Cuenca,  Chorreras de Cabriel and we did camping at Pantano de Chera which was by a beautiful lake!

First stop we went to Cuenca. 

It is a precious city located in the Castilla-La Mancha autonomous community famous for its hanging houses by the cliff. This city was populated from Stone Age and was given the name "Qūnka" by the muslims when they conquered the Iberian Peninsula (which was later the territory of Spain) in the 8th century. It is absolutely breath-taking to view this city from the top! 

Cuenca is just under 2 hours drive from Madrid. Alternatively you can take the train which the journey is around 3.5 hours so it's worth renting a car not to mention you can visit other towns and cities around it. 

But I have to it was roasting to be in the centre of inland Spain in August especially with the mask on!!

We invested the word "Hotísimo" which means Hot + ísimo which is to add to any adjetives in Spanish to exaggerate. 😂

 

Food was amazing though and it is very different from what we normally eat in Valencia.

Since it is inland, they eat and use a lot of Jamón (ham), Embutido (cured meat) and Salazón (salted dry fish ... yes like the Chinese ones you are thinking about) for cooking. They also eat a lot of more meat and make the most of every part. For instance, we had beef tripe stew and grilled pork ear which were scrumptious! I would never have imagined occidental people would eat these parts ... I always thought it was a Chinese thing. This confirms once again why I love Spain! 😆

Afterwards we went to Chorreras de Cabriel.

It is a literally a natural water park! This is only part of it because I did not always have my phone with me (see more in the video below). There are many level of waterfalls and you can easily spend a day there and do picnic!

It is around 2 hours drive from Valencia. Again it is a great place to stop by if you are planning to drive from Valencia to Madrid or vice versa. Entrance is free but parking will be 10 euros so better go early and enjoy the day there! 

Later on we went to Pantano de Chera which is an official camping site by a lovely lake within the Valencia Community.

(Here are more suggestions on places to visit in Valencia Community.) 

Unfortunately I haven't taken a lot of photos here because it was getting dark and it was a bit hectic setting up the tent when there was a great population of starving mosquitos. But the view was stunning there and I have include it in the below video I put together to sum up our 3 days trip. 

😛

I hope you enjoy my sharing. Can't wait to visit more places with you 💕

Lots of love,

Cherrie x