Spain is a beautiful country. Its rich cultural heritage and scenic landscapes are captivating to every visitor. It has the world's second largest UNESCO World Heritage sites. [Wikipedia} It was one time the strongest kingdom in Europe during the 16th century.
It was with great excitement and anticipation as 52 of us, Malaysian tourists, that landed in the International Airport of Barcelona. It was somewhere in December , 2007. There were many marvelous sights and plenty of interesting , delicious Spanish dishes. Our stay was very memorable but there was something that we experienced that we want to forget but cannot.
It happened in Cordoba city , resident to many ancient Roman and Islamic architectures and archaeological sites. Halfway through the trip we arrived a this scenic city , amid a nice, pleasant ,cool temperature similar to Genting Highlands. It was about 5pm in the evening . We checked into this very, elegantly decorated hotel reminiscent of the rich historical and cultural inheritance of the surroundings. The hotel was small and so was the lift. With 52 anxious tourists queuing at the door, some of us walked the stairs. My niece did so. We were sharing a room and it was located in the second floor. She found the room in no time and she was very pleased with the room .
It looked cozy and comfortable, tastefully decorated with matching colors and ambience. She was looking forward to a good rest and relaxation [ similarly I was very impressed with the room]. As she opened the door she saw the window which opens out to a magnificent view of a lush, green meadow land. This is our lucky day, she congratulated herself. To gain a better view she approached the window to open it. There was a tiny cabinet housing a fridge, in front of and below the window but she noticed that the top drawer was extending out. Oops.. maybe the maid overlooked this, she thought. As she leaned over to unlatch the windows she pushed the opened drawer in . At that moment the door below swung out. Umm... maybe a faulty mechanism, she speculated. And she gave no further thought to that.
Soon I arrived and could not wait to enjoy a refreshing shower. There she was . My niece was busy 'negotiating' with the TV. Apparently she was flabbergasted ; every time she managed to turn on CNN [after many tries], a while later the screen reverted back to a Spanish speaking show! Well, another faulty gadget, we guessed. I went into the bathroom. Strangely the atmosphere was stuffy and nauseating, and there was like some pressure on my head and I struggled to breathe. Also there were some loud,clanging sounds emanating from the water pipes but the latter were not moving or broken.[In the interest of fair reporting, my niece later had a normal shower and thought the sounds to be caused by the old pipes] I rushed out of the bathroom and asked my niece, "Is anyone knocking on the door?" She replied, "No."
It was almost time for dinner and we did not want to delay others so we left for the hotel lobby. To save energy, my niece switched off both the lights and that 'crazy' TV .
About 9 pm we got back to the hotel. The second we stepped into the room I was a bit irritated and asked my niece, "Didn't you switch off the TV when we left?" "I definitely did," she replied with a strange look. What is happening? Things are getting spookier moment by moment. Soon my niece became busy 'wrestling' with the TV again to get the right channel. Then it turns weird ; we heard sounds of moving chairs. Strange.
Twenty minutes later as planned , our friends from our adjoining rooms came over to chat, relax and look at the photos in our digital camera. We asked our friends if they were rearranging the furniture but they laughed and answered the negative. While we were having our 'girls' talk and 'lazying' around in the room one of the girls who was seated near the TV, noticed that the TV was jutting out of the cabinet and seemed like it was about to topple over. She pushed it securely back. She commented that it was a strange position for a TV. On hearing our frustration, they too, tried to work on the TV remote control but it was crazy, beyond control.
At about 11 pm we decided to call it a night. We switched off the lights and went to sleep. After a few minutes, in the pitch darkness we heard eerie noises. They were uncanny sounds of chairs and tables being shuffled about, armchair moving, and drawers sliding in and out. And worst of all, it seemed to be originating from somewhere in our room. We were were starting to feel nervous. We held our breath but did not speak ,thinking not to frighten the other. At first the scary sounds came from the study table and chair. Then like an entity itself, the noise moved to my bedside table. Both of us numbed with fear and shock, could only listened intently. It sounded like it was shaking the bedside table robustly! A menacing presence is drawing nearer! IT'S NOW OR NEVER! In a panicky and trembling voice I 'ordered' my niece, "Turn on the master lights!!" She flicked the switch at her bedside table and the whole room lit up. The noise stopped instantly. Our hearts pounding and with quivering fingers we tried the hotel phone to make 'room to room' call to our friends. But the phone was not working. With lightning speed we grab our personal stuff and walked barefoot to our friend's room. My niece took a pillow and wanted to bring it along but I firmly discouraged her . "We don't want that 'thing' to follow us to the next room," I alerted her. I felt relieved that she threw it back.
We survived.
Our trip on the whole was very enjoyable and memorable spiced by an unforgettable experience!
Story told by Amelia Choo, Kuala Lumpur
