Tag Archives: mountains

Day 34 – I see ice on the mountain tops

With our excursion to the east already a success, we now put our eyes on the Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela. It’s a good 2 hour drive to get there so we planned to spend a night in the mountains to fully immerse ourselves.

Hopping back down

The drive through the small villages with orange and lemon trees full of fruits was delightful. Quite a lot of houses are for sale so we mused for a while about getting a quinta with an olive grove…you never know.

Before we entered the National Park, we stocked up on groceries and fuel, just to be safe. Coming from the plains, going higher and higher up the mountains was pretty cool already. We stopped at the first view point for exactly those views but it was too close to the road for a lunch stop. So we continued further into the park. Finding the perfect spot proved to be a difficult thing. The next official picnic area was pretty full with a busload of people. Thus, we backtracked a little bit and took a gravel road for a couple of hundred meters until we were just out of sight. Blue George had quite the adventure getting us there. We were happy with the place though it was really cold, when we got out of the car. Really cold. You-can-see-your-own-breath cold. There is no bad weather, just bad gear…we wrapped up in warm clothes and had lunch. Flo decided that since it was so cold, we needed a warm lunch, got out the cooker and fried eggs and sausages.

It made for an epic lunch. Number 3 had a lot of fun running around and examining the pine cones on the ground. One thing was clear after the stop though: We wouldn’t spend the night on the mountain. The altitude of 1600 meters meant that it was 4 degrees at high noon. This time, we really just didn’t have the gear (or the heart/nerves) to camp in minus degrees with Number 3. His nights have been bad enough lately without us adding “being cold” to the list of reasons why he wakes us up.

Epic Flo shot

After lunch, we really enjoyed our drive through the National Park up until the town of Manteigas. The town is on a lower altitude already but was still too cold for us. We went in search of a café but couldn’t find one. Instead we bought baked goods for the road and continued.

The “rustic” camp ground in Gouveia, still an hour away, was our goal for the night. The way out was about as windy as the way in. Filled with great views and great roads for Blue George (and Flo).

At the camp ground, we took it slow. The interrupted nights took a toll on Flo and my energy levels.

  • Into new adventures…
  • …in the National park
  • Looking onto the plains
  • Hopping back down
  • Field of granite boulders
  • Enjoying the ride
  • Yes, that is definitely a patch of ice
  • Exploded Blue George
  • Running and running and runnig
  • Sausage rolls for lunch
  • Blue George on his own adventure
  • Car fun!
  • This is my view of things
  • Into the valley
  • Roadside waterfall
  • Different valley, now towards Gouveia
  • It is still pretty here
  • I wasn’t too keen on the roads with absolutely no guards against falling for a couple of hundred meters
  • Lookout into the valley
  • Epic Flo shot
  • Nina on the rocks
  • Still having fun
  • Camp at Gouveia
  • Silly buggers

Day 12 – Granada or the Disappointment of sights in Spain

It had been really bloody cold last night. Temperatures dropped to somewhere between 3 to 1 degree and it made for an uncomfortable night. Not because we didn’t have enough blankets to deal with it but because Number 3 refused to sleep in his cold “bed” and decided that mama was the only warm place to sleep upon.

There is a ticket office that has the “no tickets available” sign permanently nailed to it …

Today was the day to visit Granada. Our camp ground was only about a 30km drive away and I had really been looking forward to seeing the Alhambra. However, it turned out (again) that Spain is incompatible with our travelling style. We had the same trouble in Barcelona already when we couldn’t get tickets to see any of the sights I wanted to see. Though back then, we could have remedied it by staying a couple of days longer: No same-day tickets but tickets in a couple of days were available. So we learned from this and had checked out tickets for the Alhambra about 3 days in advance with the option of adding up to 3 days to our stay…just to make sure we actually get to see it this time. De nada. Online tickets to visit the Alhambra are sold out until the middle of June. There is a small number of same-day tickets but people start queueing for them from 2am onwards…nothing that is at all feasible with a baby.

So there we had it. Physically in Granada, unable to see Alhambra. Didn’t make for the best of mornings or city visits. I understand the necessity of regulating the number of visitors…didn’t lessen the disappointment though.

We still drove into Granada and checked out the outside of the Alhambra but it isn’t that much fun. Also, there is not much to see except for a wall and a bit of garden. It’s a good time to go as all the orange trees have fruits upon fruits hanging on them and just look lovely.

TAPAS!

With that little sightseeing done, we drove into the city center of Granada. Eating traditional tapas helped a little to get over the disappointment. We picked a traditional tapas place instead of fusion one to get a taste of southern Spain. Flo loved it! He ordered the “warm plate” for two people, even if the menu suggested that only one thing on there was vegetarian. So I had Spanish potato and egg omelette from the plate and a spinach empanada that I ordered. Not feeling quite as filled as Flo I continued to order “Queso a la plancha” which turned out to be three big pieces of grilled cheese with orange marmalade and…fish eggs…*shudder*. Luckily, everything was piled up neatly and I could eat around the fish eggs.

A stroll through the inner city showed us some great architecture and an impressively clean and rich looking city. For our actual sightseeing, we went into the museum next to the cathedral; the place where Isabella and Ferdinand are buried and some of their personal things and art is exhibited. So I got to see some Memlings and Van der Weydens as well as a Botticelli up close.

Worn out from walking around and spending that much time in the sun, we continued on a short while towards Malaga. A very affordable little camp ground right before the city was our stop for the night.

  • The team checking out the spectacular early morning views
  • that is what they found
  • Top view on the reservoir and the mointains from the campground
  • There is a ticket office that has the “no tickets available” sign permanently nailed to it …
  • beggars at the door
  • peeking in like a commoner
  • Would have been a nice walk down to the city
  • garden between the walls
  • A little orange grove in the parking lot. Funny to see fruit bearing trees as decoration
  • heading down to the city. Our front view with the tent up there 😉
  • TAPAS!
  • He manages to scrounge treats wherever we go …
  • building decoration
  • The mausoleum / tempel of Isabella and Ferdinand
  • Heading for the Costa del Sol

Day 10 – Southwards

It sure feels as if we’re getting better at this now. This morning we took it slow (again) but it was just so beautiful. Number 3 woke us up at 7am which is his normal time and when we opened the “window” the morning sun came in. Lovely views onto the camp ground, the old olive trees and the still red sunrise … couldn’t ask for more.

Flo even managed to post one more blog entry before we hit the road. Number 3 dutifully fell asleep and we had a smooth ride until lunch time. By this time, we had made it half way around Valencia and needed fuel as well as bread for lunch.

Both were available. Fuel right next to the motorway and bread in a town just a little of the motorway. It was a proper bakery with amazing looking treats, so I had to buy some extras: A spinach-filled empanada and five tiny croissants con chocolate. Flo decided to sample some local craft beer and got a bottle of something (Mahou Barrica).

All my extras turned out to be smart buys as finding a good lunch spot, where Baby could roam around for a while, proved hard to come by. Given that we were on a motorway around a big city, it isn’t even a surprise in hindsight.

So we had a late lunch around 2pm, somewhere tucked away underneath trees to avoid the direct sun, which was up now quite mercilessly.

Getting back onto the road and into the driving groove turned out to be a little bit difficult as Number 3 wasn’t keen on more sleep. We coaxed him through most of the hard bits and, finally, he decided to have a late afternoon nap. With this morale boost, we made it to the designated camp ground in the Sierra Espuñas. The last bit of the road wound in and out the national park. Lots of tight curves rising up to almost 700m for the camp.

  • Actual Orange Plantations all around us
  • good roads, towards more hills
  • Spain turnes out rather more mountainous than we would have expected
  • finally
  • Number 3 enjoyed the up and down at our hilly lunch stop
  • ready for sleep, no awning today
  • Flo’s side
  • Number 3’s side
  • everything neatly within reach
  • tag
  • Jeah-na bro, ’tis empty. Daddy drank it all …

Day 280 – The mountainous side of Iran

The mosque from the outside

The mosque from the outside

Three nights in Esfahan seemed enough. But as Flo wrote, we kept missing the mosque that made it to the cover of the Lonely Planet. After breakfast, after packing everything, this was our last stop: Masjed-e Sheikh Lotfollah.

This mosque considerably smaller than the other two that we visited. It was thus a nice stop before leaving the city. Through the blue entrance, you come to a small tunnel which leads into the domed chamber of the mosque. The tunnel is necessary to ensure the orientation towards Mecca but it very subtly done. You mostly realize it because the guide book tells you that’s what’s happening. 🙂

Part of the whole thing

Part of the whole thing

The chamber itself is beautiful with tiles in the lower wall section and then real mosaic for the inscription. Unfortunately, by now we are mosque-d out and didn’t stay long even though we enjoyed it. It is also possible to see the vaults underneath so we went. All the walls are clinically white and a single stall sells tiny wooden versions of the mosque…

For a good bye wave, we crossed two of the bridges that cross the river in Esfahan and rode off towards Zagros Mountains. The Lonely Planet describes the stretch between Chelgerd and Yasuj as “spectacular but without tourist infrastructure”. Doesn’t that sound exactly like our cup of tea? Since we only left Esfahan around noon, we wouldn’t make it all the way today anyway. Instead, we had a picnic lunch under trees and prepared for the height and coldness of the mountains. Well, Flo did. He put on the water- and windproof layer at lunch time. I was still feeling fine mostly because Flo acts as my wind blocker.

Snow-covered mountain view framed by trees...how very picturesque!

Snow-covered mountain view framed by trees…how very picturesque!

The Mountains. We reached a cruising height of about 2200 meters. The ranges in the distance were still higher and completely snow-capped. Snow…a sight we haven’t had in a while. With a cloud cover, wind and the height, it was now c.o.l.d. I didn’t want us to stop just so I could put on a jacket…so we had a tea break instead. 🙂 Hot drinks were amazing on such a day and got us into the right spirit to delve deeper into the world of mountains. We bought everything for dinner and headed out with the intention of camping somewhere along the way.

Sharing the road...

Sharing the road…

Which is exactly what we did. Enjoying the ride with little traffic, sharing the road mostly with shepherds and sheep, we continued. Evidence of nomadic life can be seen everywhere here. Tents, shelters built of branches and the occasional brick house can be seen on the slopes of the mountains while small herds of sheep are being moved constantly. Most shepherds have dogs to help them keep the sheep in line while some also ride donkeys. While the donkeys are universally cute and fluffy (not to speak of the loads they carry), shepherd’s dogs are a bit more worrying. Most of them seem to really dislike the sound Rocinante makes and their sense of protection kicks in. Once or twice a dog chased after us.

All set up with a gorgeous backdrop

All set up with a gorgeous backdrop

When we had enough for the day, we followed a dirt track up into the hills. It turned out to be a service and access road to an irrigation channel. Making sure we didn’t block anything and didn’t end up pitching our tent in a field, we found a spot that was perfect. Out of the way, level and mostly private. Once we had set up camp, a lone fellow visited us on a motorbike. He seemed to belong to the house/farm further down but we couldn’t really communicate. I think he invited us to stay at the house but I’m not sure. Also, with the tent now up that would have been just more trouble than it’s worth. He came back twice in the evening; once to warn us that the sprinklers would now be turned on (which didn’t affect us) and the last time…we’re not sure but he left wishing us a good night. That is one phrase that I know even if I cannot say it; Azemeh and the girls tried really hard to teach me.

 

Day 208 – Vang Vieng

Croissants with butter and jam

Croissants with butter and jam

Again, having only a 150km stretch to ride today, we decided to have breakfast at the fancy French bakery. Pain of chocolate (pain au chocolate) is just my favourite way to start the day. Again, it was delicious. We were happy now to leave Vientiane behind which did turn out to be a sleepy little town.

150km north of the capital is the small town of Vang Vieng. In earlier days, it was a party-haven for young travellers wanting to tube down the river while being high, but three years ago the party scene was shut down. Nowadays, outdoor activities such as kayaking, tubing and rock climbing are the center of tourism here.

An example of the red dirt colouring everything

An example of the red dirt colouring everything

The road to Vang Vieng turned out to be the worst in quite a while. Giant potholes interchanged with missing stretches of road. It reminded us of Timor-Leste, to be honest. Thus, it took us longer than expected. Unfortunately, there was also no nice space to stop and take a break from the taxing ride as we were pretty much walled in by trees and bushes that had taken on the colour of the dirt. Riding in the clouds of cars and trucks was also not that much fun.

Nice and refreshing

Nice and refreshing

We finally stopped on a bridge for a rehydration break as the view from up here was refreshing after all the red. Nothing to linger on too long though which meant that we arrived at our destination before lunch time. This early, we even got a room at Pan’s Place, one of the popular hostels in town. Since the cafe and our room looked nice, we decided to book two night from the get go.

The prices at our hostel’s café looked reasonable so we had lunch right here and then in form of Western food. While waiting on the burger and cheese-garlic-baguette, two other Germans sat down at our table. They had seen us arrive on the Transalp and were keen to talk, one motorcyclist to another.

Rather worrying wooden bridge

Rather worrying wooden bridge

Being in a slight food coma after lunch, it took decisive action to get out of our room once more and actually DO something with our time in Vang Vieng. The Lonely Planet recommends a tiny loop of about 26km which is short enough that many attempted it on a bicycle. We, however, took Rocinante out for a spin enjoying the dirt roads through mountainous scenery rather than the many waterfall and cave stops. And what beautiful scenery it was! We took 1 ½ hours for the 26km to take it all in, take many photos including Flo riding on the dirt roads and wave to all the locals we met.

Last bit of motorbike epicness for the day

Last bit of motorbike epicness for the day

At one moment, a lady working in a rice field actually smiled at us and waved and I wish I could have taken a picture of this moment but some things are too fleeting to grab on camera.

Very happy that we actually went on this loop, we arrived back at the hostel to plan tomorrow.

 

 

Day 206 – Into city life?

Looking out

Looking out

After two quiet days, we said good-bye to the mountains for now. The next stretch of road will bring us back to the Mekong river and into the Laotian capital, Vientiane. We had heard from other travelers that Vientiane is a rather sleepy little town instead of a pulsating metropolis but the Lonely Planet pimped it for its food so spending a day in a sleepy city was a risk we were prepared to take.

From our lovely guest house in Ban Khoun Kham, it was 270km to go till Vientiane. We had the whole day to cover this stretch so there was no need to rush which made for a relaxed ride. Right in the beginning, we turned a corner to stumble across an amazing view: Mountains behind mountains behind mountains. So we took some time to take it in, enjoy it and take pictures. 🙂

We stopped once at a river for a shade and water break and then again when we tried to sort out lunch. Near one village, a row of food stalls lined the street all selling what looked like cooked corn and rice packed in banana leaves. Unsure whether it was just normal rice or sweet sticky rice (a local dessert), we stopped to find out and buy some. However, I utterly failed in communicating with the local lady despite me using the picture-dictionary. She didn’t confirm when I pointed on the picture of rice but seemed very fascinated by the depictions of cake. Unsure what to do, I called over Flo and in the end, we ended up buying a whole “line” of “rice” parcels instead of four. Somehow, these didn’t look as if you just cut one of the end; they came in a neat bundle of maybe 20. The whole affair cost us $3 so even if we’d end up with a whole lot of plain rice, not a lot was lost. Instead, the lovely lady handed us two of the white roots that you see everywhere for free.

Happy, we rode on until we found a nice resting spot to see and taste what we got. The white root is surprisingly yummy, tasting like turnip cabbage while having the texture of an apple. The rice in banana leaves turned out to be…something else. Flo opened one of them and we were astonished at the amount of leaves used; the content was rather tiny given the size of the packets. After smelling what it might be (smelled fishy), Flo tried it and confirmed that it was some kind of fish sausage made out of raw fish. Yuck. Not lunch at all.

Not wanting to waste it all by simply throwing it away, Flo went to four locals relaxing in the shade and offered it to them. First, they thought he asked for food but when they understood that we were giving food away, one of the ladies especially, was immensely happy. While we put our gear back on, she started handing out the parcels and cut the second white root for the children. A much better solution. 🙂

Still hunting for lunch, we stopped at a baguette vendor where Flo got the usual grub of pate and salad on bread. I was not quite so lucky and also out of energy to try so I had plain baguettes for once. Unfortunately, I had run out of Nutella, otherwise this would have been amazing lunch. 😉

Parking Rocinante in the hallway for the night

Parking Rocinante in the hallway for the night

The afternoon was used for the last 100km. Somehow, while riding smoothly, I got homesick. So we had another break to talk a bit before we finally hit Vientiane. The traffic increased but only to town level. Only about three streets seem to make up the town center which are filled with hostels, cafes and tourists. Not having a plan other than getting to Vientiane, we stopped at a busy street corner, figuring out which hostel still had rooms available and ended up in the least busy of the streets in a small-ish guest house. Prices are back up to $20 a night for a bare room with a bed but at least, we should be able to sleep here considering the noise is less bad than one street over.

Tired, we only got back out for dinner at an Indian place with okay food but delicious naan bread. It finally satisfied my craving for a decent Chai tea as well.

Day 102 – Mehs and Yays

Google is wrong! Well, maybe not in general, but regarding the geolocation of Dalam Loka, a historic sultan’s palace.

Build in the 19th century for the Sultan in Sumbawa

Build in the 19th century for the Sultan in Sumbawa

But in order: We managed to do as we set out to and pack up early enough to get on the road before the heat is too unbearable. Nina wanted to see the weaving of traditional cloth, called ikat by the lonely planet, first hand. We have seen woman dying cloth and weaving in mountain villages on Flores, but did not stop to take photos or have a chat. Going into more and more developed parts of Indonesia, this felt like one of the last good chances to do so. But alas, the geolocation demons struck again. The directions in the lonely planet were sketchy at best, the open street maps has the village mentioned in the wrong place and it was Friday early morning in an Islamic part of the country. We did not even find the right village in the end, but the round trip on beautiful back roads through lush green rice paddies was worth it none the less.

With that first failure under our belt, we decided to give the sultan’s palace a go. Google said it is 20 km south in the mountains. It was also a point of interest on the OSM map, so we let the GPS guide the way. Turned out we ended up back in Sumbawa Besar after all – within walking distance of our hotel …

The palace was a nice photo-op but not much more, and we decided that it was time to head east for good. When we came upon the fork in the road, leading either south to some more Sumbawa surfer beaches or east to the ferry to Lombok, the discussion was a short one. Although we met amazing people, we never really warmed to Sumbawa and we went towards the ferry. We are here to enjoy ourselves after all.

nice place for a ferry port ...

nice place for a ferry port …

The ferry was quick, painless and reasonably cheap. The sea was roughest of all ferry rides so far though and poor Rocinante got a good spray of salt water on the way. Well, at least it was quick this time.

On Lombok, the route was pretty clear: North, up the mountain where it is nice and cool. And green, oh such sweet green. I can honestly say, I am over savannahs. Too dry, too hot. And gosh, Lombok delivered. Lush, green rainforest enveloping the beautiful, winding road. Vistas, monkeys. Our spirits sored. Nina got fresh strawberries in a mountain valley!  Although, we got more than a little homesick for New Zealand at this point.

The accommodation was good, much better than what we got for that price so far, and the climate really suited us. We booked a guide for tomorrow for a half day track through the surroundings and two waterfalls nearby, since Gundung Rinjani (the big volcano on Lombok) was still closed for all climbers due to its recent activity.