11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

The black art of moving from A to B on foreign soil
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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 30 - 01/06/10
End Location: Desfiladero de los Gaitanes, Spain
Days Mileage: 101
Total Mileage: 4048

Woke at about eight and showered. James was already packed and ready to go so we said our farewells. Struck camp and set off back to Gib for the chores. Did English shopping at Morrisons, visited the bank and changed money and then decided to get the fuck out of Dodge.
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Set off on the quickest route to Alora along the coastal dual carriageway but it was getting very hot again - 35 °- so I headed inland to the Camino del Rey. This is the ancient crumbling path beloved of You-tubers that climbs up and through the gorge. When I found it the start of the path was missing - whether by accident or design I don't know. Without crossing 20 metres of bare vertical rockwall there was no chance to get onto the start of the path so that clarified whether I was going to try walking it. There were signs indicating trespassing on the path was against the law but also that it was going to be restored so that might justify a future return trip. Even though I couldn't walk the path the location was lovely and the lake seemed to keep it cooler than back on the road.
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It was just turning six and with the sweltering heat I decided to look for somewhere to stop. As luck would have it just slightly further up the valley I found small hotel offering reasonable B&B. €35 for a room, dinner, a beer and bottled water, along with use of their swimming pool! Done.
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Had a flounder in the rather skanky pool and spotted a rat lurking in the kitchen. I should have tried to do more with the evening but the heat had fucked me up. I must try and the Spanish way - morning and evening to do stuff, midday to rest and eat.
Link to my travels webpage:



http://BearingsUnlimited.blogspot.co.uk
BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 31 - 02/06/10
End Location: Granada, Spain
Days Mileage: 128
Total Mileage: 4176

Managed to be up for breakfast at 8am and then on the bike by 8:45!! The Riding was lovely and cool so I rode back down to the gorge for another look and then headed up into the hills. The landscape looked gorgeous with the soft morning light really drawing everything in close.
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The roads were very windy and the bike felt very unstable - I really must ditch some stuff. Rode down by the lakes on the other side of the gorge which were mirror smooth and it all reminded me very much of the Lake District in the soft light. Navigated to El Torcal without the 'assistance' of the satnav and it's useless Spanish maps.
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I was just parking up at the visitor centre when a coach load of college students arrived so I wangled an English map and set off to do the long loop round the karst formations. Luckily they were not so adventurous so I had it all to myself. Unfortunately I assumed that the mapped route would be some sort of path when it turned out to be scrambling over rocks and through bushes for 2 miles.
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Foolishly followed the satnav to Granada along the dual carriageway which was shit. Stopped at a service station where I struggled to obtain a sandwich from the worlds grumpiest waitress. Luckily it was delicious so I lay outside in the shade having a snooze for an hour or so.

Moving on to Granada I found the Alhambra complex fairly easily and bought a timed ticket. Very busy but well organised and it was never oppressively crowded. Initially I felt a bit Jaded with the moorish architecture after Morocco but the Generalife and then the Nasrid Palace were sublime. A fitting pinnacle to my string of Moorish gems.

Easily found a campsite and again they had a pool. In perfect accordance with Murphy's law I discovered that I had a broken tent pole, literally the day after I threw away the spare section back at La Linea!!! Bugger. Thank fuck for duct tape.
Link to my travels webpage:



http://BearingsUnlimited.blogspot.co.uk
PHILinFRANCE
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

Post by PHILinFRANCE »

Great stuff
BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Link to my travels webpage:



http://BearingsUnlimited.blogspot.co.uk
BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 32 - 03/06/10
End Location: Penas de San Pedro, Spain
Days Mileage: 233
Total Mileage: 4408

It has been very hard today - one of the hardest so far, but has ended well.

Woke feeling ill with a sore throat and my nose felt odd after the nosebleed that I had in the night - the second one of the trip. I haven't had one for years. Consigned my thermals and my cooking gear to the bin and discovered that my bottle of oil had leaked into the pannier. Arse!
Satnav tried to lead me through a parallel version of Granada full of reversed one way streets and dead ends so I resorted to following signs and after a quandary over Cazorla National Park for Lammegeier vultures or Spaghetti Western sets in the desert, I opted for Cazorla. (spoiler - should have gone to the desert).
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Cazorla was pretty enough with a dramatically sited castle but I misread a sign and headed up to what I thought was a viewpoint but was actually a ludicrously steep off road track. Ground to a halt only to have the bike slide back with the front wheel locked but unable to reach the rear as I needed both feet to stabilise. No choice but to turn it as it rolled backwards and try not to fall off the highside. Fucking moron. Got the bike up and pulled it round until it was pointing downhill but had lost all interest in sights or anything else as I pinballed back down to the road. Just ploughed on through the very green but progressively duller national park with not a trace of any vultures.
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I was still feeling tired and rough so I stopped and was soon spark out under a bridge. Appropriate to my troll like state.
I awoke after an hour feeling worse if anything but soon found some lovely roads of almost white tarmac winding through orchards and olive groves carpeted with wildflowers. The road up through Ayna wasn't scenic on the map, unlike Cazorla, but was a hidden gem, although I was more interested in pushing on than stopping for pictures.
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Eventually the weather started to turn so I pulled into a petrol station to suit up just as the thunder and the downpour started. Luckily in the next town I spotted a hostel opposite a hilltop castle that I remember from my research. Lovely modern room for €25 then once the rain had abated I was up the hill to check out the castle. Had a lovely burger and chips and watched bullfighting on the TV in the bar, chatting sporadically with the very friendly barmaid before bed.
Link to my travels webpage:



http://BearingsUnlimited.blogspot.co.uk
BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 33 - 04/06/10
End Location: Morrella, Spain
Days Mileage: 275
Total Mileage: 4683

After a hasty breakfast and a shambolic loading of the bike I was on the road to the 'Chinchilla of Monte Aragon' for no reason apart from the rodent-y name! What I got instead of a giant fluffy squirrel was a nice fortified hilltop town and castle, although the castle was closed for building work.
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Next stop was the Castle de la Selva. Roads were generally awesome today and the riding was really enjoyable as long as you ignored the protestations of the satnav. Again not marked as scenic but much better than most of yesterdays, with ideal conditions - cool, still yet sunny.
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Passed two more closed castles before heading through an out of season ski resort on the road to Alcaniz, winding through dramatic karst scenery. Oddly enough all of the pull-ins seemed to be exactly wrong to view the landscape, usually being surrounded by bushes or just out of sight . Very frustrating. I stopped to take a photo in Mirambec and got chatting to to dutch cyclists who reckoned that Morella was lovely so I had a new destination.
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Rolled into Morella just before sundown and found a cheap hotel courtesy of the very vivacious tourist office girl. Had a lovely meal and three LARGE beers before wandering the streets until well past dark. My longest mileage so far and easily my best day in Spain.
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http://BearingsUnlimited.blogspot.co.uk
BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 34 - 05/06/10
End Location: Navarcles, Spain
Days Mileage: 218
Total Mileage: 901

Bad nights sleep and barely made breakfast, feeling that nothing was quite right. Finally topped up the chain oiler and when I set off at least the bike felt smooth and settled. The scenery was awesome with some huge molar-like volcanic extrusions to one side and a twited spire with chapel on top on the other. Did a little sightseeing before moving on to Poblet.
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The monastery was very kempt but only middling impressive, although a party of Americans with some fluent Spanish speakers meant I got a better than usual idea of the history. Had a coke in the cafe across the road, served by Spain's fattest goth chick and then I was back on the bike to Montserrat.
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Spotted the appropriately named mountain from a distance and followed the road about being impressed by the scenery and joining dozens of other bikers enjoying the twisties. Eventually found the gate but couldn't work out how to get a ticket so I followed another biker through and parked at the top. Initially I was worried about my lack of ticket but then my jaw dropped. What an incredible place. Hadn't really researched this at all so what a lucky choice. Checked out the basilica but there was something going on so I didn't tarry. Outside I discovered that the train, the funicular and the cablecar were all about to stop for the evening so I had to content to walk down to the lower funicular stop. Much easier than coming back up that is for sure.
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After chatting with a lovely black woman over an ice lolly I was back on the bike and headed for the satnavs nearest campsite - 39km away along Spain's windiest road!! Unfortunately, once found it clearly hadn't been open for some years. Cheers Tomtom! Another bullseye.

I returned to the last town and was directed to a cheap hotel by a quad rider - literally across the road from where he was stopped. Once the manageress's English speaking daughter arrived I secured a lovely cheap room but made up for it with a fairly expensive steak dinner in their restaurant, although I had plenty of enjoyable conversation with her which was a real bonus.
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http://BearingsUnlimited.blogspot.co.uk
BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 35 - 06/06/10
End Location: Latour de France, France
Days Mileage: 142
Total Mileage: 5043
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Dull drizzly conditions so I dithered over breakfast before setting off in a very relaxed state. Heading for Figueres along the dual carriageway through a series of fabulous long tunnels the weather improved and I stayed relaxed. I easily found the Theatrical Museum of Dali and parked on the pavement for my visit. It was a really interesting place; it is surprising how influential he has been. Not many great paintings but the place as a creation in its own right was fabulous. An added bonus was a complete set of Piranesi etchings in the stairwell!
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Heading through the scrappy and horridly busy border towns of La Jonquila and La Perthus the most impressive thing was the prostitute who has set up an a plastic chair in no man's land between the two countries!! Very enterprising.
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After a visit to McDonalds (sacrilege!) mainly for the free wifi, I sought shelter in first a hotel (closed 'til later)and then a campsite where there were two British bikers in reception just in front of me. As it was raining I postponed setting up the tent and got chatting to Brian and Chris from Inverness in the covered barbecue area instead. They invited me to bring the bike in but the electrical non starting gremlin had returned so It had another strip down. Running again but no wiser as to the cause I celebrated with a run to the village for some beers and then spent the rest of the evening chatting and drinking. Very pleasant. They are doing the same as me tomorrow with the Cathar fortresses. I will doubtless see them about as I will be staying another night.
Link to my travels webpage:



http://BearingsUnlimited.blogspot.co.uk
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