Route During Week Fifteen

Sadly, it's the last week of our trip. We head off from the spectacular As Catedrais beach.

Our next stop is an unplanned and unexpected delight.  Cudillero in the Asturias region is marked on our map as a place we’d like to visit but it has somehow slipped our minds until we remind ourselves of it by chance.

It’s a fishing village with a working fishing fleet, a harbour, and a village whose colourfully painted houses tumble down the hill to meet the sea. 

The real joy is the coastline, very rocky with high cliffs that are pounded relentlessly by a sea that churns and roars and that at high tide is a fearsome thing. We park in the harbour car park where motorhome overnighting is permitted; the sea wall is high - maybe 15 feet - but at high tide, the waves still send spray over the top. 

There’s a lovely walk all around the top of the sea wall which we do in warm sunshine as soon as we arrive. 

We walk into the village the next day, and again the weather is lovely.  We happen upon a tunnel down which is gushing a stream confined to a concrete channel. 

We see from the information board that this is the Piñera River which was diverted back in the 19th century to prevent it from running through the village. It's possible to walk through the tunnel which we do - dark and forbidding though it is. It brings us out on the other side of the village.

The village has tourist infrastructure but not too much - some shops selling local produce and classy souvenirs and some restaurants - and thankfully for us a laundry, as the clean pants and socks supplies are getting low!

We take a tip from an American couple we have been talking to and book a restaurant for lunch and we’re glad we did as by 2 o’clock everywhere is full.  English is little spoken here but everyone is really friendly so having ordered baby squid to start, we then take the restaurateur’s advice on ordering main dishes although this means we aren’t exactly sure what we’re getting except that it’s fish!

Once you place your order, the fish is purchased from the fish market over the road and presented to you, raw, before being taken away to make its reappearance, transformed into something delicious.  Nick isn’t a great lover of fish but he is blown away by his dish as Janette is by hers...

really great food and perhaps the best we have had on the entire trip.

The whole lot is washed down with the locally produced cider - sidra - which the maître de pours into our glasses from a great height!

We later learn that most of the sidra in Asturias is produced using no additives at all, no sugar, no yeast, nothing.

This means that these sidras are flat, not fizzy and the pouring technique introduces a touch of fizz which in turn releases the aromas and the flavours. 

We time our late lunch really well, just as we return to Lionel, the sun is setting and we enjoy a beautiful sunset.

So much for 'red sky at night, shepherd's delight'! The next day rain starts, the sea mist has rolled in and it's dank and gloomy.

We're feeling a bit discouraged by the weather but decide what the heck, we want to see the Picos de Europa and we’re going there even if we have to peer at them through the fog!

Our aim on this last part of the trip is to get off the main roads and into the mountains once more. 

We are so glad we made this decision, not only does the weather do the exact opposite of the forecast - the sun shines and it’s glorious - but we have yet more amazing experiences whilst learning lots along the way.

Bezanes is a village in the mountains with a population of 133! It is an extraordinary place and one we are so glad we experienced.

It is nestled in a mountain valley with a fast-flowing, clear watered river to one side.

This is another place on our journey, Fes being the first, where it really is like stepping back in time.

Many of the buildings are ancient but still fully operational as agricultural buildings and homes.

Various dogs and cats loll about the narrow streets and there are a few people about but otherwise, all is silent except for the ever-present whine of the chainsaw chopping down trees on the mountainside.

There is no shop as far as we can see; surprisingly there is a restaurant but it is closed and there is a small bar where we stop for a drink. Initially, we sit outside in the last of the sunshine but once that fades we go inside, the dogs are welcomed and fed titbits and with the help of Google Translate, we find ourselves deep in conversation with the locals, none of whom has a word of English but as we have experienced before on this trip, it really doesn't matter and we have a great time!

A fascinating aspect of this village is that the majority of people we see are wearing wooden clogs known as madreñas; this type of shoe is apparently traditional in Asutrias.  They have three ‘legs’ on the bottom to lift the wearer out of the mud. These shoes are made by madreñeros and we are lucky enough to meet one in the bar, he has just made a pair and lets us photograph them. We resist a purchase on this occasion!

The weather is holding in defiance of the forecasts and we are delighted as today we are heading into the Picos. It’ll be a long drive but we plan to take it slowly with lots of stops to admire the scenery. And what scenery! 

The Picos may be small in stature, relatively speaking, but they pack a punch as mighty as any of the big boys we have seen anywhere on this journey, truly spectacular!

The road is winding with switchbacks to easily equal the Tizi n’Tichka Pass in Morocco with the added bonus of it being almost traffic-free.  This is the land of brown bears, wolves, and eagles, and how we would love to see at least one of their number!  We do see a huge bird of prey and we think it is an eagle, amazing!

The mountains have patches of snow at their peaks but nothing to speak of, however, the rock is either a beautiful, cold silver or covered with a vibrant green lichen and the peaks are jagged and severe, we love it here.

Our destination is Feunte Dé where we'll find - and experience - the longest single-span cable car trip in Europe. It takes less than four minutes to be whisked up 753 metres from the valley floor to the peak. 

Today however our luck deserts us, Nick arrives at the ticket booth at 4.44 pm to be told that the last car goes at 4.45 pm and no, they'll not wait for Janette - and no, they are not open tomorrow, nor the next day for that matter. 

All we can do is watch the final ascent whilst spitting black-eyed peas and consoling ourselves with the fact that it gives us something to come back for.

We park up in Fuente Dé, we are all alone in the parking area and it’s very peaceful with wonderful mountain views.  We set off the next morning on a hike. 

Nick had found a nice, gentle 'family friendly' walk of about 2 - 3 miles which would take 90 minutes. It would take us through some of the beautiful foothills.

However, we arrive at a junction in the path and somehow talk ourselves into following another route that Janette has found; it is circular and well signposted and allegedly about 8.5 miles long... but it is tougher than we had anticipated. 

The trail takes us through some beautiful countryside with jaw-dropping views of the mountains all around us.

The route becomes very steep and rocky and there is a point when we lose the waymarkers and end up scrambling up a really steep and unstable scree slope! 

We reach the mountaintop and find ourselves in a bowl shaped plateau, we’re above the snow line now although thankfully the snow is only patchy.

It is otherworldly here, completely silent, not even any wind and no sign of life - we feel very small, insignificant and alone - and very much at the mercy of the elements.

We are dismayed to see more peaks in front of us with no end in sight.  We know we are on the correct track but we don’t know what lies ahead, (except that the terrain looks brutal) nor how long it will take.  We walk out of this strange and silent space and even though we are over half way, we decide that the sensible and safest thing to do is to turn round and return the way we've come.

We know now that we’ll be ok and that we’ll get back to Lionel before darkness falls. 

We are footsore and weary and when we see Lionel we both experience our legs going wobbly from sheer relief! We've only walked 10.5 miles, but 5.2 miles of that was uphill. Our app informs us that we've climbed a total altitude of 3,084 ft! We are both utterly exhausted but the dogs are keen to keep going!

Despite being so tired, we head to a small town, Potes, about 22 km from Feunte Dé for a well earned pizza.  We plan to stay a couple of nights. It's a really picturesque place in a spectacular mountain setting.

Yesterday’s adventure seems to have caught up with the dogs and they loll about all day as do we apart from a quick look round Potes which is a charming little town.

We have to take the dogs to the vets AGAIN, this time for their worming treatment which is a requirement before bringing dogs back into the UK from the EU!

We find a very nice local vet who relieves us of £49.00 for a ten minute appointment!

Tomorrow we leave for our final stop before we catch the ferry.........tune in next week for the final stage of our adventure and our journey home, oh yes, and we'll be reflecting on the whole trip - high points, low points and great memories! See you next week.