The Mountains and adventures of Andalucia/Die berge en avonture van Andalusië

(Rol af vir Afrikaans en foto’s)

Andalucia has its plains, but then there are the mountains with big, fun challenges. Silver and Blue live for mountains and mountain passes. Over the years they have conquered the highest and most beautiful mountain passes in Europe. There was still one pass we wanted to do, the highest tarred road in Europe, the Valeta (3400m) near Granada. Our ‘international’ record for altitudes on scooters stands at 3422m on the Hehuanshan Pass in Taiwan. That day on which we nearly froze and there was barely enough oxygen for the engines of the first Silver and Red.

Valeta

Excitedly we took to the road on a brilliant, beautiful day. The Sierra Nevada with its snowy peaks towered over the city. And there waited the Valeta. The pass isn’t as dramatic as other passes and it was an easy ride to the ghost town, Valeta. Hundreds and hundreds of flats in complexes stood locked up, because it isn’t ski season. Not even a bar was open for coffee. Not even a dog or a cat to be seen. Just the two of us and the engines’ roar reverberating against the slightly run-down buildings.

The GPS took us higher and further to a parking area with a few cars and motorcycles scattered about. Ah, there was coffee and something to eat. Hikers and runners came and went and we climbed the hill to some monument or other (actually it was Mary of the Snows…) for a little exercise. The thin air and lack of oxygen had us puffing, but we made it.

Then the big moment arrived and we would ride the road on our bucket list on Silver and Blue. Just a few hundred metres further, around a bend, the road was closed, at 2533m. With winter being so late there was still too much snow on the road… Yes, it was rather a big disappointment. Gliding 30km downhill into Granada was, however, worth while. We switched off the engines and enjoyed that wonderful feeling of flying, turning, whistling wind. And the silence of heights.

Montes de Málaga Natural Park

The Med was so close that we decided on instinct to ride from Granada in the direction of Malaga, dip our feet into the water and then continue to our next destination. Again we travelled along back roads. The landscape changed quickly. Oh, just to get those mediterranean smells again. Pine and thyme. Rockroses.

rockrose between stone
mediterranean white
bleached limestone

We didn’t notice that we were slowly climbing because we were so engrossed in the beauty and silence around us. The next moment we went through a portal. And that is a  sight I will never forget. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing. We couldn’t believe that a road had been built through that karst.

small white seashell
one million years ago
today a mountain of karst

journey to Valhalla
where the loftiest halls await
dizzying

Caminito del Rey

We tried long in advance to book tickets to walk the 8km route, of which long sections of wooden walkways run 100m high against the rockface. You literally hang in the air with frightening sheer drops under you. But, it was fully booked. We could try queueing at the ticket office from 08h00 onwards to see whether we would be admitted.

So, we were up in the dark and intense cold and left Antequera and raced the 50km in record time on Silver. Anuta on the back and clinging for dear life. At times I pushed Silver to 100kmph. The Caminita website wasn’t very clear and we still had to walk 2.7km to the ticket office. Got there to find a horde waiting with us to be admitted. At last the official opened the gate and started counting heads – we were the last two allowed through. And the oldest!

At one stage there was a slightly younger woman who froze and clung to the rockface, unable to put another foot forward. And the hanging bridge still lay ahead. I think she has turned to biltong by this time. I’m not going to write any more. Take a look for yourself…

The trip back to Antequera was magical. Our heads were still in the heights. The rolling ripe wheat fields with splashes of poppies, against the background of golden mountains.

Andalucian light
on ripe yellow wheat fields
poet’s pen drips gold

Die berge van Andalusië

Andalusië het sy vlaktes, maar dan is daar die berge met groot en lekker uitdagings. Silwer en Blou se kos is berge en berpasse. Hulle het oor die jare al die hoogste en mooiste bergpasse in Europa oorwin. Daar was nog een pas wat ons wou doen, die hoogste geteerde pad in Europa, die Valeta (3400m) naby Granada. Ons ‘internasionale’ rekord met hoogtes en skoeters staan op 3422m met die Hehuanshanpas in Taiwan. Daardie dag toe ons byna verkluim het en daar amper nie meer genoeg suustof vir die eerste Silwer en Rooi se enjins was nie.

Valeta

Baie opgewonde val ons op ‘n skittermooi dag in die pad. Die Sierra Nevada met sy sneeupieke troon oor die stad. En daar wag die Valeta. Die pas is nie so dramaties soos ander passe nie en ons ry heel maklik tot in die spookdorp, Valetta. Honderde en honderde woonstelkomplekse staan gesluit, want dit is nie ski-seisoen nie. Nie eens ‘n kroegie vir koffie is oop nie. Nie eens ‘n hond of ‘n kat is te sien nie. Dis net ons en die enjins se brul wat teen die effens gehawende geboue vasslaan.

Die GPS neem ons hoër en verder tot by ‘n parkeerplek met klompies motors en motorfietse. A!, daar is koffie en iets om te eet. Stappers en drawwers kom en gaan en ons klim so ‘n hoogte uit na een of ander monument om bietjie oefening te kry (‘n monument vir Mary, Queen of the Snows) staan. Die dun lug en min suurstof laat ons hyg, maar ons maak dit.

Toe breek die groot omblik aan om met Silwer en Blou die pad te ry wat heelbo aan ons emmerskoplys staan. ‘n Paar honderd meter verder is die pad gesluit, by 2533m. Met die laat winter is daar nog te veel sneeu op die pad… Ja, dit was nogal ‘n groot teleurstelling. Die 30km afgly tot in Granada was egter die moeite werd. On sluit die enjins af en geniet daardie wonderlike gevoel van vlieg, draai, suisings, swaai. En die stiltes van hoogtes.

Montes de Málaga Natural Park

Die Middellandse see lê so naby en ons besluit op die instink om van Granada in die rigting van Malaga te ry, ons voete in die water te druk, en dan na ons volgende bestemming te ry. Ons ry weer agterpaaie. Die landskap verander vinnig. Oe, om die meditereense reuke weer te kry. Denneboom en tiemie. Kliproos

kliproos tussen klip
meditereense wit
verblyk tot kalksteen

Ons kom nie eintlik agter ons klim stadig aan ‘n berg nie, verwonder ons so aan die skoonheid en stilte om ons. Die volgende oomblik gaan ons deur ‘n poort. En daardie gesig sal ek nooit vergeet nie. Ons kan nie glo wat ons sien nie. Ons kan nie glo dat ‘n pad daar deur die karst gebou is nie.

klein wit seeskulpie
een miljoen jaar gelede
vandag ‘n karstberg

rit na Valhalla
waar die hoogste sale wag
duiselingwekkend

Sien die foto’s.

Caminito del Rey

Ons het lank vooraf probeer kaartjies bespreek om die 8km lange roete te stap, waarvan groot gedeeltes 100m hoog teen bergwande op ‘n plankiespad is. Jy hang as’t ware in die lug met erge afgronde onder jou. Maar, toe is dit vol bespreek. Ons kon egter van 8vm by die kaartjieskantoor tou om te hoor of hulle ons sou toelaat.

So is ons vroeg in donker en bitter koue weg van Antequera en jaag die 50km teen rekordspoed met Silwer. Anuta agterop en klou vir haar lewe. Soms druk ek hom tot 100kmpu. Die Caminita se webwerf was nie baie duidelik nie, en ons moet nog 2.7km stap tot by die kaartjieskantoor, en daar staan toe alreeds ‘n horde. Met die aftel van mense is ons die laaste twee wat hulle deurlaat. En die oudste!

Op een stadium was daar ‘n jonger tante wat met angs en bewe viervoet vasgesteek en en begin klou het met vrees in haar oë. Sy kon nie meer een voet voor die ander sit nie. Die afgronde en die nou paadjie het te veel vir haar geraak. En die hangbrug het toe nog voorgelê. Ek dink sy is teen hierdie tyd al biltong. Ek gaan niks verder skryf nie. Die ervaring was te groot. Sien die foto’s.

Die rit terug na Antequera was magies. Ons koppe nog in die hoogtes, en die rollende ryp koringlande met spatsels klaprose, teen die agtergrond van die goue berge.

Andalusiëlig
op geelryp koringlande
digterspen drup goud

Valeta

Magnificent broom bush – cytisus scoparius.

Valeta is waiting!

We stopped every few kilometers to take a look, and to see if the clouds would lift.

The deserted town, Valeta

The higher we went, the colder it got.

We were hungry and cold. There were no shops or restaurants open in Valeta. Luckily we found this café high up in the mountains for hot chocolate and a toasted sandwich.

 

Anuta on her way. An observatory in the background.

The highest bride in Europe!

At 2533m the road was blocked. What a disappointment.

All the clouds are gone. Veleta (“Weather vane”) or Pico del Veleta is the third highest peak of the Iberian peninsula and the second highest in the Sierra Nevada. 3398m (11,148 ft).

The native mountain goat. Just too late for a good shot.

Montes de Málaga Natural Park

We left Granada early on a Sunday morning on quiet backroads to get to the Mediterranean. Slowly me moved into the smells of pines and thyme.

The familiar rock roses – cistus

After many kilometers of soft landscapes we came through a portal, and suddenly this breathtakingly beautiful wide landscape was there. Wild rugged white mountains.

We just stood there. Couldn’t believe our eyes. The beauty. The expanse. The altitude.

We switched of the engines. And just glide and glide through the wildness and beauty.

The road carved into the limestone.

Looking back. We couldn’t believe that we did the descend.

Yellow and pink rock roses. So delicate.

Terraces for olive groves.

Silver and Blue at the Mediterranean again!

But so ugly with all the soulless developments. At one stretch we battled through more than 30km of uglyness.

Suddenly a Roman aquaduct

Lunch under an olive tree

Inland again. Still just olive groves.

There use to be old Jewish settlements all over the place. Unfortunately this walled graveyard was closed.

The ever-present broom with its sweet perfume.

Just beautiful mountain and farming views all along the way.

We took the road to El Torcal with its wind-shaped rocks.

A visitor. A beggar.

The views. Every couple of minutes we had to stop.

Our next destination for a couple of days. Antequera.

Caminito del Rey

We started the Caminito del Rey with a brisk 2.7km walk through a pine forest.

The forest opened up and we got an ides of the topography.

The start to the walk was dramatic enough…

See the walkway just behind and above us.

The rather scary walkway – fortunately recently redone over two years

The narrow section of the gorge

On and on …

The gorge is also home to vultures.

Just an idea of the feat of constructing this wonderful walkway

Sometimes the drop below the walkway was around 100m, but the rise above it much, much higher.

An old, disused bridge crossing the gorge

Those potholes are really far below you.

Then the gorge opened up for a while before entering the final stage.

At one stage the route takes you through a section of the old water channel.

I’m watching you…

Sometimes you lean over just to remind yourself of the situation. Anuta: how far would I fall?

Okay, enough of that…

The couple ahead of us were trying out the balcony which we later discovered to have a glass floor!

Here one can see the rusted old walkway below and the new one above. We loved the colours of the rock.

Spot Anuta.

Completely distrusting of walking on glass at this height!

Just had to put on a show…

The gorge at its narrowest with the railway line on the left and the walkway on the right. See the wonderful vertical rock formations.

And to think that it’s so safe that you don’t even walk with a guide.

The final bridge to cross just ahead

Spot a tiny bit of the railway line going through the rockface

The group escorting the fear-stricken woman who was walking on the inside of the girl with the pink rugsack

Imagine getting someone who is panicking along this route!

She didn’t know that this bridge awaited her – on top of it all, it swayed slightly… scary!

And then you have to accommodate a photographer on top of it all…

The tenacity of nature

The last stretch included some stairs which we found much worse than the rest – probably because they are open stairs.

Look carefully to spot the human ants against the wall.

Looking back, we couldn’t believe it all.

On the way back home