Pyrenees .... A Mixed Bag

 Up in Broto the warm and friendly La Cantinera provided a couple of local beers (Ambar) to wash down a tiny tapas style beef burger before I walked back over the new pedestrian steel bridge for a very quiet night.

The blanket silence was explained when I woke as 5'' of snow had fallen and without a breath of wind settled magnificently even on wires and fencing. The clear skies saw some good solar input as I walked up the valley to Torla where the view of the old village and church had not changed since my last visit 38 years previously. I had walked up with a young couple so joined them for coffee before returning to Broto for another beer. A thaw the following day enabled me to cycle up to the Ordessa Valley where being even higher and shaded from the sun the snow was even deeper.

Moving on to the lovely old village of Ainsa I parked in the aire and walked down to sort out my Digi Mobile SIM in a phone shop as the company had requested €20 euros or my number would be disconnected. The shop seemed to think I had been signed up for a contract but were otherwise unable to help so I topped up for another 100Gb for €10 and later rang Santander to see if they could sort something out.

The old village and castle are very beautiful and I got chatting to Matthew who is traveling with his lovely dog Lola and a keen cyclist. I was very impressed by how he had fitted his ebike inside the rear doors taking up very little space.

Two good rides the following day took me in to the local countryside although the heavy clay soils did rather gum up the wheels and drive train, later Matthew and I walked down for a beer : he had been out on an exciting looking ride out towards Bielsa that followed a water channel cut in to a sheer rock face.

Coincidentally we both turned up at Benasque so rode out together up the valley following for much of the ascent a rather snowy track that made for some amusing sliding and slithering before we crossed the river for a fast return on tarmac and another beer in town later. The proper aire required access via a website and code which wasn't working so we along with another couple of dozen vans just used the adjacent car park.

A superb back road through the mountains brought me to Rialp via Vielha where another aire sat on the edge of town. I had done a good shop in Vielha so enjoyed cooking a meal after a walk round and slept well on another cold night.

Quiet Arseguel was located high above the main valley which I had reached by climbing the Miravall pass that reached 6,600' and was the location for a popular ski resort. Under blue skies it was a stunning area and the van was pulling well up the long climbs.

The aire at Arseguel only had two places and is the parking for the traffic free and very picturesque village. The water was on but the power wasn't which wasn't an issue so I walked around the quiet streets before returning just as a ludicrous expedition truck attempted to squeeze in beside me. The poor turning circle and visibility led to him crashing in to the covered parking roof and as previously I came to the conclusion that driving one of these monsters must be a constant headache.

Another walk later took me down to the old laundry area where a series of stone troughs used a spring water supply to provide the necessary, there should have been a view of a range of mountains reaching 8,500' but the low cloud obscured the panorama and I returned to the warmth of the van. Now that the split charger is working properly the leisure battery is doing a good job of powering up the Eber (which uses very little of either fuel or power once in action) but I would like one night on hook up just to get it fully charged. I've not had a connection over the last three weeks and there has been limited solar so perhaps I'll run the genny if I tuck away quietly one night. I've had another sort out of storage and created more space with better weight distribution by placing the lightweight printer on a rear wardrobe shelf and putting the cordless drill, batteries, charger and the fan heater under the single central seat along with most tools, spares and recovery equipment. This all came about as having split up my US dollars in to five packs I had forgotten where I'd stashed them. I have now found four of them.......

Leaving the truck to get down the tight curves of the mountain road I took another high road past another ski resort which was absolutely buzzing with long queues for the lifts, presumably there were good conditions as the snow was a couple of feet deep. 

Down at Planoles a new aire alongside the station was ideal other than that the hook up points were paid for by card and the reader declared that there was no internet connection so no juice was available. I looked at the possibility of catching a train down to Ripoll and settled on the 14.00 departure giving me time for lunch. None of the usual train apps even referred to the service let alone enabled me to buy a ticket and the unmanned station only had validation terminals so I decided to wait and see.

The line is mostly single track with trains crossing at various stations of which Planoles was one so first the northbound train arrived, followed shortly by my southbound one. Once we were underway I got my ticket from the conductor and was in Ripoll within half an hour where I walked through to visit the  stunning monastery with its ornately carved main entrance and quiet courtyard cloisters.

Back at Planoles heavy rain set in overnight and has largely accompanied me today as I passed through the Garotxa Volcanic Park stopping for a look round ancient Santa Pau.

Thus late afternoon I arrived at tonight's stopover which is provided by a community of people who live in a spectacular setting. The ancient fortified tower and other buildings alongside a small church provide a home for around ten adults and half a dozen kids. They all try and live sustainably and run the commune in a very eco conscious way and welcome people to stay for a small contribution. Pascal proudly showed me round as there are facilities in the old tower, a campers kitchen in a two storey open fronted stone  building that has a relaxation area above, and various vegetable gardens that are carefully tended. It must be a superb place in the summer when meals are eaten communally but with the grey skies and persistent rain I was happy to retreat in to my cosy capsule and plan my route out to the coast to visit the very NE part of Spain that will be new to me with a couple of days in Barcelona next weekend before my sailing a week tomorrow.

Bonus Pics Here

Calm Crossings but a Wobbly Start

The line up for the Bilbao crossing indicated that this too would be a crowd free crossing, almost no freight and I guessed an occupancy level of about 20%. We were boarded two hours before the midnight departure giving me time to get to my cabin, shower at length and then step outside to watch as we eased away from the dockside. The Santona is another of Brittany Ferries LNG powered ships carrying some 800,000l kept at -162°C so was a virtually silent vessel that powered smoothly across a flat sea.

In the early hours we would have passed close to Land's End but I had slept well and woke to see the NW coast of France slip by centred around Brest. A full English breakfast in view of the calm conditions was justified and good value but should have been served warmer and I then enjoyed the full fat WiFi package that covered the entire crossing for £20. 

Bizarrely whilst walking the outer deck I spotted Paul from Porthmadog, a fellow MBA volunteer who was heading to Morocco for his first visit. He too was 'doglegging' via Ireland as the direct sailings were full. He'd bought some very expensive vehicle insurance but they'd not sent a Green Card so that was causing him some concern. I reassured him that he could get insurance on arrival at Tangier Med and that Green Cards are more or less a thing of the past and certainly no longer green. Like me he had obtained an IDP but he wouldn't need it and I gave him the blog details plus my contact details should he need further advice.

That evening I treated myself to the Azul restaurant's a la carte menu and enjoyed the shoulder of lamb, half a bottle of Bordeaux and a pavlova to finish.

A family with 3 unruly kids turned up and, to be honest if a little snooty, they really should have gone to the Taberna as the predictably indulgent parents asked if they could alter the menu choices so the kids could have pasta and tomato sauce or egg and chips. The kitchen duly obliged but it is a bugbear of mine that people are so picky....

Anyway after time on deck noticing the milder temperatures I retired for another night's kip only to be woken by various rumblings at 06.00. Not my meal but the ship pulling in at Bilbao two hours ahead of schedule, as it transpired for the purpose of refuelling as neither Rosslare (nor Portsmouth) have as yet put in the necessary infrastructure so the ships have to carry twice the amount needed. There is a similar nonsense on the West Coast of Scotland where again due to lack of infrastructure the LNG CalMac use for their new ferries is supplied by 40 tankers a week travelling up from Lincolnshire, and of course returning empty!

We disembarked at 08.00 and I ensured my passport was stamped (Irish passengers were of course exempt) and as expected on a quiet Sunday morning there was no diversion to complete the new EES biometric formalities that will lead to the ETIAS scheme later this year.

The quiet roads soon had me away from the city and within a couple of hours I was on a camper park up at Onati on the edge of the small town. It was cold again being inland and at altitude and I noticed the leisure battery wasn't charging so stuck the new panel out as clearly it had not been charging since leaving Brecon. I'd not noticed this as I'd been on hook up courtesy of Jan and the Pope but despite a prod of various wires under the bonnet I could not trace the issue, partly because it would require running the engine to the annoyance of my neighbours. I walked in to town where there is an old steam engine marking one end of the Via Verde cycle route and then headed back to the van to sort out things from the crossings.

On the Monday having filled up with water I stopped at the local agricultural co-op for Camping Gaz and propped up the tailgate whilst retrieving the three empty cylinders. Unfortunately whilst my back was turned the single pole I'd only used (STUPID) retracted in the warming sun and the heavy tailgate crashed back down : fortunately I had closed the gas cupboard door otherwise that would have been destroyed and there was no other damage, phew! 

Unfortunately they didn't have any full cylinders anyway but a CEPSA forecourt a few miles away did and at almost a third of the UK price at £21 each. 

I decided to stay at an aire en route to Pamplona as it had power available for 3 hours at a time but it turned out a jeton obtainable from local shops was needed and Spain being Spain it was siesta time. However further on the aire at Irutzun on the Plazaola Via Verde is usually in full sun so I parked up there and put the new 80w panel out. It was also quiet enough to have the engine running and I decided that with different voltages either side of the relay that it might be the culprit.

Down in the village I called at the cafe/bakery where Gary and I had caught up a couple of years ago and returned to the van and a slightly fuller battery. It was a bitterly cold night at first but snowfalls in the early hours raised the temperature to just below freezing but cancelled any thoughts of a bike ride or even a walk up to the old monastery.

I skidded down to the cafe again for a coffee but being Epiphany everywhere else was closed so I raided the deeper recesses of my store cupboard for the evening meal.

On departure the following morning the water outlets were frozen, as indeed was my water pump despite being inside so I headed away carefully down the icy hill and picked up the road east and past Pamplona. At sleepy Agoitz I finally managed to get some groceries before pulling in at the village aire whose water was turned off for the winter. I still had plenty of course but at this time of year it is important to fill up at every opportunity. Still my pump had thawed and again whilst the panel was in the sun I did some more testing of the split charge system.

Heading south next day I called at a couple of garages who didn't stock relays but one directed me to a ferreteria in nearby Sanguesa who produced the required 12v/70 Amp 4 pin relay. I popped this in at the car park but with no success so somewhat flummoxed headed on to Jaca for the night.

The aire in town was quite busy but again the water was off but an alternative out on a developing industrial estate had a working tap : if you provided a handy set of pliers to do the necessary. Back in town with good sun for the panel I began further investigations and by checking continuity and voltages decided the 70amp fuse which looked intact might be at fault. I removed one spade connector but the other was seized and took some freeing off and lo and behold was the source of the problem. A heavily oxidised terminal was soon shining again after the application of some wet and dry and the 25 year old system was restored to working order, much to my relief... it was a good learning curve and I now have the old relay as a spare and have a 70 amp fuse and holder put away with it. After tidying up my tools I wandered in to Jaca and bought a Digi mobile PAYG SIM to put in a spare phone to act as a hotspot, an arrangement which worked well across the Caucasus last year and will be the plan for this trip. €10 for 100Gb seemed a bargain but interestingly the new SIM was logged against my passport for counter terrorism purposes.

Back at the aire it had filled up but was a quiet place to spend the night and I moved on today with the split charge finally doing its job. I filled up with fuel having now only covered 250 miles to get to northern Spain from Brecon, fuel being about 20% cheaper over here and also returned to fill up with water before heading east and then north to the Ordesa National Park up in the snowy Pyrenees - Lourdes is some 30 miles due north across the mountain border.

A paid aire at Oto was my destination and I arrived after a long climb through heavy snowfall that brought me to one of Spain's many spectacular road tunnels. Emerging from this in to bright sunshine was surreal and I pulled up on a level field on the edge of tiny Oto with a sign asking you to pay via the TripStop app. €15 was asked for and would be OK if the water and loo/shower cabins were operational but as it's a National Park this is really the only sensible option. After lunch a friendly guy dropped by to say that the site was actually closed, despite the info on P4N and the app but he said I was welcome to stay as long as I wanted. When I said I'd settle up via the app he insisted there would be no charge and further insisted on refunding me in full - a really decent gesture.

Anyway the rain has eased off so I'm off out to look round Oto and then walk on to marginally larger Broto for a beer. 

I've found before that getting going takes some adjusting and requires some administrative tasks but now feel ready to tackle the challenges ahead with vigour and enthusiasm and for those reasons alone will seek out a beer tonight.

No further pics this time.....

To Russia With Love......

A P4N location at the Old Colliery Pub on the outskirts of Edinburgh proved the ideal place to spend two nights as it was next door to the P&R so I enjoyed a decent meal in there before a final check of my paperwork.

Tap and go made it easy to catch the bus in to the centre at Prince's Street from where I walked the mile or so out to the Russian Visa Application Centre. This turned out to be a nondescript and unsignposted office behind a block of flats whose steel roller shutter door was just lifting as I arrived at 10am. My appointment wasn't until 10.30 but the place was hardly humming and a polite lady asked me to sit down at a glass screen and then checked off my forms, took my passport and then fingerprints from both hands. A receipt was issued for the couple of hundred pounds in cash that covered the visa application fee and returned tracked postage and I was away in under 20 minutes.

Walking back I passed the old Holyrood Castle which is £25 to get in but only a pound if in receipt of benefits so I decided to give it a miss and visited the new seat of the Scottish Parliament alongside. The security guy was a friendly Moroccan and as the Parliament wasn't sitting it was possible to have a good look round the modern structure although quite where £400m went was hard to see.

Outside I decided to hop on the City Tour open topped bus for a good view of the major sights before I caught the bus back to the P&R and dined again in the pub.

After the rush hour had died down I set off south down the A1 in torrential rain, at one point narrowly missing a lorry prop shaft strewn across Lane 3 : the bemused driver was stranded on the hard shoulder a mile later.

I detoured in to Huddersfield to get a new two pin sensor that I hoped would sort out the coolant after run pump issue and was impressed by the stock held at the renowned Brickwerks.

Finally back in Sheffield I joined Mandy and friends for Carol's 80th birthday walk and called in to Curry's at Meadowhall where Emily and Joe had a decent enough refund waiting for me. The newsagent in Stannington issued a 1968 International Driving Permit for a princely fiver, Post Offices no longer provide this service.

The local Kwik Fit fitted 3 new Michelin CrossClimates and put my unused spare on as the fourth one but retained the best two 'old' tyres : one as a spare to go back in the cradle underneath and one to be taken and fitted to a second rim in due course. They had done 20,000 miles and all worn evenly and would be good for another 10k but I wanted good tyres from the get go and the spares had to be meaty enough to do the job if necessary. The second spare sits nicely on the bike rack and can contain the spare fuel can : as I am only taking one bike the weight is about the same. We also managed to change the sensor which seems to have resolved the issue at last which is good news.

So after a final day of packing everything for the next ten months I headed down to Brecon and stayed the night at Jan's prior to my dental appointment which fortunately revealed no concerns. I had left the bike and other clobber with Jan and headed over to Bristol for a night on Dale's drive as on Tuesday I had arranged for a new clutch to be fitted. It was a lovely evening catching up with him, his daughter and her boyfriend and I was away first thing to drop the van down at Gloucester Road Gearboxes who had done the previous clutch 8 years and 110,000 miles ago. I walked in to Bristol for a couple of hours and then met Dale at his works as he had taken time off which allowed us to walk his now fully recovered dog along the Avon at Saltford. A dairy farm that has diversified in to cheese making has a good cafe to stop at and it was even warm enough to sit outside before we returned to the car. My phone rang and it was the garage asking what they were doing to my van, so I confirmed it was a clutch replacement to which the guy said 'why?, there's nothing wrong with it..'. I explained my travel intentions and the reasoning behind my request which he completely understood, confirming that it is not possible to check how much a clutch has worn. He also stated that the gearbox was on its way out which had me somewhat alarmed unil he explained he meant it was coming out....

After another enjoyable evening at Dale's I waited until a call the following morning confirmed all was well and caught a bus down to the centre. At the garage the manager was fascinated by my plans and confirmed that the clutch was nearing the wear indictators so my decision was quite justified even though as the van sports a dual mass flywheel the bill was £1200!

Back at Lower Chapel I sorted out more tools and the 3 each of oil, fuel and air filters plus front and rear pads, 12l of oil, the spare alternator and two rear springs that I would be taking with me and on the Wednesday night joined good friends from the badminton club for the Christmas Meal. The Bull at Libanus yet again put on an excellent spread for us.

A couple of days spent in Brecon saw the EcoFlow power pack supplementing the leisure battery as the cold grey weather meant zero solar. The Rotary Club Brass Band entertained people in Bethel Square, I enjoyed a final crumpet in St Mary's Church before sadly the cafe closes and only just spotted a stealth van parked alongside one day. The Post Office produced the $5,000 in small denominations I had ordered as in Central Asia cash is king and ATMS few and far between, which was split up and hidden in ten different locations around the van. Then on the Monday I headed up to Sue Pope's campsite west of Llangurrig for the rest of Christmas week. I was the only occupant and with the weather turning cold was content to fill up with water, plug in to the power and prepare for the staff Christmas party the following day. This went well with everyone I invited turning up and the festivities going on for minutes.

A bright but breezy day saw me complete the circuit down to Rhayader and round the Elan Valley with a return via Cwmystwyth where the winds had increased and bowled me along to the start of the climbs back over to Sue's. I picked up a message from Crad to say that my passport had eventually been delivered a day late by Royal Mail and did indeed contain the much hoped for multiple entry transit visa for Russia valid for 6 months from mid April.........

Christmas day saw me ride out to Nant Syddion bothy where apart from a wind damaged loo shed and rusted out flue all was well. My return against an incredible head wind was arduous and slow going leaving me no time to call at Nant Rhys and indeed that evening the wind chill was significant until things eased around midnight.

I called at Crad and Dawn's to collect the passport and my last meds and was hugely privileged to join the whole family for a late breakfast, all 3 sons plus two wives and two grandchildren plus various dogs. It must be ten years or more since I saw everyone under the same roof so there was a lot to catch up on. Just after leaving them the van clicked over the 150,000 mile mark, 120,00 of those under my care. Not bad for a 25 year old vehicle......

Finally I returned to Lower Chapel where Pete joined us and on the Saturday five of us rode over to Erwood and back in good conditions : a tough ride for the traditionalists but at least the ebikers opened all the gates....

Sunday saw the three of us walking up to the old folly above Talybont returning via the Hop In in Brecon for cider and tapas before sorting out a semblance of caving gear for a quick trip planned for Monday.

As the clutch guys needed to inspect the job after 400 miles to validate the warranty I offered to drive as I needed to get some miles on and we pulled up at Penwyllt alongside the South Wales Caving Club hut to meet the others including two very excited 6 year old lads on their first ever trip. To keep to the party size limit we three pushed off on a separate trip once inside the system's Top Entrance and spent a happy couple of hours whilst Jan experimented with her new phone's camera. We all met up again in the Big Chamber Near The Entrance and dropped back to the hut to change and show the boys how huge the system is as there is a remarkable survey on the common room wall.

Pete left early morning and I was not far behind with my appointment at the garage taking under ten minutes before I headed back to Wales with time to call at Mike and Claire in Talybont who are just starting a whole house redecoration after having all their walls insulated internally prior to a heat pump going in.

That afternoon I repacked the van with all tools, service and rescue kit now in one place under the single seat and the following morning loaded the spare tyre and bike, attached the cover and headed down to Brecon to get my laundry done only to find the machine broken, ditto at Sennybridge where due to -5 degrees overnight their machine was frozen. They have also removed the jet wash but moving on towards Carmarthen I found one at Nantgarredig so gave the van its first clean since July thanks to the Yorkshire hose pipe ban. A launderette in St Clears was working so I arrived at Fishguard ferry port in plenty of time for the 01.30 sailing.

New Year's Eve fireworks entertained us at the magic hour and by 01.00 all 9 cars were loaded and we were underway. There was no problem finding a corner to sleep in on the almost deserted vessel and we disembarked without issue on time.

I headed out to the beach below Rosslare village and crashed out until late morning before clearing my head with a bracing walk along the sands. Culletons of Killrane allow overnighting in their car park and I enjoyed roast duck washed down with Guinness before a quiet night.

So today I have spent the time down at Carne Beach with another bracing walk before tucking away until check in opens at 20.00 for the 32 hour sailing to Bilbao that leaves at midnight. Direct sailings from Portsmouth were fully booked until mid February but this slight dogleg has cost the same despite the extra crossing as fares from Eire are cheaper. From Bilbao I will head slowly to Barcelona for a ferry to Rome by the end of the month where with luck Mandy will join me for the Vatican City, Southern Italy and then Greece.

My trip to Central Asia is ambitious for both me and the van and will no doubt be full of adventures and surprises. There has been a lot of planning and thinking on my part but behind the scenes the trip would not have happened without the kindness and support of many friends who are, to name but a few : Crad, Dawn, Jan, Ian, Dale Michelle and Megan, Greg, Pete, Mike and Claire and of course Mandy....

If it all goes belly up there is only one way to point the finger : right back at me !!

A few pics here