ON THE ROAD TO PORTUGAL

We have some catching up to do with our adventures on the road.

 

Snow in the Pyrenees

In the beginning of November we left Germany to escape fall/winter in search for some warmer weather in Portugal. You would think the further south you would go the warmer it gets. Wrong! Our first snow of the year we encountered halfway France and our idea to go over and not go around the Pyrenees left or right, was being questioned. Still we pushed on and camped near the Aragnouet-Bielsa Pass.

 

 

It was raining and thus wondered if we would encounter snow higher up.  And yes indeed, nearly at the top snow was coming down fast. Two semi trucks, who needed to make room for each other to turn in a hairpin bend, inadvertently moved too much to the side and got stuck in the snow banks. They would need some serious professional machinery to get out of this. So there was no point for us to keep blocking the road. Although we managed to squeeze through, another 8×8 commercial truck in front of us was already spinning its wheels. He decided that there was no way forward and started to back up, seemingly not aware that we were behind him and some dicy hairpin turns further down. Since our truck wasn’t experiencing much troubles getting up, we decided to pass also this semi. Aware that getting up a snowy mountain is easier than coming down, we stopped a motorcyclist from the opposite direction. He assured us it was getting better soon and we wouldn’t experience any issues on the Spanish side of the pass. Thankful for his information we continued driving further up the pass.

We were not sure if we could cross the Pyrenees after passing two commercial trucks already stuck in the ditch. Getting up the mountain was not the biggest issue but what about getting down? Would the road on the other side be too slippery? To be sure we asked a motorcycle 🏍 coming from the other direction (luckily Elmer speaks Spanish)

Geplaatst door Terratrotter op donderdag 9 november 2017

 

Sunny Spain

And glad we did. The weather change on the Spanish side could not be more different. Once trough the tunnel on top of the pass, connecting France and Spain, the sun was shining radiantly. The windows came down and the sweaters and jackets came off. Unbelievable, what a temperature change.

For the night we found a beautiful spot between some fields, away from the road and  overlooking the rolling hills of the Spanish countryside. Waking up the next day with a stunning orange sunrise made us linger a bit longer in bed, followed by banana-berry pancakes for breakfast.

 


 


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2 thoughts on “ON THE ROAD TO PORTUGAL
  1. Thanks for the update Nicole. Marilyn wouldn’t have been happy seeing the steep drop of in your video. We hope all is well and hope to hear more of your travels.
    Barry

    1. Hello, i’ m Marco, are you in Portugal?
      I’m building overland camper truck, if you are in Portugal we can drink a coffee and I can show my truck, is not finish and congratulations for your site, it really helps me about to decide the heating.

      Keep rolling
      Marco Tinta

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