The Spanish Grand Canyon - Torla-Ordesa - October 26th

The weather is fantastic, sun and 23 degrees, yippee! We have breakfast, pack up and head towards the mountains inland and leave the familiar Basque coast. Time for something new. We drive towards Pau, leave the motorway just before and head into the Pyrenees. We drive breathtaking mountain passes, marvel at the snow-covered mountains and admire the colorful autumn forests. Wonderful! The border crossing to Spain is somewhere in the middle of nowhere and the first thing you see are endless lift stations...yes...when I think of Spain, I always think of snow and ski resorts...!!??

I don't want to know what's going on here in the winter...crazy!

We continue driving up and down, pass narrow mountain roads and small tunnels. After a total of 250 km and 3.5 hours later, we reach our destination: Torla-Ordesa, a small village in the mountains overlooking a huge canyon, awesome! Another great tip from Vatter! We check in at a nice campsite nearby and head to the village right away. It reminds us a lot of Canale in Italy, small winding alleys, stone houses and mountains all around. We treat ourselves to a pizza, enjoy the view and have a good time. When the sun is gone, we feel a bit chilly. Everyone else here is exclusively running around in outdoor clothing and hiking boots, while we are still running around in beach outfits, shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops. They probably think we're nuts...oh well...! Once back at the bus, I get ready for bed relatively early, Jörni doesn't last much longer and we're already in bed by 9pm. Outside, there is a starry sky and a correspondingly cold night!

The next morning, we get up early and the sun hasn't made it over the mountain yet. It's so chilly that I put on woolen socks over my other socks, put on a jacket and hat, and eagerly await the sun. We have breakfast and set off early, around 10:30am, with our bus further up into the mountains. We want to visit the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park and take a closer look at the canyon. When we reach the car park, we can't believe our eyes...it's completely FULL...FULL...FULL...no free parking spaces in sight, people are already parking in the second row...what's going on here...it's the end of October...! But it's a sunny Sunday...! After driving around the car park for the third time, we decide to drive down the pass road again, where we find a small bay for our bus...about 1.5 km from the car park...! We follow a hiking trail through colorful autumn forests, the ascent increases...the mood occasionally decreases...let's be honest...who says it's fun to walk 9 km uphill...they're lying...or they've got a screw loose, I don't know! The whole way is sometimes so crowded that we can't believe it. There's more going on here than at the census in Bethlehem...do they all not have a home or another hobby??? 

After nearly three hours of ascent, we are standing in the middle of the canyon, madness...what amazing things nature has created...and we're destroying it again...! We take a long break by the river...we don't have any food with us, we didn't expect such a hike...the bowl of yogurt with apple for breakfast was a drop in the ocean! 

Then we start heading back down. Luckily, it's not as crowded anymore because anyone who's going up now definitely needs a flashlight to get back down. We manage the descent in just over two hours. We have been going up and down at our typical "walking pace" and if you've ever walked with us, you know that it's not exactly slow...! When we arrive at the car park, the longest 1.5 km to the car begin for us...our feet are burning and we can't believe how far the car is still away. On this last stretch, I realize that I could have fastened the approximately 5 kg heavy camera backpack with the straps around my hips instead of carrying it exclusively on my shoulders for 17.9 km...clever...! Once at the car, we realize that we forgot to unplug the refrigerator (which was connected to the cigarette lighter)...mmmhhh...if the battery is dead now...that's not great! But...the good old Frosch starts easily and we drive back to the campsite in a relaxed manner! What a day...as a reward, we have a can of Nasi Goreng...great...we're starving!

Then it's around 7pm, it's pitch dark and really chilly...Freezing-Cold! We take a hot shower and crawl into bed! Good night!