Terminus Puigcerda

Today was my last full day in Andorra. There wasn't a huge amount to do. It wasn't snowing, but the wind was so fierce that it seemed like a sand storm made out of snow. I had a great time watching a group of cows grazing in snow up to their stomachs. Other than that I had a walk around town and spent about an hour at a ...

... top of the first mountain, he took a little nap while the bus waited for whoever might want to get on before the departure time. As we praddled along towards Canillo I mused about our heroic bus driver, and what he might be like. I supposed his salsa music puts him in the zone in the same was as listening to “Highway to the Danger Zone” made the guys from Top Gun fly well. Maybe when he got done with his route there were women in bikinis with ...

... and roads scattered everywhere - if you can find them. Driving is a very different than walking. In great contrast to the towns below, the wind howled and ice formed on the road. On foot the walk was extremely harsh and I could see why there were shephards and hikers huts dotted all around for shelter. You can see why farmers train their animals instead of caring for them themselves ...

... were lost? Tried to get the dog to 'allez maison', but he wouldn't go anywhere for us. <br><br>Brian was determined that he knew what way to go, so I just kept following him. Once we were at the river, where do we head up? And then I heard it. That damn rooster started crowing and we knew we were heading in the right direction. That same rooster that attacked me was now guiding me. ****, I guess I can&#8217;t beat him up now!<br>

... 1.6 Euros! (ok, fair enough, maybe you guys do have a point, but food and wine are as key to the french culture as the medival ruins and churches) So, anyways, back to the care.....I figured a bottle of red and a bottle of white (ugh, now i have billy joel in my head for the rest of the night.....) but Jason, being the practical english man that he is, thought it better to get a bottle of white (and mind you when i ...

... cheap. What you save in duty you&#8217;d make up in European rent, easy. The US is cheap, pure if not simple. Still Andorra is okay, easily dissed without cause. The only thing I can&#8217;t handle is the smoke, the man-made kind. The new regs haven&#8217;t reached here yet, so Andorra may soon become the place where smokers flock to light up in public, the anti-Amsterdam. That&#8217;s a claim to fame they can probably do without.

... for a deserved rest before dropping down and back up the Col de<br>Soulor (1464m), which you will honestly hardly notice! The swoopy descent to Argeles-Gazost<br>is great and the pretty town provides a good opportunity to stop for some lunch. Unfortunately<br>from here we meet out first busy road which takes us up the gorge to Luz ...

... about experiencing a different kind of travel. Saving the money is a bonus for me, because it means I can splurge on nice dinners and experiences if I so choose, but more importantly, it's because it means I can usually do two big trips per year, rather than one. So I can see where this guy is coming from. Of course, not knowing how much money he has left in the bank could also mean that he only has $10 in his account. <br><br>I went to a locutorio ...

Els Caçadors: a very good, family-run hotel in Ribes with both 1-star and 3-star accomodation. Very good food and reasonable prices. There are also other possibilities for accomodation in Ribes, which as far as service is concerned has all you need. I recommend this as a base for your excursions to the peaks around Núria. Much cheaper than living in the hotel at Núria.

After a wee bit of trouble with my e-ticket, I caught the bus from Paris and geared myself up for the 17 hour ride down to Spain. It went by fairly pleasantly - Douglas Adams on audiobook was great company untill somewhere in the South of France a woman got on and sat beside me. I was glad of the more interactive company and I whiled away a goos few hours chatting to her - which, I have to admit, muddled my brain a ...