I packed up early after a restless night listening to the local dogs and goats. I left without breakfast as the dogs were quite close and I really didn’t want a visit while I was luxuriating over coffee and muesli.
It was foggy this morning. I was surprised by the condensation inside the tent, but when I emerged and saw the fog, it all made sense. So, I got organised, packed and made one trip with my bags – firstly over the old rock wall, up the roadway for 50 metres and then over the light wire fence. The second trip was for the bike.
I loaded up “This Moment”and went down the steep path and rejoined yesterday’s quiet road on my way out of Ballao. I found a flat area beside the road and stopped for muesli, yoghurt and banana. It’s such a great breakfast when you’re doing this sort of exercise.
I wasn’t sure exactly what was in store today except a lot of up, so I enjoyed the mainly flat road while I could. I turned off, followed the road over a bridge and saw the start of a climb. Towering over me, on the steep slope above, was another road and I just hoped that wasn’t my road. Of course it was. The things you hope for on a ride are ridiculous. I climbed for the next hour, gawking around at the beautiful valleys and hills along the way and thought that the riding simply couldn’t get better.
It took me so long to leave the original valley behind. It seemed that no matter where I turned, I could see the same hills and villages but they were getting further below me as I climbed.
I stopped at a Tabac in the village of Armungia for an espresso and sat along the rock wall opposite and gazed around the town. In the Tabac were a couple of locals awaiting the next Lotto result and one guy smoking at the doorway seemingly intent on filling the shop with his exhaust fumes. Hey smokers ! Please don’t smoke upwind, and don’t stand by a doorway ! Please don’t include me with your deadly addiction. Just breathe deeply and get it over with, will you ! Rant over.
I left the village after discovering that the guy who ran the Tabac, couldn’t speak English, so he started rabitting on to me in German. ??? Let’s just stick with Italian and I’ll do my best to keep up !
I climbed out of town onto a plateau that overlooked more beautiful valleys with the odd village dotting the slopes.
Soon, I was at the lunch stop, a sunny structure with fresh running water. That was the main attraction, but as it was the halfway point, I took my time, had lunch, ‘steripenned’ the water, made a coffee and generally faffed. I loved it. Only 18 kms to go.
That 18kms was mainly on dirt roads, included a lot (a real lot) of hike-a-bike, traversed hills between 25 and 35 percent, went past sheepdogs angry at my intrusion, but provided absolutely stupendous views that had me regularly standing, mouth agape taking in the splendour.
The destination was worth the struggle, every push, slip, bump, rock, barking dog. It was a perfect way to end the day. Pity about the wind.
Over the last week, the wind has abated as the sun set, so I was happy to pitch the tent on such an exposed ridge, so I could sit outside and cook and eat while taking in the amazing views of the city below me.
Not so tonight. It simply got stronger and stronger and that curtailed my “outside” time somewhat.
The local farmer drove by and stopped for a chat. When I told him that I don’t speak Italian, he said, “no problem we comprende” and we talked for twenty minutes. He was a great guy, and he was right, we did “comprende’. Through miming and me realising the Latin in what he said, I told him which direction his goats had gone, and that yes, the horses were over there one hour ago. He told me there were no dogs in this area. It took a while to convince him that I’d been on a biking holiday for two years so far, but eventually he got the message and had a big smile on his face. He thought I should camp somewhere out of the wind but there were no real options near here.
I boiled some water and enjoyed my packet minestrone soup so much that I had another. By then it was time to check the tent and get out of the wind.
At 1:30am, I was up and putting every tent peg I had, to good use in holding the tent down. At 3:30am, I was up again replacing one peg that had pulled out in the wind and checking the rest. The tent (a Durston X-Mid 2P) sheds wind very very well, but this was extreme. I didn’t have a restful night at all, but I’m still thankful for this amazing place and an amazing day.
Tomorrow looks easy on the map – almost all downhill