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El camino de Santiago - The way of St. John (picture heavy)
Hello my fellow XT riders!
This is my first report on a trip so far. 2 friends of mine and I travelled from the Austrian state of Carinthia to the famous town of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain in August 2016. We only had a limited 2 weeks time so there was quite a pace. Eventually we came back home after 12 days and some 6230km. https://picload.org/image/rdwgccap/europes.jpg (yellow = journey there; red = return) This is a short teaser for the full-length video I'm currently working on. There's also the link below, in case the player doesn't work. https://youtu.be/GKZ0oEC5KWc Now let's get started with some pictures: First stage ended at the waterside of the beautiful Kalterer See in Kaltern, Southern Tyrol https://picload.org/image/rdwgcili/panorama2s.jpg The following day led us up to the legendary Stilfserjoch (German) or Passo dello Stelvio (Italian), 2758m above sea level https://picload.org/image/rdwgcici/dsc_5281.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgcicw/dsc_5293.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgciir/dsc_5337.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgcilw/panorama3s.jpg after the pass we entered the world of the northern Italian lakes, in the picture below you can see the Lago di Como https://picload.org/image/rdwgcigr/dsc_5362.jpg We headed on towards Torino and climbed up to our first gravel passes in the Western Alps, Passo delle Finestre... https://picload.org/image/rdwdppcr/panorama9.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwdppca/panorama10.jpg ...and the Colle dell'Assietta https://picload.org/image/rdwgciga/dsc_5546.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgcigl/dsc_5569.jpg The rugged roads and the heavy payload with the steel ammo box panniers caused some displacement of the rear axle. Fortunately one of our team is a professional mechanic and able to handle every tricky situation perfectly. https://picload.org/image/rdwgcigi/dsc_5583.jpg In the evening we finally reached French territory and started looking for a night camp. We set up tent right on top of the Col de Vars https://picload.org/image/rdwgcigw/dsc_5656.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgcicr/panorama7.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgcirr/dsc_5680.jpg Another beautiful pass road: Col d'Allos https://picload.org/image/rdwgcira/dsc_5698.jpg Leaving the Alps we continued southwestbound and traversed "the Grand Canyon of Europe" as friends described it to us. And in fact, the Gorge du Verdon was very impressive. The extremely hot weather and dangerously crowded roads however limited the picture yield to mostly static images. https://picload.org/image/rdwgcirl/dsc_5710.jpg |
Welcome to the forum! , looks like a great trip. ..try and post some more photos. Steve
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I filled up the thread with some more photos now, trying to keep the posts within the 20 pictures limit ;) At the end of the Gorge and at the beginning of the lowlands lays the Lac de Sainte Croix https://picload.org/image/rdwgcica/panorama11.jpg In order to get to the Pyrenees faster we decided to take the autoroute all the way to Carcassonne. I've heard about this place since my childhood and convinced my two companions to visit it. Although I never saw it before and it was also unknown to them, we all agreed that it was a great decision to see this unique medieval town. https://picload.org/image/rdwgciri/dsc_5766.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgcirw/dsc_5767a.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgcidr/dsc_5773.jpg Half an hour outside the city, which only offered very costly accomodations, we finally found the very last B&B that was still willing to welcome us in the middle of the night. The surprise was perfect as the owner turned out to be a very talkative and sociable Englishman, which made communication a whole lot easier. https://picload.org/image/rdwgcida/dsc_5781.jpg The next day we entered the Pyrenees and travelled through Andorra on partly gravel and partly tarmac roads. https://picload.org/image/rdwgcidl/dsc_5822.jpg Andorra la Vella https://picload.org/image/rdwdppcl/dsc_5845_s.jpg Via the Coll de Conflent we crossed the Spanish border for the first time https://picload.org/image/rdwgcidi/dsc_5874.jpg Burg, Provincia de L�rida, Spain https://picload.org/image/rdwgcidw/dsc_5902.jpg back on the French side of the mountains to Lourdes, France https://picload.org/image/rdwdppci/dsc_5969_s.jpg San Sebasti�n/Donostia at the Atlantic coast https://picload.org/image/rdwdppcw/dsc_5997_s.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwdpplw/panorama_n1_s.jpg Making some Spanish friends https://picload.org/image/rdwdppir/dsc_6011_s.jpg After passing Bilbao/Bilbo (both Basque country) we found a camping site at the northern coast of Spain at the Cabo de Ajo https://picload.org/image/rdwgciar/dsc_6033.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwdppia/dsc_6041_s.jpg ...And after 6 days we finally reached our destination, Santiago de Compostela https://picload.org/image/rdwgcwid/dsc_6118.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgciaa/dsc_6108.jpg Of course no pilgrimage is complete without getting at the end of the continent, so we continued on to Praia de Carnota next to Finisterre/Fisterra (literally "end of the world") https://picload.org/image/rdwgcial/dsc_6194.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgciai/dsc_6196.jpg |
one of the rare pictures which shows all three of us
https://picload.org/image/rdwgciaw/dsc_6241.jpg for the way back we decided to follow the inland trails of the camino de Santiago through the provinces of Castilla y Le�n... https://picload.org/image/rdwgcior/dsc_6302.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgcioa/dsc_6345s.jpg ...the province of Huesca... https://picload.org/image/rdwgciol/dsc_6381s.jpg ...all the way to Catalu�a and the famous Montserrat https://picload.org/image/rdwgcioi/dsc_6393.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgciow/dsc_6475.jpg Montserrat Abbey, on the horizon you can get a glimpse of the magnificent city of Barcelona https://picload.org/image/rdwgcicl/panorama13.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgcilr/dsc_6485.jpg We spent 2 days in Barcelona. Not only because the city is very interesting, but also because one of my companions had a light accident with his bike and had to cure his knee a little bit, in order to be able to continue safely back home. https://picload.org/image/rdwdwror/dsc_6479.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwdwraa/dsc_6497.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwgcila/dsc_6499.jpg Due to time pressure and my friends injury we mostly used the motorways alongside the mediterranean coast to get home faster. https://picload.org/image/rdwdwral/dsc_6520.jpg For the final night we took a hotel room in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains next to the Mont Blanc https://picload.org/image/rdwgcill/dsc_6558.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwdwrai/dsc_6556.jpg https://picload.org/image/rdwdppli/dsc_6547.jpg The last day of our tour led us through the Mont-Blanc tunnel and the Val d'Aosta into the Po basin and finally back home to Austria via Southern Tyrol again https://picload.org/image/rdwdwraw/dsc_6573.jpg |
what an amazing trip you had and some great photos. what's next? thanks for letting us in on it.
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Looks like you had a great time , looking at doing the Spanish bit of your trip next year , thanks for sharing.
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Wow..... Loks like an amazing time :-D thanks for putting up the pictures. I love seeing adventures like these. Ill krep an eye out for the finnished video.
Oh and welcome along. You will like it here :-D |
stunning pictures. look forward to the video
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Fantastic mate. Definitely worth every ounce of energy it must of taken. Thanks for posting the photos.
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Fantastic photos thanks wowowowow.
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Did you guys do the 'Alps to Cliffs' road to Ireland video. ...? Steve
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Great photos,great trip before the kids and mortgage turn up!!!
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Lovely pictures, very inspiring. Sure this will get loads of us planning trips South. On a lighter note, I bet the bloke with the Honda jacket on a Yamaha got ragged all the way.
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Hello and thank you very much for all the nice replies and your interest!
Great to see that you appreciate these shared experiences. I also just updated the main thread with some fresh photos and text notices.
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Balkans and Greece would've been also great, but not in the current near-civil-war situation. Any suggestions from your side? :)
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Yes, the Road to Ireland video is also done by me and depicts our 2015 tour.
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Just enjoyed 'again' looking through your photos with the new text.....there is something particularly charming and 'joyous' about your trip...the route, the scenery and the camaraderie. Hence all the good comments. ...we are itching to get on the bikes and ride! Steve
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Great! :thumbsup[1]:
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Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful areas you went through. What a beautiful trip ! |
amazing photos and what looks like an awesome trip
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Yes, it's priceless to find soulmates that are equally hard-nosed to do such trips. And as I realised that quite a few of you are from the UK I want to send over some special greetings to you, which is also the home of my childhood (I grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne) and share this postcard-picture of last years Ireland-trip with you! :039: the video related to this photo can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYVPyCs09lc https://picload.org/image/ragcrodw/london2015.jpg Maybe i'll do a report on that as well, if it's desired and i can find the time to do so. |
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