Spain - Day 26: Estaon to Lladorre

Some days are sort of fill in days. Days that have to be either this long or short or otherwise the following days will not work. And Ellie and I had a plan. we wanted to get somewhere at a specific time to be able to sleep in a box on a mountain. We hadn't shared this - but the plan was in action.

Estaon Church

We said our goodbyes in Estaon as the hero left for their respective journeys. Our plan was less grand but more cunning. Baldrick could not have been better.

We decided that there was no need to go to the the book recommended stop of Tavascan. We would miss another cool bridge but we would live. We decided to cut off a long boring long forest walk by dipping into the valley. Camping at the bottom and climbing out the next day. Plus Tavascan has no campsite.

We set off up the valley, through open woodland and up to the abandoned settlement of Bordes de Nibros. It didn't have a real road as far as we could see. Therefore, no one wanted to or could I guess live there. Plus it won't have sewage or treated water. Or electricity. All these things could be fixed. But there are abandoned villages with better access and amenities.



We played tag with a group of three other walkers on the climb but they eventually left us behind on the descent. They were bound for Tavascan, we had been told last night.

Bordes de Nibros

The steep climb was a bitch. Steep, overgrown and steep. Did I mention it was steep? The top Coll de Jou, pronounced Jou, we asked, was a welcome sight.

Luxury accommodation

Then path down had an erosion issue. Which if not fixed would soon require a change in the maps as a new valley would be born. We struggled down, in and out off the path. Had lunch above Lleret. The village where we would take our diversion.

We met an old lady carrying two big buckets of produce and offered to help. She declined so I just took one. Politely. She seemed happy as Martin took the other. We carried them as far as our common journey took us. She gave directions and we parted.

A roof

There was a path straight down, but Martin's knees were still painful so we took the longer but easier road. Oh for a bike.

At the bottom we marched down the valley, again on the road, to a campsite. Despite having the most colourful entrance to a campsite that we had ever seen. They too hated walkers but the restaurant staff were nice and the pool cool and fresh. I am not sure why having flowers should make them like walkers. But in our minds it goes together.

Campsite entrance 

We had two meals for 4 plus drinks in the restaurant. Our spend per day was significantly higher than the people with big car drawn tents. But I think the economics escaped them.