16/09/08 - Chasing Celestial Objects

Feeling almost 100% better this morning, we set off to explore the
capital Andorra la Vella. Andorra is pretty much only known for it's
skiing and shopping meaning this country of 70,000 absorbs 11 million
visitors every year. It enjoys something of a tax free status too so a
lot of French and Spanish visit, to buy cheap cigarettes, alcohol and
other goods.
Andorra la Vella is the only village which has anything of an old town
and we had to look hard to find it. The majority of the place
resembled any one of the new ski resorts in the United States and has
none of the centuries old charm of the resorts of Switzerland, France
or Italy. Still, the mountains more than make up for the over
commercialisation of its towns, so we stayed until everything shut for
lunch! and were again on our way.
We'd deliberately entered Andorra from France in the north such that
we could drive the entire length of Andorra as far as its solo highway
would allow. Thus, we headed south into Spain, first stopping for
diesel, which at €1.046 was 15% cheaper than Spain.
With our newly aquired map of the Pyrenees, we chose all the 'green'
scenic roads that could take us westwards. We took in mountain passes
with varied rock formations, valleys with crops and groves, and such
magnificient views meaning we often stopped in the middle of the road
just for a photo. Not to worry, there is very little traffic or people
in this part of Spain. Pat is not even required to pull over so that
cars can pass, making us confident of finding a very suitable, quiet
place to camp for the night. And there it was; at the top of Coll de
Montllobar pass (1080), with amazing views overlooking the town of
Tremp and valley we'd driven through. But first we just had to drive
around a few more corners to soak up the last of the beautiful sun and
watch it set somewhere in the direction of Serra del Montsec (a
mountain range). Then it was back to our pass, where we had to get
the camera out again to capture the rising full moon, stained red from
the setting sun. Finally dinner and to sleep, where we have parked in
anticipation of a magnificient sunrise over Serra de Boumort (another
mountain range).