©Countrybagging.com
Day 2 Sat 29 Nov 2003
Downstairs for breakfast, ate everything in sight - then off to the cable car - arrived at 9am, but it doesn't start running until 9:30. Chatted to a German couple who are talking the cable car up to the top of the volcano, and plan to walk down. Rather them than me!.
The view from the top is awesome - at 4000m you're well above the clouds, and you can see the tops of the other islands sticking up out of the clouds. On a clear day the view must be - well words fail me. Took loads of photos and did all the marked walks (apart from the 7.5km hike down!).
Back to the Parador by 11:30, checked out, and got a free copy of Don Quixote (in Spanish). Drove east to my next B&B in Ruigomez, but there's no sign of life, so I head for the coast proper.
A drive through Buenavista gets me to Punta Deteno, which has a light house, and some impressive cliffs. There were lots of signs saying how dangerous the road is in high winds or rain - and they aren't kidding, the amount (and size) of some of the fallen rocks from the overhanging cliff were all over the road.
Drove back via a Masca, a very pretty inland village, arranged around a huge rock outcrop (a bit like Matu Pitcu, but on a much smaller scale). Back in Ruigomez, I found a bunch of kids skidding down a steep road on boards (they had a bunch of rubber tyres at the bottom as a kind of crash barrier). I borrowed a board and had a go - but I didn't go that fast. Then had a go on a bigger board with two other guys (a bit like a bobsled) that was MUCH faster, but luckily(?) we rolled half way down before we went head first into the tyres.
The B&B was open by then, a very nice place - clean, tidy and much cheaper than the Parador! Had supper there - soup, Salmon, and a fried banana for desert - all for 12 (including a very nice blackcurrant liquor). Chatted long and hard with the two ladies who run the place. I seem to be their only guest..
Next
You haven't got JavaScript enabled - you're missing out