Exploring Ordesa and Monte Pedro National park (Day 10)
We watched the sunrise from our room and after having a quick breakfast included in our stay, we headed out for a stroll in the tiny quaint Aragon village of Nerin.
We heard that there are under 25 people who live in the village - there was a church too which apparently opened only once a year. We ran into a couple of old ladies and exchanged greetings with them, and then an old gentleman with whom we had a long 30 minute conversation in our “poquito” Spanish. Learned that he was a 4X4 driver and a mountain guide who could take us to the Nerin side of the national park. We are definitely coming back to these Spanish mountains soon
We noticed a couple of signs for a brewery in the next door neighborhood and after checking out decided to drive up there, only to find out that they too were closed at the time, opening only on the weekends (This is common in most small Spanish towns that all places are not open most “business days” as we are used to in US)
Our drive to Torla, a city that borders France but lacks a road connection with it, is the most famous gateway to the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park. It's a quintessential Aragonian town with picture postcard views. We walked around the cobblestone streets doing some souvenir and trinket shopping and since it was almost lunch time ( way too early for spanish lunch), we decided to grab a bite.
We looked for a place that was open but they were all in between meals, either too early for lunch or too late to have breakfast. Someone recommended going to a “small bite” place where we had a couple of great local beers. One of us ordered fried chorizo and sausage, a disappointment compared to all the delicious food we had had over the last week.
As it was getting too hot, we started driving towards Bielsa, a town on the other end of the park. This is where the last Parador night stay was. The plan was to meet with Gema again that afternoon in order to hike that part of the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park.
We took the route less traveled passing again through Nerin and some other small towns with beautiful viewpoints in place of the highway. This would give us a chance to see Monte Perdido if the clouds cleared.
Checking in at the Parador de Bielsa at about 4pm, we waited for Gema to come and pick us at 4.45pm. This Parador is located at the foot of the imposing Monte Perdido, in the heart of the Pineta Valley surrounded by beautiful nature and is an ideal starting point for excursions, mountain sports, or simply a break from routine. It's a modern building though unlike most of the other Paradores, and dating back to 1986 is built like a mountain shelter with stone and wood.
When Gema picked us up, we drove up the mountains via the Bielsa route and parked further downhill from the designated parking lot as we decided to do some more hiking. We were met with many marmots and more Egyptian vultures soaring in the sky as we reached a location which had a storm shelter. As the three of us were walking and chatting, Monte Perdido, the third highest mountain in the Pyrenees peeked out a little, making us feel satisfied.
Getting back to the Parador at about 9pm, we said our “goodbyes” to Gema but we had already started making our next trips plans for canyoneering and via ferrata with her. By that time the cloud cover had taken over and a glorious sunset was a remote possibility and so we went for dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.
At dinner, we got to taste a salad and gazpacho made with local “salmon” tomato and as well as the local pacharan sloe liqueur drunk in Navarre, and other areas of Basque Country and served as a digestif. This was our second time having it, our first being at Danontzat in Hondarribia. After another big day and satisfying meal, we retired to our room with two huge windows with views of the mountains on the east west walls and would help towards the most fabulous last day sunrise.
