Running errands…

A short break in Huesca, where we took the opportunity to get Marvin’s AdBlue hose repaired, and also to get a new SIM card to get internet again. We also decided to stay here while waiting for Storm Laurence to pass, so as not to be in the middle of the desert at that moment. In short, a logistical stop… before heading off again!

For those who don’t follow the weather, or who live on another continent, southern Europe is currently being swept by a series of storms coming from the Atlantic (no, this is not a political statement, even if…). This is causing snowfalls like we haven’t seen yet this winter in the mountains, and also rainy episodes and wind in lower areas (and also floods in Andalusia)… No need to say that staying in our desert with its ravines when a storm is coming was not necessarily the best idea. So, we went back a little north, to settle around Huesca and take the opportunity to run some logistical errands.

Alquézar

First stop: Alquézar, renowned as one of the most beautiful villages in Spain. A well-deserved title, since each of the houses has retained its medieval style and color, giving the whole place, perched on a small hill above the canyons of the Sierra de Guara with their turquoise water, a perfect postcard appearance. There are also suspended footbridges above the canyon, which you can walk along to stroll above the torrent, but with the rain, it wasn’t really ideal for doing that…

Montearagon and Huesca

Next, we headed to the outskirts of Huesca, for various reasons. First, because we needed to repair Marvin’s AdBlue tank hose, and there’s an Iveco garage in Huesca. And second, because for the third time in less than a year, our internet provider, ConnectPls, changed the SIM card that gives us internet access in Marvin. Except that to receive the new SIM card, we needed a pickup point, and so Huesca served that purpose as well (in addition to some grocery shopping).

The weather also seemed to be getting worse, and so we decided to settle down at the foot of the ruins of Montearagon Castle, with a view of Salto de Roldán on one side, Huesca on the other, and the surrounding Aragonese landscape. A rather peaceful spot to wait out the storm before continuing on. We’re surrounded by vultures (griffon and Egyptian), kites, and red-legged partridges, which we hear singing between two gusts of wind and three rain showers…

Logistically speaking, this break in Huesca allowed us to change our AdBlue hose (thanks to the Motortrans Huesca team who were super efficient!), pick up our new SIM card at a pickup point, and visit the city, which, let’s be honest, doesn’t really have much to offer… The good news is that we have internet again, and we’ll be ready to continue as soon as Storm Laurence passes (or is it Martinho?… we already lost track with all these Atlantic storms…). We’ll probably stay here for another day, waiting for everything to dry out a bit (Marvin doesn’t like muddy tracks very much…), and then we’ll continue our journey west to Bilbao…

Aguarales de Valpalmas

In the end, we took advantage of a short break with the rain and a few rays of sunshine to reach the other side of Huesca (the west), and more precisely, Valpalmas, a small village lost in the middle of wheat fields and scrubland, but world-renowned (at least in this more local part of the world and by geologists) for a phenomenon known to specialists as “piping.”

The area is home to the “Aguarales de Valpalmas,” a type of badland similar to those found in many desert regions (Death Valley and other desert areas in the United States, Valley of the Moon in Chile, Göreme Valley in Turkey, etc.). To summarize, and for those who know the place, the Aguarales de Valpalmas are a bit like Bryce Canyon, but in miniature (a bit like a snow globe of Bryce Canyon, but without the snow 😜). The “piping” phenomenon is a very particular erosion process, which dissolves the underground rock, creating tunnels and small ravines (the same phenomenon as in Bryce Canyon, but on a Playmobil scale). The result is quite curious, with these rugged chimneys, 2 or 3m high, which form a whole ensemble like a procession of hooded penitents (everyone sees what they want, but, Andalusia obliges, this is what Benjamin saw… 😜). What’s funny is that the area of the Aguarales is relatively small and surrounded by fields and “normal” scrubland all around… Why did the Aguarales form there, and not next to it?… In any case, this is where we will sleep tonight, trying to find an answer to this existential question, and take a few more photos tomorrow morning, if the sun is out again…

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In A STORM, as IN DRY WEATHER, LEAVE NO TRACE!

– Always travel on public ways and respect the signs.
– Limit noise and interfere as little as possible with wildlife.
– Respect the other users.
– Leave rocks, plants and other natural features as you found them and respect historic sites.
– Take your waste with you and throw it into the appropriate containers, in the nearest village.
– Do not camp inside protected areas and do not make any fires.