04 - Andorra brought us to our Pyrenees

Neither James nor I have stayed at a hostel in a long time. And we were nervous. There’s all sorts of things that you have to consider. What’s the etiquette for sharing a room with strangers? Can I turn a light on if I need to go to the bathroom during the night? What tiny bag can I take in the room that will fit under my bed? What bag can I fit in my tiny bag that I can use to hang clothes on the back of the shower door so they don’t get wet? We didn’t pack padlocks! Do we need padlocks?

On the winding, scenic drive into Andorra we considered whether, despite the website for our hostel saying that they didn’t have any, there might be a spare reserve of double rooms. Or maybe it wouldn’t be that busy in Andorra during the peak of the European holiday season and our 4 bed dorm would only have us in it. If nothing else, we’re optimists.

We arrived at reception to check in and enquired about the possibility of a double room upgrade. Obviously there wasn’t any available but we were told that another really nice couple would be sharing our dorm. We were going to be doing the proper hostel thing.

We soon met Michael and his girlfriend (whose name I can’t remember because I was too focussed on getting the handshake right), a young couple from New Zealand who were doing a very similar trip to us but in reverse. They were eating in that night because they had well exceeded their budget for the trip. It was like looking into a crystal ball.

We got up early the next morning to make sure we got our 5 hour hike in before the forecasted afternoon storm. I don’t know if any of you have used the weather app on your iPhone but every time I opened it (which was in 5 - 10 min intervals) the forecast had changed. So basically it could start storming anywhere between 10am and 4pm. A 6am start felt appropriate.

James likes to be prepared so we both set off with our overpacked backpacks. Spare layers, enough food for three days, five battery packs. We take less with us when we go on a weekend away. You never know when you’ll get stuck on a mountain overnight, though I can’t say it’s happened to me yet.

The hike was tough and for those of you who have skied with me before (the Shenfield lot who I know are only reading this because James promised you a quiz in the first blog) you’ll be aware of my crippling fear of mountain edges. Confirmed that this has nothing to do with skiing and also occurs when my feet are firmly on the ground. Even though I can walk perfectly normally in real life without falling over, somehow when there is a sheer cliff edge I have visions of a misplaced foot and falling to the bottom.

Despite a few ‘oh geez’ moments, we had the best day. The scenery was absolutely stunning and from now on, the little country of Andorra that no one ever goes to will feature on my top travel recommendations list (if you like hiking).

Exhausted, we went back to the hostel and had a bottle of wine with our dorm buddies, Michael and I still don’t know her name!

Next day was similar. Early start followed by long hike. This time it rained but we pushed through because we know that France is next and order of the day is more likely to feature cheese rather than exercise.

On to Aix!

J & M