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Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest

September - December 2023
This is Jane and Mark's sabbatical blog. We're spending a month cycling the Camino Frances in Spain. Then we're off to Jordan - Dubai - India - Bhutan (two wheels by motorbike to the Tiger's Nest) - Thailand - Malaysia - Singapore. Back for Xmas. Read more
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  • 103footprints
  • 10countries
  • 105days
  • 1.0kphotos
  • 60videos
  • 33.5kkilometers
  • 22.6kkilometers
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  • 652sea miles
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  • Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
    1
    Day 30

    Day 30 - Santiago de Compostela

    October 7, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    Fun day off in Santiago visiting the Cathedral, doing an online treasure hunt around the city, and some more tourist shopping (we now have full Camino outfits for the last two days). Lots of cafe and bar stops on the way. Finally managed to have some paella. Also managed to get Mark on a bus!Read more

  • Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
    Day 31

    Day 31 - A Ponte Olveira

    October 8, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Our journey chasing our shadows westwards continued today. We said goodbye to Abi and Mike early this morning before heading north to intercept the Camino out of Santiago. We were immediately into the mountains with some really big climbs. Overall today was one of the biggest days of climbing. Looking forwards to reaching the coast tomorrow where we will conclude the cycling and start back to the ferry to UK. We really looked the part today in full Camino cycling gear!
    51kms cycled today, 1100m up, 975m down.    Read more

  • Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
    Day 32

    Day 32 - Muxia and Santiago

    October 9, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We made it! 900kms (approx.) from the Pyrenees to the Atlantic Coast.
    We started earlier today (09:00) to try and avoid the afternoon heat (it got up to at least 30 yesterday afternoon). Most of the ride was through very rural bits of Galicia until suddenly the coast came into view and we descended into Muxia. Paula was there to meet us at the beach for lunch, but first we headed out to the lighthouse, church, and viewpoint on the headland - the official end of the Camino (after Santiago). Lunch at the van was followed by a dip in the sea (Jane and Chris). We then caught a taxi back to Santiago (we're staying right next to the Santiago Cake shop) and C&P headed off in the van.
    Sadly that's our last day of cycling for a while, but the Camino has been great! Better than hoped for! Shame we won't be able to maintain our cycling fitness.
    Cycled 40kms today, 750m up, 990m down (but like most of the last week or so, hardly any flat!).    Read more

  • Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
    Day 33

    Day 33 - Santander

    October 10, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We discovered today that car travel is a lot faster than cycle travel! We covered the distance of the Camino in reverse in 6 hours!The focus was very much much on getting back to the ferry ready for tomorrow's departure. We had to try a couple of different cars before we could fit in the bags and bikes. In the end our little Skoda kamaq ran perfectly and we now need to give it back tomorrow. Met up with Chris and Paula this evening ready for the sailing tomorrow morning.Read more

  • Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
    Day 34

    Day 34 - Ferry to Portsmouth

    October 11, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Really tired last night (J) so skipped dessert (very unusual for me) and went to bed early. Feeling much better this morning. Dropped off our hire car first thing, checked in at the Port, and then went for walk round Santander in search of a post box (harder to find than you might think - I'm sure we've had this problem before!). We're now on the ferry waiting to set sail back to Portsmouth.Read more

  • Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
    Day 35

    Day 35 - Portsmouth and Home

    October 12, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Back in the UK and it's raining! However, it's been a really great trip, so we can't complain too much. We've now got 3.5 days at home before heading off to Asia for the next leg of our travels. We will resume the blog then.

    Summary of our Camino trip:

    Overall: 917kms cycled over 21 days; 15,175m up; 15,300m down.
    Biggest climb: 1240m (first day of cycling, over the Pyrenees). 7 days with >900m.
    Longest day: 56kms (Day 22: Astorga to Ponferrada). 10 days >50kms.

    Best section: Leon to Muxia. Also the hilliest section.

    We were 2 of 3,442 people arriving in Santiago on 6th Oct (and registering at the Pilgrim Office). 1,808 did the Camino Frances, but only 243 started from St Jean Pied de Port and did the whole of the Camino (like us). Most of these people walked.

    Memorable moments: Mark cycling through the wet concrete; being advised by the baggage transfer company to "leave half the household at home next time"; arriving at Santiago Cathedral (to the sound of the Galician bagpipes); the chaos of the Logrono Wine Festival.

    Other things we enjoyed or will remember:
    - Being part of the Camino community and seeing hundreds of other 'peregrinos' from all over the world.
    - Collecting stamps along the way, stopping at numerous cafes for very small cups of 'caffe con leche'.
    - Spending the first hour of every day constantly ringing our bells and shouting 'Hola!' and 'Buen Camino!' as we tried to outpace the walkers who had generally started a couple of hours before us.
    - Eating lots of Spanish tortilla (for breakfast and lunch).
    - Trying Pilgrim Meals (three course set meals + wine, served ~19:00 rather than the normal 21:00, costing about 15 euros).
    - Joining up with friends for the last sections. Meeting up with Paula for coffee and picnic lunches at the van. Also, 'Paula Porterage' provided a great luggage transfer service.
    - 34 days of great weather, with only 5 minutes of riding in the rain.
    - Great and varied scenery starting with mountains and vineyards; then the flat, high, open vistas of the Meseta (with miles of dead sunflowers, wheat fields, wind turbines, and historic villages); and finally the hills and rural communities of Galicia (the land that time forgot). Nearly all of the route was off-road or on very quiet roads, with some great mountain biking in parts.

    We're already discussing doing another Camino at some time!    Read more

  • Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
    Day 39

    Day 39 - At Heathrow

    October 16, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Currently at Heathrow, ready for the next phase of our adventure. Surprisingly little hassle getting our motorcycle clothes and helmets through security.

  • Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
    2
    Day 40

    Day 40 - Amman (Jordan)

    October 17, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    It was a bit of a late finish last night with a 2:30am arrival at the hotel. The transfer man did a great job by waiting around for our late flight for 90 minutes! We did manage to stay asleep until 8:30 with a couple of interruptions from the largest Mosque in the city at 5:18 and 6:30. We are back in the sun though and it’s been a really interesting day. We’ve seen Amman citadel and the Roman amphitheater whilst meeting some of the locals. Everyone has been incredibly friendly. Just back to the hotel now after a game of cross the road (imagine frogger on an old computer) and ready to get briefed now for the next week.
    (Our hotel has three hospitals nearby and is surrounded by medical supply shops - see photos)    Read more

  • Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
    Day 41

    Day 41 - Wadi Rum (the desert)

    October 18, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Long drive today, 300km, along the Desert Highway to Wadi Rum (the Valley of the Moon). Spotted a few camels on the way.
    Not expecting to have internet access tonight so will update tomorrow.
    ...Turns out they do have 4G in the desert. Arrived at our camp after lunch and then headed out on a bouncy jeep to see the sights of Wadi Rum, including various film locations (for The Martian and Aladdin) and how to make instant soap out of desert plants. Have taken loads of photos but it's difficult to really capture the scenery.
    Tonight we have a Bedouin meal which has been cooking under ground for the last 3 hours.    Read more

  • Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
    Day 42

    Day 42 - Aqaba (on the Red Sea)

    October 19, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    We left the Bedouin tents early today to get to Aqaba. Tonight's hotel is very luxurious and far away from the basics of the camp last night. We had an ok nights sleep last night but had to be wary in the night of wearing shoes to go outside as there were 4 different types of 'unfriendly' snake and 2 types of scorpions!
    After a quick stop at Jordan’s only train (not working now) we stopped at a luxury beach resort. Did some snorkelling for the first time on the coral reef which was amazing. It did take us a while to master the use of flippers though (both on land and in the water). Spotted a lion fish, which we later found out is very poisonous.
    From our hotel we can see directly across to Elat in Israel, and also Egypt (see photo). The flag is at half mast due to the hospital bombing in Gaza.
    We have a leisurely start tomorrow (it is the weekend here now) before we head off to Petra.    Read more

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