Bulnes

The walking got more interesting when we drove along to Las Arenas and turned up to Poncebos.

Now we are halfway up to the end of the road which is at Sotres. Already the mountains close in and you are squashed between massive limestone walls. There’s a choice of what to do. It’s the start of the 12km gorge walk, Ruta del Cares. There’s also the walk up to Bulnes and there’s a funicular up to there too.

We parked a little further up the road (which wasn’t helpful after our walk) and became engaged in a chat with parents and adult son on a  trip here from Minneapolis / Wisconsin. They, rather surprisingly for Americans, are on a very modest vacation in northern Spain and not trying to ‘do’ all Europe.

We have chosen the walk to Bulnes. It doesn’t sound much but we know it’s a climb. We could opt for the funicular in the tunnel but obviously don’t. 

Bulnes is famous for being car free and it really is. The only route up there until the railway was built was on a mule track through a steep and narrow gorge. That’s our route. The photos tell the story but for the record, on the way up we caught and passed people and no one caught us. Everything clicked walking-wise and so we enjoyed the climb and the views and exposure.

At the top we met the funicular passengers and there was quite a busy restaurant but fortunately we got a table just inside, out of the sun. We’ve come to realise that you can totally rely on Spanish restaurants for the quality and taste of food, provided you make the right choices. This one was no exception We made the right choices and replaced many lost calories.

The route back down was the same except that we first walked higher to ‘Upper Bulnes’ before walking down a steep path to rejoin the main route. I didn’t get a pic but watched a snake slither along the path and into grasses. It was grey with white marks but I haven’t asked ChatGPT what it might be.

Walking down wasn’t as breathless but it was just as tricky as coming up, with careful boot placement required in the rocky steps.

It was a stupendous few hours and honestly I can’t think of being in such an accessible yet totally dramatic and exposed place.

Then we drive the rest of the way up to Sotres which sits at about 1,000m and really is in the mountains. There’s a field where campervans park but there are no facilities and it was just a little surprising to see ‘car sleepers’ who clearly can’t have facilities. How do they manage?