Malta 03 – Etna

Posted: May 17th, 2010 | Author: Gergana Milusheva | Filed under: trips and notes | No Comments »

01.04.2010

we open our eyes and Etna is just as steadfast in front of us and the view from the hotel is just as mind-blowing

breakfast, bags back on the bikes, starter and – nothing… one of the bikes does not want to start! The guys run around trying to fix it

and in half an hour of unsuccessful trying the guy from the reception comes along in his costume with a plastic suitcase with starter cables that are perfectly arranged, labeled, strung through…

we take off

the road to the volcano passes by a local landmark – a narrow gorge from a quickly cooled-down lava; the brochures look promising plus Dobri’s pictures from Ireland make me expect extraordinary shapes…

the road leading there is closed and we manage to get a glimpse of this although we pay quite a lot to enter…

we head to our primary destination a bit angry; the road passes through several Sicilian villages

the road up after the last village looks like this

the U-turns are labeled, the asphalt is flawless, we are the only ones on the road and, luckily, we are riding on two wheels!

……

we arrive at the foot of the volcano and the road ends

Nikolay is showing how he got here

there is a lift from here to the crater but it is not working today… (maybe it has something to do with today’s date because it happens for the second time today…)

we head back on the perfect asphalt between the cooled-down streams of lava

a short direction check

a final look up

and off we go to Pozzallo because we have a ferry to catch; we get there an hour early, have coffee and we get loaded soon; the boat is great, fast, luxurious, managed by a British team (with British prices); there are special ramparts for the bikes

we arrive in Malta when it is already dark… uh, and everybody is driving on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD! you get used to it (well, almost), but it is a great shock in the beginning, especially in the roundabouts which are abundant and go the opposite way just as well.

to be continued…

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