VIA MEDITERRA - The journey around the Med with an HP2

[hobes]

Originally Posted by kimangao

Near Mazzarón I hit the coast again and I'm surprised to find it nearly without the common "urbanizaciones", holiday villages, beach hotels ...

Hi Dirk,

this picture seemed quite familiar to me as I saw it when I visited your report at Mundologia in Freiburg several weeks ago







quite poor pics, I know

if you follow the coastline for several kilometers consequently, you got nice trails (maybe not for a HP2)

[kimangao]

Thank you Hobes,
the planet has become really small. From Mundologia to Adv and then sharing pics and stories from a tiny Spanish coast road... Are you in Spain right now?

Cheers

Dirk

[hobes]

Originally Posted by kimangao

Thank you Hobes,
the planet has become really small. From Mundologia to Adv and then sharing pics and stories from a tiny Spanish coast road... Are you in Spain right now?

Cheers

Dirk

Hi Dirk,


that's nice.

No I'm in Freiburg. We were the only vistors at your report who came with the bike at this f****** cold january evening .

I must admit the pictures were taken round christmas 2006. I was there in 2006 and 2007 for some winter offroad riding with nice temperatures .
You missed there a nice spot for a good shot (maybe not the only one when you travel round the mediterrenian ).





but enough with poor pictures of mine in this fantastic thread.


cheers

Jörg

[kimangao]

Originally Posted by hobes

You missed there a nice spot for a good shot (maybe not the only one when you travel round the mediterrenian ).

Hi Jörg,
I knew about the spot and the vickers. But you're right: There are many places I've missed. But that's always a good reason to come back again

Gute Zeit!

Dirk

[kimangao]

Leaving Morocco and arriving again in Spain means first of all to meet Claudia, of good friend of mine who has come to visit me for a few days.



We cruise through the back country to beautiful Ronda ...



... and through mules paradise.




I don't want to miss any country even if it is very small. So we're cueing at the border post of Gibraltar like everyone else. To me there are several aspects that range somewhere between humoristic and bizarre.

First is the border control:
"Your passports please!" (So far so good)
"Where do you come from?" (Is he jooking? Or doesn't he know at which border he's working?)
"Where are you going to?" (Same same but different ;-) And: Gibraltar is a dead end. So what?)

Just for the sake of completeness: Leaving Gibraltar some hours later we bump into the same officer and he asks the same questions. Hilarious!




Second: The numberplates. They show - even if you didn't know before - that Gibraltar is part of the European Union. At the same time Gibraltar is (since 1713) a British Overseas Territory, meaning a crown colony. Isn't that funny? We (the Europeans) are living in the 21st century and we're still having colonies. In Europe. I'm not saying this is good or bad. I'm just wondering what geopolitical bizarreness we're indulging ourselves in. Similar story with the Spanish cities Ceuta (1580) and Melilla (1497) in Northern Africa.




Whatever you think about Gibraltar, the climate is definitely better than in the UK.




A hearty welcome at the town hall.







Gibraltar is lacking space. About 4500 people share a sqaure kilometre, more than in most other places in the world.




On the other hand Gibraltar, though very small, seems to be very liberal. The construction of a mosque on the very small and densly populated territory was possible.




We're leaving Gibraltar with mixed emotions. Best will be to cool down a bit



Have a nice one

Cheers

Dirk

[hobes]

Originally Posted by kimangao

Hi Jörg,
I knew about the spot and the vickers.

Gute Zeit!

Dirk

I should have known that

[kimangao]

Gibraltar seems to be the southernmost point on the Ibrerian peninsula. But that's Tarifa. So I'm heading a bit back to the the narrowest spot of the Strait of Gibraltar. The Strait separates Spain from Morocco and links the Mediterranean with the Atlantic. At the surface, water surges in from the Atlantic at a rate equivalent to 240 Niagara Falls. The water travels anticlockwise around the Mediterranean for 180 years, in which time it becomes ever more salty. As a result the water becomes heavier, sinks, and flows through the depths of the Strait of Gibraltar back out into the Atlantic.




The Strait is on eof the busiest waterways of the planet (88.000 ships per year) and at the same time a favourite habitat for dolphins and whales.




In Tarifa is home to research programm on sea mammals called firmmm.org. They offer cruises for the public with the researchers for a small amount of money. So I was lucky to get very close to these astonishing beauties.




Once in Tarifa I cannot miss an important place of history the Cabo de Trafalgar. In 1805 the British fleet defeatet here the joint Spanish-French (the Armada) fleet. This battle stopped Napoleon from his plan to invade Britain and contributed indirectly to his defeat on the European mainland.





Tarifa is a “high wind area”. With a width of fourteen kilometres, the Strait of Gibraltar is at its narrowest near Tarifa. Winds such as the Levante and Poniente are squeezed through the strait as if through a nozzle.







With wind forces regularly reaching 6 to 9, the southernmost point on the European mainland has found its way onto the maps of many windsurfers and kite surfers. In the background you can still see the mountains of Morocco.



It's a very calm and warm evening that I spent in Tarifa waiting for ...




... Richard! He has a few days off and we'll do some kms together.


Near Tarifa we noticed some rare traffic signs






The backcountry is full of Sierras and it's real fun to ride on these perfect roads unless ...




... you bump into some moving obstacles.




Aaaah, those roads!







Well, that wasn't us. Bad luck though!




This canyon, the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes, is a special one. No road goes into it but in former days a way led through it, known as the Camino del Rey. Some people call it the most dangerous way on earth.



It's not my footage but for an impression of the Camino del Rey there's a little video:




When the sun is about to set I take a little offroad section while Richard and the Harley remain on the tar.




This is one of my favourite sunset pictures.



I hops you've enjoyed todays chapter.

Cheers!

Dirk

[kave]

Fantastic again Dirk. Fantastic colors in your pictures.

[Lion BR]

Very nice!

[Blader54]

Each chapter is like getting a piece of the best candy in the world every few weeks! We wish we could have it every day but it takes time to make it and we wouldn't want to settle for a rush job, would we? No, as hard as it is to be patient, each chapter you post proves that patience is abundantly rewarded!! Thank you!!!

[Don T]

Originally Posted by kimangao

I hops you've enjoyed todays chapter.

Cheers!

Dirk

As always

[kimangao]

Originally Posted by Blader54

Each chapter is like getting a piece of the best candy in the world every few weeks! We wish we could have it every day but it takes time to make it and we wouldn't want to settle for a rush job, would we? No, as hard as it is to be patient, each chapter you post proves that patience is abundantly rewarded!! Thank you!!!

I have to thank you all for your patience.
You know, when I started the thread I had the idea of adding a new part of the story every few days, but at least once a week. But it's a bit difficult to do that over weeks and months meanwhile the rest of your life is happening. So I do hope that you remain lenient towards my aperiodic postings.

Dirk

[Bluebull2007]

Truely amazing stuff!!

[Wimke1971]

ONE WORD : AMAZING!!! nice pics, cool story!

[NSFW]

been tagging along and enjoying your RR. the pics are awesome.