DAY 7, MAY 12, 2022, Thursday:

many scenic view points, water falls etc along with medieval villages. Cascada de Gerber , Baqueira-Beret, Val Ruda, Salardu [did the waterfalls hike both ways, got lost by going up the trail instead of back to the car park], walked through the beautiful village Unha, traced our way back, Salardu Church Sant Andréu de Salardú, lovely village Tredós with its waterfalls and medieval center, Camí de la Bruixa [Witch's way]. We hit the trail for lgèisa de Santa Maria de Cap d'Aran but it was blocked mid way, so we saw it only from far.

We were too tired to get down and explore Arties and just passed it on the way back to hotel. Surprisingly, the road was blocked the next day for maintenance and we had to miss it

STAY: Aparthotel Nou Vielha

FOOD PREP & PACKING

We do this every day of the vacation... just thought I'll put in pics here

Counter clean by 7.40... never leave behind a mess is our motto.

Food packed for the day... for a driving trip, rice and sandwiches for trips by public transport.

cashew nuts and raisins... bananas also

We retraced our way back the way we came in the previous evening... drove east on C 28

MIRADORS

LA CASCADA DEL GERBER

Cascada del Gerber is a waterfall is a big waterfall, east of Vielha, near Baqueira dropping down from a lake called Estany de Gerber. Height of the waterfall is 125 meter. We saw the full waterfall while driving but wanted to see it up close from the mirador

Parked in a tiny clearing just off the road... we had already seen it on google map street view and pinned it to our offline map

Trail head with sign boards

Stream under the boardwalk

trail a tad rough

there are steps and railing up to the observation platform

quite imposing up close, with lots of spray

Drove on

Baqueira Beret

There are 33 lovely villages in the Aran valley. We tried to hit up as many as possible.

These are the ski lifts to get to the famous ski resort Baqueira Beret... it's the premier ski resort patronised by the Spanish royal family

water feature in the village... looks better on our video which I'll post shortly

SALARDU

Salardú is located at 1,268 metres above sea level, at the convergence of the Garona and Unhóla Rivers. The village was fortified in the Middle Ages on account of its strategic position. The castle once stood in the upper part of the village, where there is now a church.

HIKE

We parked the car at the main plaza parking [free as usual] and went for the hike to the water falls. We went down the river first

Got to the other side of the river... upstream

sitting by the gushing river at peace...

picnic lunch

GOT LOST

After our lunch we could have gone back the way we had entered the trail. In stead we took another trail that was going up. Bad idea, it became quite steep. We still went ahead and then landed up in a place we did not recognize. . Later we came to know it was the neighboring village of Unha. We needed to get back to our car and started to walk through the village. It was really pretty.

UNHA

garden gnome

modern chalet blending in

Lizard on the door...😆😆

Bridge over the river... fully decked in flowers. I sat here till son walked to our car and drove it down here and picked me up.

Unha village sign

This is Salardu again

Salardú Church of Sant Andreu / Iglesia de San Andrés de Salardú

The building has been built in several phases, in Romanesque to Gothic transitional style (12th and 13th centuries).The octagonal bell tower (15th century), more than 25 meters height. The loopholes and buttresses present in the lower part give a fortified appearance.

The Romanesque portal, formed by five half-point archivolts adorned with vegetal motifs resting on columns.

The church has a rectangular basilica plan with three naves. Both the gothic central nave and the two Romanesque lateral naves are covered with barrel vault. The head is formed by three simple semicircular apses. A single eye bell-gable is located over the high altar and a very slender bellfry is attached to the southwest corner of the church

The Christ of Salardú

a famous carving in wood dating from the 13th century that presides over the high altar, one of the most representative works of the Aranese Romanesque. Atanding at a height of 0.62 metres, set in a cross of beautiful multicoloured panels and finished in four square panels. It is considered one of the most valuable works from the Roman period in the area.

The exceptional Renaissance mural paintings (17th century), one of the most extensive and best preserved in the Aran Valley. The paintings show biblical figures and scenes.

Tredòs

It is the last village in Naut Aran; further on, there is the urban nucleus of Baqueira. It is the door to one of the entries to the Aranese side of the Aigüestortes and Estany de Sant Maurici National Park towards the glacial Cirque of Colomers.