Kilometer 300. Is Arutas and the Sinis peninsula

Since my last post I moved quite a lot in terms of spots. From the Bosa area I went to the Sinis Peninsula, way different talking about landscapes and consequently level of difficulty bike wise! Here it's mainly flat and riding for 60 kilometers it's not such a big deal! That's why from Sa Rocca Tunda I gradually shifted south in two days to Mari Elmi and finally to Is Arutas.





In Sa Rocca Tunda I stayed over Carlo's, a sweet man a met through Couchsurfing who made me feel home welcoming me with a sensational BBQ (we had a 1 kilogram Sarago among the many dishes) and some great jazz music in the background. From there you can reach down the other spots riding your bike on a breathtaking dirt road starting from Su Pallosu going all the way to Mari Elmi. Be prepared to face some views you will never forget and maybe stop here and there for a quick refreshing bath. I found some secluded spots, I wish I was with the person I love!!!





What makes this area so unbelievable and world famous is the sand, made of tiny white quarts seeds that during the hot sunny days just shine and become blinding without getting hot and burning your feet. Is Arutas is THE place! This huge beach is pretty crowded during the week ends but I was lucky, if I look at the bright side, because the wind has been so strong while I was there that I could enjoy it in a different way...



wild as I think it is during the other seasons other the summer. This is totally a spot to visit, but remember not to be an idiot and take the sand with you...it's forbidden but above all it's pointless!!! And if you need a campsite go to Is Arutas camping! Clean, quiet and with planty of BBQ to cook your fresh food.
What else about the area? The lakes are definatly interesting if you do bird watching, but you might also be impressed because in a certain way they remind me of the salted lakes in Bolivia!



As a matter of fact locals call this lakes "le saline" even if they're not comparable to the one I saw in Sicily.
Anyway I really recommend this area, but at the same time i might start becoming boring recommending every place...but hey, this is Sardegna and every corner is a beauty!

Bosa, a medieval jewel.

It's official. My stay here is over and tomorrow morning around 11 I'm gonna pack everything and start heading south again. As my last day here I wanted to do as much as I could so I pushed myself beyond the Torre Argentina and spent a sensational morning on a spot that I can hardly compare with others...but that's what happen every time you reach a new place on this wonderful island.







The bay doesn't have a name, but if you'll ever come here go to the tower, face south and look down...a couple of hundreds meters ahead you'll recognize what I'm talking about!
What about the rest of the day?! Downtown Bosa.



The calm water of the Temo river, the streets paved with stones, the colorful houses, the old ladies working on their traditional frames, the massive medieval castle taking care of the situation from up there...oh gosh if this place is spectacular!
Too bad I couldn't feel the powerful wind due to the houses and the little alleys surrounding me...back to my tent I realized I'm lucky if I still have a tent!
Stay tuned.

Tentizzos

No picture could deeply represent the beauty of this secluded spot!
Maybe you could catch the sense of wind from the blurred plants shaked by the breeze. And the silent for sure...as the picture is a frizzed moment with no sound.
But for the rest you have to come to believe to your eyes!
Tentizzos.

The king is back! Bar in Centro, Alghero.

After leaving Argentiera and cycling for 60 Kms on up and downs, I decided to rest for a day and spend a quite Sunday in Alghero watching my tennis hero Roger play the Wimbledon finals. I had to struggle a little bit before finding a place with satellite TV, but finally I ended up in this very local bar (Bar in Centro) where I had a great time and cheered at Federer while sipping on several ice cold Ichnusas (a sardenian beer).




Easy as washing down beers I quickly became friend with the owner Francesco and his son Peppe and at the end of the game we celebrated all together Roger's victory with a picture behind the bar.

The funniest part of all this was watching all this old customers getting drunk on beers and getting all excited for the tennis match.
Another unforgettable experience out of a very simple situation.
It's just a matter of enjoying!

Kilometri 180. Torre Argentina Tentizzos

Oh well guys! I did give up today. It was in front of the sign telling me that I was at my 18th km of the amazing sp105 linking Alghero with Bosa (one of the most beautiful roads I've ever seen) that I got off my bike and started pushing. The day before I stayed in town to rest and recover from my previous 60 Kms ride (but above all to watch Riger win his 7th Wimbledon), but either because I'm getting old or either because I paddled for 2 to 5 p.m, today I couldn't make it on that uphill!





To make it even more depressing I also ran out of water at a certain point, an found my self stopping a car in the middle of nowhere and asking for a bottle...and I got lucky!
But my great effort got payed back from this place where I'm camping now! Tentizzos, huge green mountains on my back and the world famous sea Sardegna has in front of me. I know you might get used to the landscapes I regularly posts on my blog, but believe me...from real are astonishing as the first time I faced them. The smell, the sounds, the sunsets, the colors...everything together is just the perfect alchemy!





I really recommend it here.
Stay tuned!

Kilometri 120. Emanuele e Sonia

Unzipping my tent and facing the crystal calm waters of Cala Frana gave me goose bumps all over my body.
The night before I had dinner with my two tomatoes and the cucumbers, furnished with olive oil and salt, sitting on a smooth white piece of wood and facing an unbelievable sunset right in front of me.





Everyone had left, and falling asleep with the melody of the waves and my muscles screaming for the pain was easy as opening my sleeping bag. After such an effort I decided to spend the whole coming up day in that corner of paradise...and so I did!
At 10 o'clock in the morning the sun was already shining and burning like a lente d'ingrandimento on a dried leaf, and since I woke up, about an hour earlier, the beach was all for my self. Bathing naked to awake my senses is something I'm getting used to, but here was a boat with 8 persons on board...I have to get "dressed". Emanuele, Sonia, Diego and Loredana with their beautiful kids become quickly friends, and before leaving they offer me to pick me and my equipment up on their way back and invite me for dinner...how could I refuse?!





The fresh fishes and the octopus they caught made our dinner unforgettable, but the friendly chat around the table was totally the proof that I met some exquisite persons!
Thank you guys. You will always be in my heart!
And how can I forget to mention Argentiera?! Once you get here you feel like you're part of the movie "Back to the future". Everything here takes you back to a far west mood and the calm atmosphere given by the exquisite bays turns all the situation into a novel.
A must!

Kilometri 90. Cala Frana, Nurra.

Cala Frana...a dirt road to heaven from flamingshoe on Vimeo.

There are no words to express the toughness of the path I cycled through today, but at the same time there's no way I can describe how I felt looking at the landscapes I saw! At the maximum speed I could go with my bike loaded with about 15 kilograms (I reached 40 km/hrs and believe me the balance was not good at all), I paddled on these dirt roads going through nothing but wild nature with the best view I could expect. I was sweating my ass off and my legs and lungs were asking me to stop...but I knew I was about to face something unbelievable. I passed next to some amazing spots, where I could definatly stop and feel satisfied with my self, but no...the next bay could be better I kept telling my self! All of a sudden the dirt road ended. I reached the limit (with my body as well). And down there...the heaven!

Waking up where you'd never expect from flamingshoe on Vimeo.

How the fuck am I gonna get there with my bike?! I looked around for a path and I spotted this tiny fucking steep way where I could kill myself, but hey...I got this far, can I give up now with such a beauty blinking at me?!
I don't think so many people on this planet would have been so insane...but I was, and when I reached down the beach, the few people that saw me struggling started clapping and cheering at me.

A light dinner on the shore at sunset from flamingshoe on Vimeo.

A light dinner on the shore at sunset from flamingshoe on Vimeo.

I felt like a hero, and my first thought was to push the bike to the shore and get the front wheel wet with that water...and swim till my last strength!
I will never forget today!