During breakfast, which was at 7am, as usual, I suddenly bit into something that felt like an olive stone. But I was eating white bread with butter; no olives. Discreet inspection left me with a gold crown on the tongue. Fortunately, no other teeth seemed damaged and I managed to remove said crown and slip it into my pocket without anyone noticing, I think. Not the first time I’ve had dental issues when hiking, I might add.
We were both feeling bodily fatigued as we started the walk. It was going to be a long one again. We had to climb out of the Cirque de Mafate and into the Cirque de Cilaos. We were told that a section was closed due to some instability of the terrain and that we could walk along the road to avoid that section, or hop onto a bus if our timing was right. We decided that we would take the bus anyway, closed or not.
Without any preamble the path went straight up the mountain through a forest, the trees growing at angles from the steep mountainside. It was tough going but at least it was cool and the views were, once again, stunning. Often the ‘steps’ were so high that I had to clamber up, clutching at anchors where I could. In places Roger had to extend a helping hand.
The climb continued until we got to Col du Taïbit the highest point on the route. From there it would be a constant descent.
While taking a snack break at the top we chatted to some folk that told us there would be a bus at 2pm and again at 3:08pm. We decided to try for the 2pm, but at some stage realised it that we would not make it. We would have to settle for the 3:08.
Going down was slow and hectic on the knees…
Thankfully we eventually got to the road and the bus stop with just a few minutes to spare. Just as well, as we were now on the shade side of the mountain and the breeze was icy cold. We hastily added a few layers of clothing.
The bus arrived at exactly 3:08pm! The isle was very narrow and I had to remove my pack, holding it above my head to avoid bumping into the other passengers. The ride was interesting to say the least. Driving a long vehicle on such a narrow road with hairpin bends takes some doing. The driver had to make 3-point manoeuvres to negotiate the bends while other vehicles simply waited until the bus was through and then continued without fuss.
We almost missed our stop at the entrance to Cilaos, not really knowing where we were. The bus driver waited patiently while we made a less than graceful exit with packs and my hiking pole catching on seats and bumping passengers as we moved to the front. We stood in the road, sheepishly looking around, trying to orientate ourselves. Then we spotted the name of the Gîte we were looking for, not far from where we were standing. A sign Roche Merveilleuse was pointing up the mountain, indicating another hour’s walk. My heart sank. We set off but it somehow didn’t feel right, so after a while we turned back again. Someone later told us that it was actually going to a view point of the same name as our Gîte.
Thanks to a tuck shop owner with very limited command of English but with a map book we eventually made it to the right place. The Gîte was in town as opposed to all the previous ones that were in isolated pockets in the mountains.
When we got to Gîte Roche Merveilleuse. our luggage was again waiting for us, as promised by Connections. This time we repacked with more care and left behind all extras such as our sleeping bags, pillows, spare clothes, etc. We needed our packs to be as light as possible for the next day’s summit and long haul.
Dinner at the Gîte was ‘cancelled’ so we were given a voucher for a local restaurant. That proved to be a nice change to the evening routine, although it meant a lot more walking on very tired limbs and feet. Once again, the hostess spoke no English and she just pointed in the general direction of town so we set off, unsure of what we were looking for.
The main street through town was lined with brightly lit shops and restaurants. It was Friday evening and people were out socialising. There was a lively, festive atmosphere. We found our restaurant after a few enquiries and had a most enjoyable meal.
Cilaos is a charming village. Apparently the name comes from the Malagasy word Tsilaosa which means The Place you never leave. We could quite see this. We regretted having only one night there. This would be an ideal place for a rest day. Sadly, due to lack of time, we were not able to explore the town and surrounds or learn more about the famous embroidery trade, started by nuns over a 100 years ago and handed down to young nuns ever since.
We were very tired when we eventually settled down for the night. But we had a very comfortable double bed, can you believe it!
My Fitbit showed 175 flights of steps and 19,81km for the day.
