PYRENEES & TET SPAIN: Offroad on SMUGGLER ROUTES of the TRANS EURO TRAIL

There are roads that have a history. Roads that are gems, just waiting to be found and to be explored. Come with me to Northern Spain. Find the scenic routes off the beaten track in the Spanish parts of the Pyrenees. Ride part of the Spanish Trans Euro Trail with me and travel on old, illegal smuggler roads to the micro-nation Andorra. Good morning, everyone. I don't want to jinx it, but the weather today is supposed to be fantastic and we will continue riding in the Pyrenees mountain range. But today we cross back into Spain and plan to do some small off-road excursions, partly on the TET, the Trans Euro Trail. Unfortunately, our way back to Spain through the mountain pass Col du Portillon didn't exactly go as planned. Oh no, this really feels like the trip of closed roads. Guess this mountain pass here will not bring us to Spain today. So this route here is really closed, unfortunately. We just asked a local and he said no cars, no motorcycles. So we will find a way around now, which is not so nice because I think it's much bigger roads, but you have to take what comes. Instead of the mountain pass Col du Portillon, we had to take a pretty long detour, but we were rewarded with the stunning views on the village Zambia. According to a legend, Zambia is named after a local saint who is said to have killed a dragon. Today, Zambia is more known for its scenic old town though and the marble quarries, which according to some finds were already used by the Romans. Hello, Spain. Yes, it has been a pretty long detour, but now we are entering the Spanish part of the Pyrenees again. And as you can see on the sign as well, the so-called Val d'Aran, the Valley of Aran. From the village Viella, we made our way to the real start of our first off-road excursion for this day. To the skiing town Baquera. We are approaching our first little gravel road here now. We're in the town Baquera, which is a Spanish skiing area. And from here, we're going to ride up the mountain and do a little loop. And I'm very curious how it will be. I just found it in the map, so no clue what will await us. Baquera Beret is the second biggest winter sport area in the Pyrenees and the biggest in Spain. The skiing area extends from 1,500 to 2,610 meters altitude. And we were just about to cover a big part of this distance with our motorcycles and starting our ride up the mountains. Here we go. We are now riding up to the top of the skiing resort from where the gravel road is supposed to start. Several hairpins take you up to a mountain plateau and to the skiing base of Pla de Beret to an altitude of about 1,900 meters. If you continue the road along green meadows with horses freely roaming around, you end up at the gravel road that will take you on a stunning loop through the mountains. So the road here is getting a bit smaller. To be honest, I had no clue what to expect as I just spotted the road on a map and had no information about it at all. But so far it's super scenic and the only people we actually meet is hikers. So it's quite nice. We had entered Marimanjan Nature Reserve lying east of the Val d'Aran Valley, which is characterized by its mountainous alpine landscape. Its highest peak is Tuc de Mobern with 2,881 meters. On our way, we came by several signs that looked as if driving those roads was prohibited. But we asked some locals who translated the Spanish regulations that were put up with these signs. And it turned out that it is only forbidden to use those roads between December and May. And due to the area being a nature reserve, it is as well prohibited to enter it in a group of more than four vehicles. So we were fine and were ready to enjoy our ride through the forest. The views are getting more and more beautiful here and here's another vehicle for once. So maybe we stop to, looks like a good place to enjoy the view and have a little rest. These are the moments we travel for. Only a short stop in nature that fills up all batteries completely. A place off the beaten path that we had never planned to go. But once we reached it, we can't even imagine life without this experience anymore. So it feels like this part here is a bit more busy now than the part before our stop. And the road is much better. You can drive faster and you meet more people, but still super scenic with the road winding along this river here. Ah, there's a mountain hut. We already wanted to stop for lunch a while ago. So very good that there is finally something, but hey, what is the travel partner doing again? I stop. Oh, you think he will come back? Let's wave. I don't know. I think if I just stop and go to the restaurant, he very likely will come back too. Refugio del Fornet is a mountain hut located in the Val de Bonabé, surrounded by the very diverse fauna and flora of the Alpes-Pyrénées Natural Park. You can grab a delicious lunch and also book a bed to stay overnight. It is an idyllic place to enjoy the mountains and the asphalt road was just about to start again. So it's easy to reach the guest house, even if you don't want to take your vehicle to the gravel roads. The road here is still very scenic, even though it's tarmac again, and we are soon reaching the end of this loop here that we did, and we will head over to one of the most famous off-road stretches between Spain and the country Andorra next. We are in the town La Vorze now and going on the old smuggler routes now that connect Spain and the little country Andorra. So we're doing a part of the TET today, the Trans-Euro Trail, and this section of the TET starts in the town Alins, where we are heading to now. The road to tour starts here in Alins and it's a very small entry to the road, right next to this old church, so make sure you don't miss it. The Trans-Euro Trail, or short the TET, covers a road network of 51,000 kilometers of dirt roads and small tracks through some of Europe's most remote, diverse, and challenging landscapes. Thanks to a team of enthusiastic volunteers and a so-called linesman who scouted roads in 30 countries, the route of the Trans-Euro Trail is downloadable for free on their website. If you follow the route of the TET, like we do in this video, or like we did on our ride of the finish part of the TET in my Sirius Expedition North, don't forget to donate your first tank of fuel to them so they can keep this project alive and maintained. I have done this route before when we traveled to West Africa and I can tell you it's really, really nice. This first part here starts very nice, scenic, and easy on a still paved road until you reach the small village of Thor. And yes, maybe I took the term taking it easy a bit too literal when having a nap before even reaching Thor. I feel like last time I was here, the road was not paved as much or as long as this time, but looks like the gravel really starts here now, which before I think I started a bit more early. Here we are, this is Thor. Looks very busy today, but we will stop here for a bit because there is this super lovely restaurant that I want to show you. If you are better in planning your timings than I am, make sure to make a lunch stop at Casa de Escueta in Thor. It's a lovely little genuine rustic farmhouse and restaurant with a grill over an open fireplace, supposedly some of the best sausages in the area, and a place that all overlanders coming by love to visit. And then we started our ride from Thor on an old smuggler route to the country Andorra. And I felt exactly the same like on our visit in 2019. ♪ Memories will always stay the same ♪ The smuggler trail is a well-known gem for all off-road riders between the borders of Spain and Andorra. The historic route is an unpaved track used to access Andorra, known as the Tabaco Road or Smuggler Road. Its primary use was for smuggling tobacco from the duty-free principality of Andorra back into Spain through the border hamlet of Thor in the 1980s. Because I have done this road before, I know what is coming now. It's a little water crossing that is actually not difficult and nor very spectacular if you look at it closely. But if you see pictures or videos of the smuggler trail, that's where people pretend to have done a crazy water crossing. So I will show you this now. Behind me, it's very windy, but behind me, you can see the famous water crossing here in Thor. And I'm going to show you the pictures we did last time because they were quite spectacular. Today, I think the water's not as high. So it didn't look that good. And actually, it's not that big at all. Reality check. These are the pictures we took at exactly this water crossing in 2019. And this is how the water crossing looks in reality. And this is a rare sighting of the species shy travel partner in his natural environment. Even though the famous water crossing might not be as spectacular in reality like it is on pictures, I can assure you the surrounding environment is. This is one of the roads that you have to do on your motorcycle at least once. Let's go to Andorra. Back on track, riding a few hairpins and curves up now to the border of Andorra. Part of the road here is actually a bit worse and more technical than last time we did it, but maybe it's just under construction. You probably don't see it, but these dumps here are quite deep. You don't want to end up there with your wheels, so careful. But as always, the view is worth the hassle. What was that? Very nice. Now we go up to the border of Andorra. This part is supposed to be the most difficult one, but I think it's just fine. Very doable. Oh, and now I have the slow car in front of me and there's another motorcycle. I think it's too up. I will stop now because they are waiting longer and as well to get some distance to the car again. Overtaking here is not so great. Oh my God, riding two up. I think that's not so much fun. It's quite bumpy here. Look at them. Yes, I truly admire people who ride two up. You have to have so much trust. There is no way that I would like to sit on the back of anyone's motorcycle on a road like this. This is the end of the gravel road and, oh my God, look at this horse here on my left. The horse is cuddling with the car. It's funny. Not so sure that the car owner will be so happy about this. And my travel partner is overtaking and I think he's not happy with me because I'm talking so much and driving so slow. But anyways, this is the end of the gravel road. And at the same time, this is the border from Spain to Andorra. It's not a very legal border, so there is no customs or something like that, but instead there is a pretty great view. The smuggler route ends at Port de Cabos Pass at an elevation of 2,302 meters. The road from here to the Andorran side is paved. And besides of enjoying a fantastic view or stalking horses, you can as well step from one country into the other, from one adventure into the next. Andorra. Thank you for joining this perfect day of riding and crossing the border from Spain to Andorra on the Trans-Euro Trail and on an illegal smuggler route with us. If you have not subscribed to my channel yet, hit the bell button and leave a comment and a thumbs up if you liked this episode. The next ride will take us on a scenic route through Andorra and back to France. Tune in next Thursday to explore more of the micro state and continue the journey with me.