Sardinia Day 4: Capo Testa - Palau

Capo Testa

We woke up with high hopes, but as we unzipped the tent, we were greeted by another grey sky. Bummer. We waited a little for the sky to clear, but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen anytime soon, so we set out on a hiking trail.

?classes=gravfloatleft Capo Testa is popular for its explicit hiking terrain. Huge boulders lie strewn about the grassy slopes, their bizarre shapes the result of centuries of wind erosion. I was so fascinated by the landscape that I had almost walked straight past the turtle that was observing us along the hiking trail.

Our hike ended at the very special beach of Valle di Luna. When we visited, we were the only ones there, but it looks like in high season, this is a popular hippie destination. The first thing that’ll draw your attention is the large totem with the skull of a goat. In a little cave next to the beach, we found camping gear such as pots, pans, deck chairs… and several caves even housed small rooms with a bunk bed, a table, closets… I wonder what this place looks like when it is ‘inhabited’.

Palau

We could’ve spent more time on Capo Testa, but we decided to move on towards Palau. There was one particular rock we still wanted to see before sunset.

The inhabitants of Palau are so proud of this chunk of rock that they’ve fenced it off and require an entrance fee from visitors. But in low season no-one bothers guarding the entrance, so we climbed over the fence and had the entire area to ourselves.

Even though it’s hard to miss, we couldn’t find the famous rock in a shape of a bear. Turns out we couldn’t see it because we were standing just in front of it. When we climbed a bit higher up, we were able to see the stone bear towering over Palau. From up here, we had a nice panoramic view over the surroundings, with a castle on one side, a few villages on the other side, and water all around.

Driving around

We quietly drove on, and had a few random stops where we felt like getting out to enjoy the sun and the landscape, and to dip our feet in the water. We also sneaked into a camping site pretending we belonged there. In reality, we hadn’t had a shower in days and quickly wanted to freshen up a bit. By the end of the day, we had reached Orosei. After scanning the area for a camping spot, we set up the tent in a grassfield along the river.

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