CILAOS 10/08/13

CILAOS,surronded by cloud covered mountains

We left haven early,walking to le port bus station,thru town with backpack and trekking poles.nice bus to st louis( typing this listening toNOSTALGI   98. 10 FM,reunion radio,having just cooked a roast chicken,waiting for kerry to finnish her shower,drinking a glass of nice cask wine from chile(too much detail?) and they have just played bob marley,beatles,chris rea( one of my tops) and ... House of the rising son,sung in french.  - this is a lovely island)
-had some cofees and caught bus to CILAOS,in cirque de cilaos.what an amazing bus ride.what a great bus driver.big pink bus does narrow mountain road with hairpin steep bends.and goes through tunnels with cms to spare either side
Cilaos so pretty.best patisserie- got baguettes for immediate lunch,found our gite,depacked,and headed for the hills
As a warmup we hiked for several hours,thru town,past pretty white church,with cloud covered mountains curtain,out of town,to start of hiking trail proper,several hours return ,so uphill all the way to Marvellous Rock,for a marvellous view of Cilaos.then dscent back.good practice for next 4days.
Back at our colourful gite,a nice hot shower,then a wine in dining area before tea,then a lovely meal,with free wine,and rum.we ate with a french group with a local guide,doing 6days hiking.philippe spoke english and was great to talk to.they had already done 2of the days we were going to fo,so helpful info

Kerry looking at cirque de cilaos map for our hike up to Marvelous Rock

view of cilaos after 1 hour hike up

our gite.hot shower,and lovely meal,with wine ,and a fire.so nice