Toulouse-L’Hospitalet près l’Andorre-Andorra La Vella Day 18

April 17

Day 18 Toulouse-L'Hospitalet près l'Andorre-Andorra La Vella

If I had only known how crazy this day would be…  The day started out early so we could catch the bus at 07:45 to l'Hospitalet près l'Andorre, a town in France just a few kilometers from Andorra, a country between France and Spain.  We had no idea that getting on the bus would be so insane.  There was a huge mob of people that were just trying to stuff themselves into the bus.  There were two busses going to the same place, but both mobs were about the same size, so we just got into one of the mobs and started pushing our way in.  Unfortunately, a group of guys that were trying to get on our  bus managed to block off the mob and get themselves on and just as Trevor and I were to load the bus, we were told that it was full and there was no more room for us even though Trevor saw 2 empty seats.  Trevor wanted to just take the seats and ignore the bus driver, but I didn't want us to get into trouble, so we turned around and headed back to the train station to find out what our options were.  We were told we could take another bus that would be arriving at 09:00.  It was already 08:30 so we wouldn't have to wait long for the next bus.  We went back to the bus area, sat on our bags and waited.  While waiting, Trevor started talking with a girl who happened to be heading to the same place we were, but to hike rather than just to make it to another country.  She lives in Toulouse, but is American.  We chatted a bit and waited some more until 09:45 when the bus FINALLY came.  Thankfully this time it was practically empty with just the few of us (about 10 or so) that hadn't made it on the last 2 busses.  We were off.  A few hours later, we were in l'Hospitalet près l'Andorre and Kristin, the girl from Toulouse, was the only other person that got off the bus with us.  We decided to stick together for a bit until we got into Andorra.  We walked around this tiny little village and Trevor and I figured we would leave our bags at the hotel here because the plan was to return after a few hours in Andorra.  We then realized that there wasn't a bus that night to Barcelona, as was our plan, so we figured we'd take our bags with us when we went to Andorra, and we would likely be spending the night there.  We grabbed some food and waited for the bus that would take us into Andorra.  Unfortunately, none of the busses stopped for us at the time that the bus was suppose to come (several passes by) and after waiting an extra 30 min just in case (and getting really frustrated), we decided to make a plan B.  Trevor figured it couldn't be that far to Andorra, about 15km to the capital and really we just wanted to get to the border.  So we started hiking, us and Kristin.  At first we tried hitchhiking, but that was very unsuccessful.  So off we went, thinking it wouldn't be too far so carrying 17 kg bags wouldn't be that hard.  We hit the first sign about a kilometer into our hike (so far all uphill) that told us that the border was 12km!  Now we had some serious thinking to do.  Would we be able to make it to the border with our bags?  The idea of hitchhiking came to us again, but we tried again and yet again was unsuccessful, so we decided, "Let's do this, let's hike".  (I was still sick and feeling not too hot, I think I lost my mind somewhere!)  Trevor had a map and was thankfully able to cut down our hiking by quite a bit.  We decided to hike straight up hill instead of following the windy long road.  In one kilometer we were able to walk 3 kilometers (according to the sign).  This was helpful, but I still wasn't feeling great, so it probably wasn't a good idea for me to be exerting so much effort to get to the border.  None-the-less, we continued to hike.  The scenery was beautiful and thanks to Kristin being with us, I managed to keep my complaining to a minimum.  After another couple kilometers and several more attempts at hitchhiking, we finally made it to the border crossing between France and Andorra.  You can't imagine how happy I was.  We figured we would ask about a taxi to the nearest town, so we went into the building.  This also made me happy because they had a vending machine with water and I had run out a little while back.  I was so ecstatic to have made it!  The border patrol guy was super nice and even stamped our passports.  He told us to talk to the guys outside to get a taxi.  We waited for about 10 min before the black Mercedes came to pick us up and drive us the remainder 3km into the closest town.  From there we took a bus that took us into the Andorra capital.  The whole country appeared to be mountainous.  It was quite beautiful.  Once in Andorra, Kristin, Trevor and I tried to find the info booth.  It was closed, so we tried to find some wireless internet so we could book ourselves into a hotel for the night.  Thankfully we found some and Trevor was able to work his magic and find a hotel close by.  We dropped off our stuff and then headed out for supper.  We found a lovely buffet and shared a bottle of wine.  I couldn't stop smiling.  I was happy we hiked as far as we did.  I was happy that we finally made it and I was happy we made a new friend.  We then headed back to the hotel to get some sleep after our exhausting adventure.  It was nice making a friend and sharing an adventure.