Asturian Enders

Welcome to Priedamo, land of the free.


















Meet JAMEY, 31. Owner of a County 4X4, six wheel, raised wheel based ford transit, trail bike, joint owner of a 17ft german caravan and the green house in Priedamo in the Asturian mountains. Nerves of steel and a taste for adventure. The Dude. He is married to



















JANE, 25. Loveliness personified, dreamer, builder and dead ringer for Ottilie. They are sharing the villiage with




















NIC, erudite, death defying owner of the blue house, and



















CHRIS, 47, dog lover and owner of FLUKE II.


As Jamey would put it, "it's all a bit sketchy up here", the days go by, the evenings are filled with wine and smoke and words, and it feels almost impossible to get anything done. So we do very little, the hangovers are blown away on the first venture out of the caravan in the morning, leaving a pleasant vague feeling which lasts until the next session.

The village is one of the highest in the range. From here you can climb to the nearest peak and see the sea to the north, the Picos de Europa to the south, and everything in between. The road is cut into a mountain with an almost vertical drop -certain death is all I can think of as we drive up it, and we have driven up and down it on numerous occasions now (Mark focussed, the children discussing matter of factly, the possibilities of survival if we go over the edge, and me with a frozen smile on my face.) It is literally at the end of the road, and visited only by the owner of the cows and its inhabitants. The village itself is a small clutch of farm buildings and houses in various stages of dilapidation perched on the top of the Asturian Mountains. It is the most remote spot we have ever visited, it is idylic and beautiful and peaceful. The only sounds the bells round the cow and sheep's necks, and the screech of the occasional vultures. The constant, muffled chiming is calming and deters us from listening to music or making noise.

During our stay - we have been here for over a week, we have climbed the nearest peak, visited the nearby beach (about 30 minutes drive from Priedamo) and helped around the place. But mainly we have been chilling out and listening to stories - Nic's near death experience with an aeroplane propellar, Chris' shaggy dog stories, and J&J's travelling tales, gleening information about the local area and places to visit en route. Generally experiencing life on the commune. The girls are in heaven. Up and out every morning, skipping up and down the mountain roads, walking far away from the house up the mountain sides. One day they built a den and we didn't see them all day, they were so wrapped up in their own world. They put on a firework display for the whole villiage (all six of us) and we spend the night round the fire eating sausages and bread, chatting the night away.



























They write in their diaries about their adventures, and learn about the mountain wildlife, the geography of the area, how the clouds sit in the valley for days on end, and learn a smattering of Spanish, which will serve them well on our way back up north after visiting Morocco.



Jamey takes Silvie on two motorbike rides up the winding mountain roads, off roading down the slopes, and she is totally delighted and excitied. He shows her how to measure the electric current in the caravan, and how it changes when extra batteries are added, and learns by asking so many questions that she makes everyone feel dizzy. Frida and Jane plant trees and plants that she has brought from England, and shows them the best local spots to play. Chris will chat to them all day, letting them help to make the fire and look after Fluke. We don't want to go, but we will have to push on. We cook dinner and chocolate cake on our last evening, and everyone eats, chats and drinks, and we discover they know the man at our next stop in Portugal. We baulk at the coincidence.

It is heartening to think of the serrendipity that bought us to this beautiful spot. A chance exchange with Jamey in the queue to embark on the ferry – admiring each other's rigs, and then again as we prepared to get off the boat. It seems they were also booked in for the ferry on Wednesday, but car trouble prevented them catching it. They describe the life, the area, the plans and fill my head with ideas. It would be tempting just to stay here. I can see it in my mind's eye, just dropping out and taking a whole new path in life. It is so beautiful.