After exploring both the south and east coasts, the obvious choice was to explore the west coast today, but since the GC-200 road we wanted to take has collapsed and is permanently closed, we chose to cross the island, in the middle.
The GPS was set to Las Palmas via Tejeda, a trip that means we basically cross the island, in the middle and here there are really no multi-lane highways but narrow serpentine roads that wind up and down the mountain peaks which reminded us of a nicer version of the Yungas road in Bolivia. Tejeda, which we have been advertised to visit by both charter organizers and various “companies” in town, is apparently a real rarity, a picturesque mountain village that shows the real Gran Canaria. Nice bonus but in our case the trip itself was probably more the goal than anything else.
The first thing that strikes me when we leave Playa del Ingles is how many road cyclists there are on the roads. Normally they arouse my bloodlust, nothing can be as annoying as middle-aged men in lycra who think they are “riding the Tour de France” and therefore believe that the road is only for them. Here, however, they behaved excellently, they kept to the right, the groups rode in a row to make it easier for the cars to overtake and some even signaled when they were free to overtake because, as I said, the roads are as curvy as they are narrow. As I said, everything went beyond expectations until we caught up with a group of Swedes. Of course they ride in groups of 3 wide which takes up the whole road, they don’t look back once and they do absolutely nothing to facilitate traffic and at the same rate as my blood pressure is soaring, the queue builds up with cars, buses and trucks after the group of men in “team” clothes who say “vi ses i Motala”. Without my wife and children in the car, it is highly doubtful if they would have ever seen anything more than the bottom of the ravine if I had been left to decide.
Tejeda, which was a decent stop on the way, was a nice mountain village for sure, but I don’t know if I thought it stood out in particular. We had an overpriced lunch that tasted like canned food that they heated in the microwave (yes, we heard the ping), the old town/historical center was beautiful and the view was magnificent, but I feel like I need something more to say wow. The road there and especially the road from there towards Las Palmas gave the wow factor, though. We wound our way up and down through the clouds on roads that are so narrow that you have to honk your horn before every curve to make sure you don’t meet anyone. We saw waterfalls and mountain sides that had collapsed. We saw really picturesque villages and communities where the tourists didn’t stop (nor did we) and so did the whole trip. If you come here, I really recommend that you do the same trip, but don’t have too high expectations for Tejeda in particular.
