Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 5 afternoon and evening.
3/8 Day 5 afternoon and evening: Saw Earth Pyramid. A man with a horse showed us the path through the forest to get back to Collalbo. Took train and cable car back to Bolzano town. Sweating dinner at Marechiaro restaurant.
Must-Incur Costs
None. Cable car and train tickets are included in the 1-day Mobilcard pass.
Optional Costs
(1) Beer at Maria Saal EUR14 for 3 persons. Mine has a different price because I drank a radler.
(2) Dinner at Marechiaro - Focaccia bread EUR4,50 shared between 3 of us. Spaghetti with seafood EUR16,50 and a glass of red wine EUR5,50
The Story
030822 afternoon - After the delicious lunch at Gasthus Amtmann, we continued with our walk towards the Earth Pyramid. We saw a church along the way and the church has a sun-dial on it.
The route to the Earth Pyramid is not challenging at all. We walked on asphalt road for some time and then the path forked out into a gravel road which was well-managed too. The view along the route is very scenic and I just want to stop to take as many photos as possible. After some time, I realised that the view is quite similar with the same mountain in the background. Haha!
Finally, at 2pm, we saw the Earth Pyramid! It is not possible to get so close to them. Here is a detailed explanation on what is an earth pyramid.
Earth pyramids consist of cone-shaped pillars formed by deposited clay and a boulder on top - they often form rather bizarre shapes, and tend to be shrouded in mystery. But there is an explanation for their existence. Earth pillars started forming from moraine clay soil left behind after the last Ice Age when the glaciers of the Valle d'Isarco covering the valley melted away. In dry condition the soil is hard as stone, but, as soon as it rains, it turns into a soft muddy mass, starts sliding, and so forms 10 to 15-meter-steep slopes. Through additional rainfall, these slopes will erode. However, where there are rocks in the muddy mass, the clay soil underneath these rocks stays protected from the rain. So, while the surrounding material is continually carried off with the weather, the protected pillars literally rise out of the ground to form majestic earth pyramids. It’s hard to tell how long the formation of a full-blown earth pyramid actually takes, simply because it depends on too many factors. It’s just as difficult to assert how old an earth pyramid might be or can get. What we can say for certain though is that the biggest and prettiest ones develop over the timespan of thousands of years. Once the boulder falls from its peak, an earth pyramid quickly bites the dust. When this happens, the material below is naked, exposed to the rain, and the pillar shrinks with every rainfall. While one earth pyramid vanishes through this process, a bit further up the slope the next one comes to life. Source from Ritten.
The Earth Pyramids reminded me of my strenous hike to see the Pinnacles in Mulu.
More photos with the same table-top-peak mountain in the background. Haha!
The hke continues towards Maria Saal where my company saw a hut which means there is probably beer.
So, according to the map, we are not too far from Maria Saal.
Here is our well-deserved cooling drink at Maria Saal.
We decided to continue on to Himmelreich, trying to cover as many areas as possible. Unfortunately, when we reached the hut at Himmelreich, it was closed. Disappointed because we were very tired and wanted a place to sit and probably a beer (as wished by my company!). It was 4pm. Beer at Maria Saal was at 2.40pm. We are on holiday so no one counts the number of times of beer consumption...
We were unsure on the route back and were not keen to walk on the asphalt road back to Collalbo as shown in Google Map. Thankfully, a hiker came towards our direction and we stopped to ask him for directions. He was going towards the same direction and he can help us to get on the right path in the forest. Phew! He has been hiking in the Dolomites for 7 years so he knows every single route.
Finally, we reached Collalbo after 1.5 hours. Caught the train and cable car and reached Bolzano station at 6.24pm. It was 37 degrees. STILL HOT!
We found some restaurants in Google Map but they were closed. We were disappointed. Heat and hunger do not go well together. Luckily, we found a gelato stand and got us some ice-cream before we continued to find the next restaurant.
Finally, we settled for a restaurant that was near our AirBnb. We were not keen on it initially because it looks expensive. And it really was. We had not much of a choice because we were so hungry and tired and just wanted to sit down. The waitress allowed us in although we did not have any reservations and she placed us inside the restaurant while other guests (I guess with reservations or those who spoke Italian) sat outside. We were burning hot in the restaurant. Then, she lit up the candle on our table. Seriously?! At 37 degrees. It was so ridiculously hot. There was no standing fan either even when I asked for one. The waitress said that this temperature is normal and it can go up to 45 degrees. Yeah, the waiter and waitress had ties on. Oh gawd... I guess they have no tolerance for tourists.
The waitress asked us if we wanted focaccia bread and we thought it was complimentary but it turns out it is not. So, we got 3 slices of expensive focaccia bread.
My main dish came out piping hot and I really had no appetite to finish my dinner or enjoy it. I was sweating while eating it. My legs were sticky and it was a really lousy experience for me in the restaurant.
We were so relieved to leave the restaurant. It was dark then and the temperature has dropped slightly.
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