Xperience 19.1, 19.2, 19.3, 19.4
Less is more, might be the rule of thumb. But there are four other fingers on each hand.
My sister and I loved it when we drove through Meiringspoort Pass, in our (limited) opinion the most beautiful pass in the world. It’s also the source for my love of passes and driving them. The first good surprise for the morning was Tradouw Pass (xperience 19.1) on the R324 between Suurbraak and Barrydale. I was a bit depressed for not stopping in Suurbraak to take some photo’s and vowed to go back some time, but then I drove into the Pass. Suddenly I was transported back to Meiringspoort with its hundreds of little bridges and my mom, sister and I convincing my dad to stop at every turn, bridge and rest point. I stopped everywhere I could just to enjoy the view and take some photos.
A piece of road that should take about half an hour to drive, took me just over an hour. It was an hour well spent.
On the other side of the pass is Barrydale. A lot of people know this town as the last stop before Ronnie’s Sex Shop on Route 62. I now remember the town as the place with the best Oxtail Soup (xperience 19.2) and backpackers that has really fluffy duvets.
Now don’t judge me because I used food as an xperience, you can only do that when I actually get fat from this. I was driving around town looking for someplace to have breakfast when the blackboard outside Jam Tarts shouted “Oxtail Soup!” to me. It was cold, overcast and looked like rain (I also heard it was raining in Cape Town), perfect conditions for soup. The soup was amazing, even better was the tip to take a drive out to Warmwaterberg Spa (xperience 19.3.1) from the manageress.
I took the drive out, about 20km, but lost my heart to the Little Karoo…again. The Warmwaterberg Spa is exactly how it was described to me, nothing special or particularly appealing to the eye, but put your hand in the warm water… and then try to leave. Unfortunately they were fully booked for the night, but seeing that it’s only 2 hour’s drive from the city, I think I found a new hide-out.
On my way back I had to stop at Ronnie’s Sex Shop (xperience 19.3) an institution on Route 62. A bar only, no sex toys or any other adult (other than alcohol) items are sold here. I had a drink and a nice chat to the yuppie bikers and then started my way back to Barrydale, slowly trying to find my heart between the koppies.
I stayed the night at the Klein Karoo Travel Centre and Backpackers. Mark, Bella the Labrador and their family fed me like a queen at the Dungbeetle, their restaurant at the backpackers. It took me a few hours to drag my tired and slightly drunk body up the stairs to the best surprise of the trip… the most comfortable bed other than mine. It was perfect, the duvet Fluffy (with a capped f, yes) and thick, pillows nice and soft and there was a warm water bottle ready to keep the cold out. I had a real moral dilemma the next morning, should I sleep even later or have them drag me out??
Less is more?? Not if you visit Barrydale…
365xperiences 