A Day Trip to...Puigpunyent

After the CoronaVirus lockdown was loosened to allow us to roam freely about the province (vs limited to 1 km) I hopped aboard my scooter and decided to head for some place I hadn't been before.  I pointed my moto towards the Tramuntana mountain foothills to find the village called Puigpunyent.

Say what?  Pweeeg puhn yent?  No, it's pronouced 'pooch poon yent'.   'Puig' sounds like 'pooch'.  The full name translates to 'sharp mountain'.  Puig means 'mountain'.  There's several locations around the island called 'Puig' something...generally to very prominent peaks.

So, that's your lesson for the day.

I had actually been to the area before because a friend of mine lives a few miles from there and took me to see his place but I didn't remember what the surroundings were like.

Puigpunyent is only about 10 miles from Palma, with an approximate population of 2,000 and sits about 1,000 ft above sea level.  It's a very popular area for hikers and cyclists but, then again, that's almost everywhere on Mallorca!   The village is surrounded by high mountains covered in pine and evergreen oak woodlands and olive, almond, and carob tree groves.

When my friend took me to his place, we passed a turn-off that he said led (I think) to a classy resort.  So, I decided to go see it for myself.  Unfortunately, after I left the main road leading out of the village, in a short distance, the road turned into HELL.  It was thousands of potholes patched with asphalt and then patched again and then again.  It was rare to find any spot of smooth road.  I think I can easily say it was the most horrible road I have ever driven on in my life!!  I remember when my friend drove me to his place that it felt like we were going to lose pieces of his car along the way.  I don't know WHY the road hasn't been repaired as there are some nice homes along the way and you have to take that road to get to Reserva Park.  RP is an adventureland of sorts where you can hike, climb trees and scale suspended walkways, tightropes, zipline, etc.  WHY would ANYONE want to endure that hellish road to go there?  There must be some dispute going on between locals, government, or whom/whatever that's causing the road to be completely neglected.

When I arrived at the entrance to Reserva Park, I found the place closed.  These sort of public spaces still were not allowed to be open due to the pandemic.

Aside from my bones being rattled to pieces, the views were stunning.

I loved how this scraggly, twisted tree was back-lit causing this side to look very black.
But, the camera doesn't do it true justice.

The church in Puigpunyent.

The homes and structures in PPY seemed to indicate 'exclusive' as if many of them are mountain getaways for the well-to-do who live in the city or other side of the island.  Like so many villages in Mallorca, the buildings ooze the charm that is Mallorcan architecture.

The pink building is the Gran Hotel Son Net....a luxuirous boutique hotel.

Puig de Galatzo

A short distance down the road is a residential development Son Serralta built on top of a hill which affords amazing vistas.

The next photo will 'splain.

Sorry, I didn't walk up to the Talaiot.  Bad knee.

Where to next??

I haven't decided yet!

Stay Tuned!!

Dano

By the way, if you're interested in viewing any of my past entries about travelling around Europe and where I live in Mallorca, simply scroll down past my signature to the end.  There, you'll see 'Blog History'.  You can click on any Month/Year to see the titles I published at that time.  Simply click on the title you're interested in and it will take you to that page.