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Day 4: From Ormea via the Ligurian Border Road to Sampeyre
The next day began extremely early.
We had a quick breakfast as early as 6 o’clock.
Just ten minutes later, we were on our way to Upega and then up to the Ligurian border road. The checkpoint on this side wasn’t manned yet, but we were able to drive along the road and set off on our adventure early.
The route offers stunning views deep into a landscape that unfolds at a relatively high altitude. Thanks to our early start, we didn’t come across a single soul in the first hour – a decisive advantage on this 35-kilometre-long, narrow route. No oncoming cars, no one to stop us from enjoying the view and taking photos.
This meant we were also able to enjoy the famous hairpin bend all to ourselves.
We reached the end of the Ligurian border road at the Col de Tende and Fort Central relatively quickly, and of course we visited the fort. From there, we drove down into the valley towards Cuneo and then continued to the left. The roads that followed were interesting once again: partly tarmacked, but very narrow and winding, and partly gravel. The mountain passes, with patches of snow remaining on either side of the road, were particularly impressive.
We made our way bit by bit towards Sampeyre – which would have meant about 200 kilometres along the TET. But then we had a bit of bad luck: shortly after the Colle d’Esischie, roadworks blocked the direct route to Marmora. We had to take a detour via Valcrana, which is near Cuneo. Although this was a massive detour, we took the opportunity to buy some engine oil in a suburb of Cuneo – our supplies were already dangerously low due to our speedy driving…
From Cuneo, we cycled towards Dronero, then back up the valley to Ponte di Marmora, where we rejoined the TET. From there, we followed small roads past the Santuario di Santa Maria di Morisino, climbing ever higher until we reached the Col de San Pietro.
And on we went to the Col de Sampeyre. From the top, we could already see Sampeyre down in the valley – but what caught our eye even more were the dark, black clouds on the horizon.
After a brief stop, we set off down into the valley. Just before we reached the village, as the rain began to fall, we checked room availability via Booking.com. Only two options were shown, and we chose one of the cheaper ones. However, when we arrived, we discovered that this hotel was no longer in operation and no longer had any rooms available. So we drove on towards the next hotel. Standing on the balcony was a friendly gentleman who pointed us to the open hotel garage…
From the balcony, we watched as other groups of motorcyclists arrived bit by bit – they hadn’t been as lucky as we had. That evening, we enjoyed a lovely dinner in the hotel restaurant and briefly planned the next day’s route. Although the detours had cost us time and kilometres, Sampeyre turned out to be a stroke of luck in the end.
