Shaken AND stirred!

Today has been another fabulous day! We knew that we were going to go up Mount Vesuvius, but the way in which we did it exceeded all of our expectations. Yesterday Ed had visited the bus station to see what the bus service was like. In short, the bus to the visitors car park of Vesuvius was 10€ each return, plus the 8€ entry to the National Park to get to the top. There was also a flyer for a 4x4 trip, billed as "an exciting excursion to Mount Vesuvius" costing 22€ for adults and 7€ for children. It looked amazing! The 4x4 was no ordinary one, from the photos it was basically an army truck with seats. You can guess which bus we chose!!!

We got on the first bus, and as it was quite old, it shook and wobbled us about quite a lot on the Italian roads as we made our way to the foothills of the National Park.

I fact I got a total fit of the giggles as from where Maya and I were sitting, we could see Ed and Jasper being thrown about, whilst the driver was cooly driving with one hand whilst gesticulating with the other and having a full blown animated conversation with another guy (our guide?) who simply clung onto a pole for the entire journey. The noise was immense; at one point I couldn't hear what Maya was saying to me even though she was right next to me! We have some very amusing videos of the ride which we will share on request!

At the end of that journey, at the checkpoint, we were told to get off and climb in the Eco bus, a huge monster of a truck, a Mercedes Unimog with wheels the height of Maya and 3 massive steps to climb up into it! 

We got in, noted that the front cab was on a different suspension to the main part, and fastened our seat belts. I'm so glad it had them! Once the engine had started it was like an assault on the senses. The height of it was one thing, which made it sway about on the road, then the noise, then the smell, and add to that the fact that the road wasn't really road at all, more a sort of rough gravel track with the occasional bit of cobbled section for good measure. No other vehicle would have been able to get us up there. Honestly, it was exciting beyond belief! The drivers seat was on some sort of massive spring, so on every bump he bounced up and down in pure comfort as the rest of us gradually got pulled in tighter and tighter as the seatbelts did their job!!!

We then arrived at the second drop off point, and the guide led us through the gate to the start of the path. It took about 30 mins for us to walk up the path to the very top. We had to keep stopping, not to gather breath, although it was very steep in parts, but to look at the amazing view of Pompei, the Gulf of Naples, and the surrounding area far below us. At the top, our next guide Sasa gave us some useful information about the Mountain, including the fact that it wasn't Vesuvius that erupted and covered Pompei in volcanic ash in 79AD, it was actually the previous volcano called Somma which was much bigger than Vesuvius.

We saw the remains of Somma, which still partly encircles Vesuvius today. All the while Sasa was talking, Jasper and Maya were looking into the crater. They had noticed wisps of smoke coming out of the rocks and were getting a bit worried!!! 

Anyway, after a good look around, and after hundreds of photos had been taken, oh, and the purchase of Vesuvius postcards from the shop at the top (yes, we were surprised too!) we made the descent on foot and then the reverse trip to the checkpoint then down hill to Pompei happened. Although it had cost us several euros more than we had bargained for, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip and highly recommend the 'Busvia del Vesuvio' tour if you are ever in the area!

Clare

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