Ghost Villages of the Abandoned Mines

First job of the day to check out Mac and yes, the lump has reduced overnight. We are so pleased and our excitement encourages Mac’s tail to wag faster and his animated groans to increase. Tosh looks over, a tad jealous, so I shout him over for big cuddles and morning kisses.

We leave the sosta at lunch (with our free sticker) and slowly head back towards the vets at Iglesias. Our appointment is only at 7pm but no point paying €20 for a few hours when we can tootle through a few villages and admire the coastal drive.

All along the way to Iglesias abandoned mining villages. We pull over several points several times at the roadside and take a walk. The opening of Porto Flavia left many sailors from Carloforte without a job, damaging the nearby villages economy and its scares are evident.

A warren of streets around it is like a ghost town. Discarded sardine tins, batteries, padlocks, Pepsi cans and electric cables lie half buried in the sand. Birds dart through the ruined houses, and occasionally a cat calls out from a doorway, indicating the house is not totally abandoned. The word ‘tabaccaio‘ scrawled beside it on the wall and the small collection of local artefacts dimly visible inside. In other streets the stone walls are all that remains. Behind solid carved doorways, once prosperous mining houses lie open to the sky, dust and sand.

The abandoned mine villages are fascinating and hold much more character and style than current residential villages. We have not seen many residential towns and villages as of yet but the one’s we have seen all seem a bit soulless. Simple sugar cubed shaped houses painted in pastel colours and built in rows. No shape, no detail, no flowers and all located around a complete grid shaped village.

Wifi connection on the island is a bit hit and miss, but as we approach Iglesias the signal improves and I take grab the opportunity. Topping up our caxton card, checking our mail and checking our message from Ernie! Our premium bonds have won a prize of £25, which will just about pay for Mac’s vet fees. Thanks Ernie!

We arrive at Centro Veterinario Sulcitano a tad early but Dr Luca Fanni sees us as soon as he finishes his seeing his current appointment. He is pleased with Mac’s results and asks us to continue with the tablets until Wednesday. There is no need to return but we can phone him or revisit at anytime. We shake hands, thank him and settle our bill of €0. Dr Luca does not charge for the second visit. We are so relieved, as our last visit to a vet whilst travelling did not have the outcome we expected. At times like these I can’t help but think of Peanut.

With only an hour of light left we head out in to the hills. A beautiful drive but with fading light we are keen to arrive at Antas before dark. We wind and wind up in to the hills and arrive just before sunset. A bite to eat, half an hour of TV and then to bed. All ready for exploring the Antas ruins tomorrow.

Our Bumble free wild camping at Antas GPS position: N039.391540, E008.499791

21 thoughts on “Ghost Villages of the Abandoned Mines”

Our Bumble free wild camping at Antas GPS position: N039.391540, E008.499791

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21 thoughts on “Ghost Villages of the Abandoned Mines”