On Thursday 20th February the students from the Tourism and Commerce Vocational Training Courses went on a journey of discovery to the Dark Valley to learn about local geology and a less well-known part of the Pallars, all with English-speaking guides.
We started the outing at the recently renovated tourist office located in the train station in La Pobla de Segur where a young man doing work experience gave us an impressive tour in English, demonstrating what it is possible to do with a little preparation and courage. From there we headed up the Dark Valley where Xavi Mir, a professional geologist, gave us some fascinating but easy to understand explanations about how the Pyrenees were formed, the effect of glaciation on the Flamisell valley and why the Franco administration decided to look for uranium to make an atomic bomb here.
We also visited the hydro-electric power station and its museum where we listened to the story of the transformation of the valley that took place after the complex was built over one hundred years ago. The contrast between the traditional local early-twentieth-century clothes we tried on and the ‘modern’ noisy technology we saw in action inside the power station itself was striking and made clear the radical nature of the change that had occurred. All in all it was a very successful excursion that allowed us to discover many news places with great potential for different types of tourism in a spectacular setting that is virtually on our doorstep…
