'Angola? You Went to Angola?' By Nan Chase The Washington Post Sunday, July 19, 1998; Page E02

Isolated from the currents of everyday trans-European trade, Andorra made its reputation centuries ago as a smugglers' cove of the highest order. Today, tax-free, crime-free and shockingly modern, this hidden little nation makes a fantastic side trip for adventuresome travelers to the Iberian Peninsula.

Low-priced luxury goods lure millions of visitors a year (cameras and electronic gadgets, perfume, jewelry and leather goods, German and Scandinavian household accessories, gourmet groceries, great clothes and shoes--and I don't even like to shop). Then there are the first-class hotels, the fine recreational facilities and the amazing techno-pop thermal spa descended from a Roman resort. The skiing's not too shabby, either, with five major resorts ranging up to 8,000 feet in elevation.

Don't ask questions. Just go. This petite Munchkinland--at 181 square miles, Andorra is less than a third the size of Oklahoma City--has a quiet confidence that brochures cannot describe. In fact, brochures hardly exist until you get there; one of the most charming aspects of Andorra is how little tourist information exists.

My family was game for adventure as we approached the country last summer. We entered from the French side (although Andorra can be reached even more easily from Barcelona, Spain) at Pas de la Casa, where snow still clung to the highest slopes in mid-June.

Stopping in the village of Escaldes-Engodany, we decided to split up for a few hours. My husband's mission was to find lodging. The rest of us wanted to shop, or at least window shop, in solitude.

I soon found myself deep in conversation with a courtly middle-aged shopkeeper about Andorra's multiple languages, currencies and exchange rates (pesetas, francs, dollars and plastic of all kinds). Independent only since 1993, Andorra still relies on neighbors France and Spain for the tools of trade. Although the official idiom is Catalan--a guttural, Latinesque relative of Spanish--the society is multilingual, and invariably friendly.

That first shopkeeper wrote out a guide for me, a complicated pesetas-to-francs conversion. Any way you figure, though, shopping is a bargain.

And that's where the magic of Andorra kicked in. We had driven hours through treacherous mountain terrain only to land on . . . Fifth Avenue. The narrow streets were lined with glittering boutiques--a thousand square feet of perfume bottles next to a camera shop abutting wall-to-wall Gucci bags cheek-by-jowl with sports equipment, shoes, diamonds and silk. I wandered for two hours in and finally bought a lovely Spanish sweater for $40.

My husband, meanwhile, had not only found clean, inexpensive lodgings downtown, but a block away, he had found Andorra's incomparable thermal spa--Caldea.

Caldea is an unmistakable landmark in Escaldes, with its mirrored glass spire reaching to the sky and a canopy of glass sheltering nearly 20,000 square feet of watery wonderland. The copious hot sulphur springs far below have been tapped for health and relaxation since the Romans

marched through Andorra nearly two millenniums ago, and like everything else in this country, the facilities have kept up with the times. The centerpiece is a large, fizzy, free-form swimming pool with four jumbo whirlpools on graduated pedestals, like stairsteps. An opening at the building's base led to a spiral outdoor pool; a gentle current pulled me to the center, where more whirlpool jets massaged me again. It felt divine, but best of all was the twilight view toward Andorra's peaks, where the last rays of sun still played.

The next morning we headed straight to Escalde's Hiper Market. This food-and-beverage superstore makes the most of Andorra's tax-free status by selling back to visiting Europeans at unbelievably low prices what they produce and sell in their own countries for five or 10 times more--row upon row of cheeses, pates, candies, wines, smoked fish, teas and more. Two big bags crammed with gourmet goodies came to only $30.

And then we retrieved our car and headed back up that steep winding road to the border. Andorra had been the high point, literally as well as figuratively, of our European trip. We hadn't seen any other Americans during our stay. This very European orientation, coupled with magnificent scenery, means we'll be sure to return.

For information, contact the Andorran Department of Tourism, 62 Carrer Prat de la Creu, Andorra la Vella, Andorra, telephone 011-376-82-02-14 or 011-376-82-58-23, fax 011-376-86-01-84, http://www. turisme.ad. To get to Andorra, fly to Barcelona and grab a twice-daily bus or rent a car to make the three-hour trip. Spanair is among the airlines that offer connecting service from Washington to Barcelona; it is quoting a round-trip fare of $450, with restrictions.