MONDAY 29th February 2016
Gorges, dams, and good friends –
But remember, Spain closes on Mondays !!!
Despite being
packed in to the camp site like sardines by all the late arrivals, I slept
well, and once I woke up I decided to get on the road early so I could explore the
area and fit a walk in before heading down to the coast to friends Pete and
Astrid where I was to stay for a couple of days. While I was having my breakfast I wandered
over onto the dam bridge to watch the morning sun as it started to light up the
tops of the surrounding hills. The hydro electric station was right there, and
the trees beside the river hid the camping area from view. It was a perfect
position for a wild camp.
I
I stopped at the
end of the gorge and took some photos of the early morning sun on the
incredible walkway suspended along the sheer rock ! I spent quite a lot of time looking at it
through binoculars as well as photographing this incredibly piece of
engineering and history, and then drove on along the lanes and up into the hills to
Bobastro where I understood there was a 9th C hilltop hideaway of
Omar ibn Hafsun, a kind of Islamic Robin Hood who led a
Even more amazing
was the big reservoir perched on the very top
of the mountain – It looked incredible because the edges of the water just
dropped down into the valleys below – Like those Infinity swimming pools with
glass sides that just appear to hang there.
On the way down the hill I went to Bobastro, Ibn Hafsun’s place – But of
course today was Monday, so like much of Spain, it was closed !! So I wandered on down the mountain, and
parked down near the restaurant near the start of the walk. Got changed into my
walking gear along with water and some munchies, and set off through the
tunnel - 2.5 kms, the sign said, which
wouldn’t be too bad even if the path was steep.
For maybe 2 kms
the path wandered through the forest, up above the Rio Guadalhorce, and I had
good views back to the El Chorro dam that I had driven across yesterday. There were quite a lot of caves and
cave-houses visible – Apparently the area had many people living in caves in
the past – El Chorro has been populated since prehistoric times. As we got nearer to the gorge entrance, we
dropped down beside the river, turned the corner……and there are fences
everywhere and a guard house. And a
guard. Sorry – Closed on Mondays !! Grrrrr.
It seems like half of Spain closes on Mondays, so I suggest people who
come to Spain, avoid Mondays, or sleep through it ! I wish they would put up
signs at the beginning of the walk telling you that it is closed on Mondays so you didn't have to walk for an hour before finding out !
So I, along with
a couple of other people headed back, taking a different route for a
change. This was quite interesting in
itself, with a tunnel cars could fit through, and then near the end there was a
200 metre long tunnel that was only about 6 ft high and 6 ft wide – And pitch
black inside ! Luckily the ground was
reasonably level, but it was interesting !
From the other end it was only a short walk down the road back to the
car. Disappointed about the Caminito del
Rey, but in hindsight the entire walk would have been about 14 kms long there
and back, so it would have taken more than a couple of hours ! On my next visit to Malaga……. !!
From the car park
I drove out past the turquoise lakes, and down towards Malaga, stopping in Alora
for some bread for lunch. I drove into this little town, along streets just
wide enough for Troopie, and eventually found a fresh panaderia, with fresh
loaves, and after buying one, continued on my way. I found out later that Alora was already
occupied in pre-historic times, the Phoenicians discovered the commercial
potential of the area and built the foundations of the castle, which the Romans
later took advantage of by fortifying.
It was even a stronghold of the rebel Ibn Hafsun whose base I had tried
to see earlier this morning at Babastro.
Lot of history round here, and it is all too easy to take it for
granted.
From there it was
down past the high rises of Malaga and east along the coast about 30 kms to
Algorrobo, where I turned inland. Pete had given me excellent directions, and
that was lucky because the roads up into the hills get twistier, narrower, and
steeper, and without good directions it might take a while to find one’s
destination ! The mountains to the
north, the Sierra de Tejeda, had a reasonable covering of snow after the last
couple of cold nights – The peak Maroma is 2065 m ASL. I wound my way up into the hills for about 40
minutes, finally reaching Pete and Astrid’s house just outside Archez. Their drive is so steep that it is definitely
a first gear proposition, and the hairpin bend half way up had me only just
getting round without a second bite !
Once successfully at the top (apart from snagging their washing line on
my roof top annex - Whoops, sorry guys !!), it was good to see Pete and Astrid again, and see them
in their own home.
After a good chat
and a beer or two, we headed off down into Archez to their local restaurant
where we met another friend, Ian, and had a very pleasant evening catching up,
eating good steak and prawns, and drinking good local wine. A very pleasant evening which lasted well
past my usual bedtime, and when I finally got to bed, it didn’t take me very
long to fall asleep. It had been yet
another incredible day of adventures, ending up with a good meal with good
friends – How can you beat that ?
And it was a Monday !! Imagine how good it would be in a Tuesday !!
Rest of the pics are here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/0436ElChorroToArchez?authkey=Gv1sRgCLv-_-S039__oAE
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