Just One of Those Days

We departed the aire this morning having done the necessary (water/waste etc) and by the time we’d refuelled and re-gassed at the local Repsol garage we were ready for a week in the wilderness.

The plan was to go to El Caminito del Rey, billed as the world’s scariest footpath, although Botchergate on a Friday night must come as a close second! Not the easiest place to drive to (Caminito not Botchergate) as you can probably imagine. If a footpath is pinned to the side of a rock the road to anywhere near it won’t be easy. After a very long slow drive, interrupted by a temporary road closure whilst workman netted the rock face abutting the road, we eventually arrived at a place vaguely resembling a parking area. There were a few wooden stakes driven into the ground to prevent people reversing over the edge into the reservoir. As I went in search of some kind of guidance to find a route to the infamous path I was advised by a friendly German, I hadn’t mentioned the war at this point, that the walkway was closed for 2 days due to the windy weather. Obviously our German friend beat a hasty retreat, soon to be followed by the English.

http://www.caminitodelrey.info/en/#2

Forty miles and 2 hours up the spout, oh well, a quick check of the map “We are here, and the Germans are here, here and here”. There was only one thing for it, programme the satnav (still haven’t decided whose side it is on) and head north to the aire at Antequera. It would’ve been nice to take the easiest route, but as one old English couple we met referred to it, the satNAG had other ideas. If Caminito del Rey was tricky to get to, it wasn’t any easier to get away from. We finally arrived at Antequera about 3pm and had had enough travelling for the day, so we will rest here and head for the mountains of the Sierra Nevada tomorrow.

We were struck by the vivid colours on this part of today's drive

As the road improved (briefly) we treated ourselves to a lunch break