The noise, the gorge, the palace

For 9000 miles we traveled with “the noise”. It emanated from the large skylight above the cab area. The first time it happened I nearly jumped out of my skin, it was a huge hornet-scream above our heads and gave no warning prior to its start. It roared and whined at about 100 km/hr. “Make it stop it Jane, twiddle the latches, wind the handle out”. I became the conductor in an orchestra, jumping up and down, releasing the pressure on the latches, tightening or loosening the handle to stop the racket as our speed naturally altered on the road.

Stuart bought sticky foam in different widths and strengths to wedge between skylight and roof, ripping it off when frustration set in. We felt we were managing things however, with me “playing the levers” but the noise never ceased to frighten me with its sudden onset. It also played a little game of ‘brrrrriippp’ as we jolted over joins in the tarmac.

Then one day last week Stuart stood on the drivers seat and pulled out a thin strip of cellophane that was between the skylight and roof. “Whats that” I said, “nothing much” sez he and stuffed it in the rubbish. That was it – the reed in the flute of the truck, causing all that irritation. We have enjoyed silence (apart from the rattling of the cups etc) ever since.

A place in the sun - National Park wild camping spot

The Caminito del Rey was a ‘to do’ before we left New Zealand. Her in the satnav had spurned the normal scenic route and found us an alternative one that delivered us to the exit. After asking a couple of people about access to the walk, we found out it was Monday - “Monday is closed, you need to turn up early tomorrow at the start of the walk”.

We found an excellent spot overlooking the man-made lake in the national park and sat in the sun reading books. Our new deck chairs were courtesy of our previous Kiwi camp-mates, Keith and Brone in Marbella. Stuart fixed up their chairs to see us through until we leave.
Lack of information and language made organising the walk rather confusing, but we got there in the end. To buy tickets we walked 2.7km to the office to buy them, not a hardship as it was a nice walk in the pines and we were allowed to join a group already waiting.

Note the original path below the new one

The walkway was initially built in 1905 and used by King Alfonso XIII in 1921 as a means to inspect the progress of works on the hydro scheme – the name means path of the king. It had a reputation as being the worlds most dangerous walk due to the number of deaths and was closed in 2000, re- opening last year.The Caminito del Rey is now probably the worlds safest walk, also incredibly popular, tickets are usually only available on-line. We were kitted out with hard hats and had a safety talk before leaving. The new path was about 1 metre above the old path which looked horrendous. It hugged the cliff face and the drop down to the water was vertiginous. Garganta del Chorro is a massive natural fissure, 4km long, up to 400m deep and as little as 10m wide. It is above this fissure that the walkway is mounted. The narrowest part of the gorge used to be known as the ‘spurt’ as the volume of water came through the narrow passage with tremendous force spurting into the air and terrifying villagers. It is probably tamed now as the nearby hydro dam regulates flow.

A long way down

 After the pleasant but not frightening trip, a bus transported us back to the start.

The fissure - Garganta del Chorro

 

Photo credit: Stuart

Photo credit: Stuart

Photo credit: Stuart

Photo credit: Stuart

Photo credit: Stuart

Granada is about 100km inland from the southern coast of Spain, situated under the impressive snow capped Sierra Nevadas. It was the last stronghold of the Muslims against the Catholic church and the legacy is the Alhambra palace which was our main reason for visiting. It is a city with a gritty side as well as having elegant white high-walled houses, souvenir and high-end shops and an inner maze of small shops not unlike that in the grand bazaar in Istanbul – and indeed selling similar items. It was also extremely cold as it is quite high in altitude and receives cold air from the mountains. It is reputed to have the best churros and chocolate in Spain. The churros of course cooked fresh, and the chocolate I had to share with Stuart who says he prefers coffee but helps himself to my order.

Granada

Alhambra is part fort, part palace, and a world heritage site – all set in beautifully manicured and geometrically sculpted gardens. It was built by a Moorish Emir and converted into a palace by the Sultan of Granada but taken over by Christian King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in the 1500s. It is truly Islamic in architecture and one of Spain’s major tourist attractions. The detail inside the palace was amazing, in everything you looked at, but somehow harmonious and restrained, unlike some major cathedrals and palaces I have visited. 

Part of Alhambra

Suffice to say I went away well satisfied with the experience, there was water flowing everywhere with understated fountains that would provide a cool atmosphere in summer, however I was quite cold and regretted my wardrobe choice. Four layers were not enough, should have taken the down jacket. More churros and chocolate ordered, sitting next to one of those outdoor heaters warmed me up sufficiently for the trip back to the campsite on the bus. Chausson chucked out some good heat quickly that had us peel off a few layers and we rattled up a dinner of sausages and mash.

Looking at Granada from the Alhambra

Adios amigos, we are back off to the coast to seek some sunshine, we will be among British, German and Dutch motorhomers who flock to the Spanish Coast to escape the European winter. Hopefully we will find somewhere suitable to enjoy Christmas, which isn’t quite the same this year.

Photo credit: Stuart