Murcia and Valencia, Part 3

21st January, 2000

Hotel La Cumbre, where we had stayed, turned out to be a most well equipped and comfortable hotel, but with very few guests.  In the bright sunlight of the morning we could see a splendid view from our balcony, shown left, and after a light continental breakfast we left Mazarrón for Águilas.  The weather had returned to the bright, sunny variety that we expect in this area.

Águilas was a pleasant surprise and turned out to be an interesting port, protected by its castle overlooking the sea.  Close to the port, which is shown below right, we found a locomotive on display which had been made in Glasgow and is shown below left. 

Behind and above the port we spotted a windmill with its sales turning.  From the port it looks as though it is built on top of a block of flats, though it is most probably on a hill.  We took the coast road heading south and stopped briefly in the next bay to look back at the castle on the headland, shown below right.  This bay had a large, sandy beach and a promenade and looks an ideal holiday area once the weather warms up a bit.  We had noticed since La Manga a distinct lack of large hotels and most of the property overlooking the beaches appear to be private apartments. 

The guide books indicate that this stretch of coast from Cartagena to Almeria is amongst the most spectacular and unspoilt in Spain and that too was our conclusion.  We had skipped it on our way north because the motorway is a long way inland and now, on the coast road, at several places we were taken well inland away from the shoreline, a typical example of which is shown below left.  We soon crossed back into Andalucía and continued along deserted coastal roads and some spectacular beaches.

To the left is shown the modern church in the small village of Palomares with the distinction of being the only one near to which hydrogen bombs had dropped.  It seemed none the worse - they hadn't exploded.

Just a little further south along the coast at Playa de Baria, near Garrucha, we stopped to look at a low level development of flats and duplexes.  This was the most tempting we have seen so far.  Here the smallest flats were around £25,000 and for £60,000 you can have a three-bedroomed semi (duplex) with double garage.  The development sits between the beach and the coast road which, at that point, is more than half a kilometre from the coast and one can expect it to be reasonably quiet even in high season.  To the north, for those who are interested, there is a naturist beach and community and to the south a large water park with rides and amusements.

We followed the coast road as far as we could, past Mojácar and on to Carboneras.   Shown below left is one of the many spectacular views from the road, which winds up and down.  We turned inland and headed down the motorway, calling in at Níjar, which we had seen from a distance before.  Our final objective has been to see Almería, which turned out not to be nearly as interesting as we had hoped.

The town turned out to be extremely busy and, from what we could see, the railway station was about the best looking building.  We headed north on the Granada road, which was teaming with traffic, and headed for Mini Hollywood in the hills behind.   We decided to skip the entrance fee and sneaked a few shots of the stage sets, one of which is shown above right.  We now headed for home, at first along the old road, which had been the main route before the motorway, then joined the motorway near Alfaix.   We arrived late and exhausted in Benidorm.

22nd - 23rd January, 2000

We had wanted to sample the narrow-gauge railway for some time and had planned to take advantage of the cheap weekend ticket which, for about £2.50, lets you use it as much as you want at a weekend. On Saturday we headed north to Dénia.  There is a 'Request Stop' 25 minutes' walk from El Raco and we only just got there in time.   However, we had not noticed that not all the trains go to Dénia and the one we had chosen dumped us at Altea, where we had our packed lunch near the beach and a very civilised, if somewhat expensive, cup of coffee at the Café Mozart.

While in England over Christmas we had caught the tail end of a 'Time Team' programme in which Baldrick was examining a graveyard in Dénia.  We had in mind to try to find the place but had no idea where it was.  However, we almost fell into it, as it is only a stone's throw from the station and open to the elements as well as cats and dogs and any curious tourists.

The picture below left shows the excavations in which several human bones were clearly visible.  We walked around the castle and through the town.  The church is shown, below centre.  By the time we left the station it was dusk and, with the darkened windows, we soon realised that we could not see the stations very well.   Unlike British railways, the station name appears only once and, if you miss it, or someone is standing in front of it, you can soon lose track of where you are.

Counting stops hardly helps as the train frequently misses 'request stops' if no-one wants to get on or off.  We pushed the 'request' button more in hope than expectation and were most relieved to find ourselves back at our stop.  We resolved to get back in the daylight next day.

We managed to get up a bit earlier on the Sunday and caught the train to Alicante.   Whereas yesterday the train had been half empty, today it was standing room only and we were only able to get rear-facing seats, which somewhat devalues the experience.    The station at Alicante is a little way from the centre and smart new tram will take you the few hundred yards to the port.  This must be the shortest commercial tram line in the world.  It is included in the price of the rail ticket but cost 40p for anyone else.  Needless to say, few people paid for the ride and as you wait longer than it takes to walk we did not return on it. 

Sunday is still special for the Spanish and we were surprised to find the port area crowded with families, many dressed in their Sunday best.  The Castle shown above right dominates the port and after eating our lunch in the port along with half the inhabitants we set off to see it.  A lift at the end of a long tunnel takes you from sea level to the castle.  The entrance is tucked away on the dual carriageway that races down to the port and, if a friendly native hadn't pointed it out to us, we would not have found it.

The views from the castle, shown below left and centre, are stunning.  Once again, we were amazed at the complete lack of any safety measures to prevent anyone falling over the relatively low parapets.  Given the fuss over the London Eye, our HSE would never license this castle.  In fact, they probably wouldn't license Spain as a whole.  That said, however, we have never heard of anyone falling off the various bridges and monuments which look so dangerous and some recent research we heard on the radio suggests the addition of safety features can encourage some people to be more reckless.

We returned to the station, where a well-preserved guards van is displayed, and had a coffee while waiting to return.  Remembering the morning crush, we boarded the train early and bagged a pair of forward facing, shore side seats.  In the light we had no difficulty in finding our stop.

25th January, 2000

As we needed to make yet another trip to the supermarket, which is on the road to Finistrat, we decided to combine it with an exploration of the roads we were denied by the road closure the other week.  Starting at Villajoyosa to the south of Benidorm, we headed into the hills and to Relleu.  We soon found the other end of the closed road, shown below left and centre.  As we had guessed, we were within only a few hundred yards of Relleu and from our vantage point high above, we could now see that an unmetalled track through some of the terracing might have saved us having to back-track.  We left Relleu on the CV778, which is one of the steepest and twistiest around.  Despite the apparent remoteness, as can be seen below right, every bit south facing slope has been terraced at some time and a surprising amount remains in production today.

We returned through the villages of Sella and Finistrat to the hypermarket.

27th January, 2000

We were by now thinking about moving off or taking a trip somewhere as we had seen most of what is worth seeing in the area.  The weather had definitely improved and for the first night in weeks the electric fire, which we leave on its thermostat, had not come on.  The weather forecasts are looking more promising - at least for the Mediterranean coast.  We had been wanting to do an inland tour around Spain but could not get very enthusiastic with temperatures forecast at 8 or 10 degrees.  We decided, therefore, to put off this trip for a while and go to see the Font d'Algar, which is a spring that rises high in the hills behind Benidorm.  The Font is to be found just outside Callosa on the road to Parcent, down a rough, steep, winding road with hairpin bends.   There are a number of weirs and waterfalls, shown in the pictures below.  You get charged for parking and to enter the water course.  It is probably a little over-rated but does have attached a quite interesting museum of herbs and trees. 

Following our usual practice of returning via a different route, we continued on the road to Parcent, passing over the Coll de Rates, the approach to which is shown below left.  On the far side are stunning views of Alcalali and the coast over towards Dénia, which we show below centre and right. As can be seen, the weather was deteriorating a little and we were surprised to see two people paracending very close to each other and the low clouds. 

We made the descent into Parcent and continued to Orba, where we turned towards Dénia and picked up the motorway for a swift return to camp.

Last updated:  18/03/01