Tuesday 17th January - Castillo de Banos, Walk to Haza del Trigo

We arrived  at Castillo de Banos yesterday, having travelled the 190 miles from La Manga where we have been based for the past four weeks.  The journey was very easy but for the last fifty miles or so the landscape around us was completely dominated by plastic covered agricultural land as far as the eye could see.  The only occasional break in the intensive horticulture was for factories producing plastic sheeting , which there must be a great demand for.  We were somewhat disconcerted to find that this continued right up to the gate of the campsite and wondered whether we might be moving swiftly on.  However, the site was an absolute tonic in that it was so very green.  This is our first site in ‘green Spain’.  To date we have been on gravel, sand or stone so to park on grass again, amongst flowering bushes and plants under tall, leafy trees felt very much like coming home, even if the flowers were mimosa and the trees eucalyptus and pepper. We were also welcomed with a cup of tea, which helped.  The site has a gate leading to it’s own stony beach and the planned activity yesterday afternoon was a beach clean up; a community effort that we were happy to join in with.

The brochure warned that most cycling and walking in this area in on strenuous hill routes.  This was proved accurate when we joined the group walk out to Haza del Trigo today.  it’s a mere 4km but uphill all the way, some of which was on goat tracks with the company of wild, yapping dogs in tow.

         

           The happy wanderer, striding forth on a cerveza promise               Beautiful flowering hedging en-route

                   

                Proof that it was uphill all the way                                             A pretty villa, and the bar is in sight now                                                       

When we got to the top of the hill we we able to relax in bar Los Pinos where every drink is accompanied with a generous Tapas.  It’s strange how quickly you take to sitting in the sun in your shorts in January, it all seems quite normal.

         

                              Enjoying the view, the company, the drink, the food and the knowledge that it’s downhill all the way home

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