kettelinks74

[kettelinks74]

2018-01-09 Malaga

9.1. Málaga

Today the forecast for the afternoon is rain. I go out for a coffee. This time the one next to the bakery and that is awesome good!!! Then I buy the last time dorade. It`s quite expensive (10 €/kg) but looks very fresh (you can see it in the eyes). Then I go to the free tour town walk. It's not by one of the hostels it`s by a "company". The guy is a little bit strange like everything in this town. He tells how good he is and asks us if we had a free tour before and if it was good. Then he tells us what a played tour will cost per person and what he usually gets for the "free tour". It feels not real what he is doing. Then he starts to walk with us and talks a lot and asks also a lot of questions if we knew things about Málaga. I feel that I need my own rhythm today and leave the group after twenty minutes. I see them later twice but do not get in contact longer.

I look more around. More to the higher parts of the building. Can't explain it so clear but today I have a special focused view. A special feeling as if I'm connected to the stones. So I walk around. I visit the Alcazaba de Málaga which is a fortress and not a palace like in Granada. And not so big. No room more than 60 m2. Then the way up the hill to the Castillo de Gibralfaro. From there is a good view over the bay, town and to the mountains. Málaga is really not nice. It has grown very fast after the fifteenth. There are a lot of high, simple living houses to see. Different quarters of 8-10 houses. Looks funny but also sad. Now I know why we have been not in the town ten or fifteen years ago as I had been nearby in Fuengirola with my parents. Málaga is a place to arrive and to leave from the Costa del Sol. Not more. On my walk through the town and up the hill a lot of people are looking to me curious. I don't know why. So I take a selfi. I'm "only" looking very pleased, friendly and relaxed. But this is more than 95% of the people. This is not a good place of this town! Bad energy!

Down I like to go more to the east to go to a Mercadone supermercado. I hope to get there my favourite Turron. But it`s not so easy to get down from this hill in other directions. I walk through an isolated neighborhood quarter. It`s at the hill to the coastline but there are no stairs down to the main road. So I have to walk the long way around on the street. At the Mercadona they told me they have no longer Turron. It`s really as with our Dominosteine. After Christmas they are not to get for the next nine months. And I and other people have loughed about me when I'm carrying too much food in the bicicleta. I bought four of the bars up in the mountains but eaten already two. Next time... I walk around the big hotels at the harbour and then try to manage the next challenge. Get Churroz once more before leaving. But that is also a "problem". Seams that the Churroz is only very popular in Sevilla and Cordoba. Here it is only common as breakfast and also not everywhere. At a Churroz Cafe they told me after three o'clock they don't make them. At another Churroz is out of the ice, not fresh made. And with the Turron... I look at the May supermercado, that's like Penny, but they have also only some leavings. So I go to the El Sol market nearby the hostel and buy the Turron almond sin sugar by the brand El Almendra. That`s really the best but the most expensive too.

At the hostel I pack my stuff and have a shower. Up in the kitchen it`s crowded. I prepare my Dorada. Next to me is one of Switzerland who tells me a lot of stories about chemtrails and so on. He shows me pictures of the sky fifty years ago and now. I say nothing but think my part. In the last fifty years the traffic has increased by factor of some hundred percent. So it is logical that there are more and more clouds made by airplane than centuries ago. Later the one German who has talked so much to me and took so much space yesterday is offering that he is not working for seven years now in Germany. He works only in other countries some time and doesn't like to work in Germany. But likes to get Hartz 4 and knows how to deal with the system that he is still getting money. This hostel is really special and I would not visit it again! The energy is worse than in the rest of the city. Maybe especially because it`s raining again heavily and here inside is not enough space for all the people. Downstairs in the floor Mai, the woman from China, is sitting. She also left the common room and eating area because it`s too crowdy. We talk a little bit but then I leave the hostel to a bar for the last beer of the journey and a quiet place to write these sentences. At eleven I go to bed. Everything is prepared that I can wake up at 6:30 and have only to grab my stuff to leave. I hope the man at the reception booked the right taxi to carry my bike too. The night then is sleepless. Not because I have the special feeling that my journey is nearly at the end. One guy in my room is phoning until 1:30!!! One bed light was left on until two o'clock. And at one o'clock one guy hurries into our room directly to the toilets. Vomiting and went out immediately. He or whoever came back at two o'clock. For me this hostel has it`s name deserved. The Lights Out. Yes. Put the lights out in this hostel!!!

[kettelinks74]

2018-01-10 Malaga - Madrid - London - Hamburg

10.1. AGP - MAD - LHR - HAM

So without sleep I get up at 6:15. Just take my stuff and check out. The taxi is a normal Mercedes combi and the box did not fit. Good that I have some rubber banding to fix the backdoor. At the airport the adventure of getting a boxed bicycle through the security check starts. I do the normal check-in and then I have to go to the Iberian office to pay for the bike. 45€ is a very good price. Then to the extra large luggage check-in. I had left the box open on the top so that they can look inside (as they liked to do in Hamburg). But this woman likes to have it closed on the machine. So I close it and use the rest of the packing stuff but the box is too big for the machine. Back to the normal luggage check-in they call personnel. Together we go down through some security card closed doors to another special machine for big luggage. For me it looks like the same size as the one up and yes the box does not match with it. I have to open the box, grrrrr, and fix it again. Then I'm out. One hour and a quarter! Fast the last? coffee Cortado and then to the boarding. It takes twenty minutes longer as they planned and in the airplane they tell us that they will wait longer to start because in Madrid is fog. I have only one hour in Madrid and that is with perfect timing at least the minimum but when there is fog and nothing is moving I think that will be no problem. Around Madrid the mountains and hilly area are white powdered. No more fog to see. Outside the plane I try to catch my flight but the jogging tour was only for health. As there is no other direct flight to Hamburg I got a flight over Heathrow and a free meal in an airport restaurant. There I get a big menu with pasta, chicken, quark. In the plane to London the tiredness catches me. Reaching London wrong world. Fog (OK but no rain) in Madrid. And in London only some clouds!!! London Eye, the tower bridge, Buckingham Palace and the tower clock are easy to find. Also time square and the hide park. At Heathrow I think if my baggage might found it`s way too. And as I think about it I see it! But how do they handle here the baggage. Hope the bike box makes it until Hamburg and nothing is broken. Out of the plane for the orientation it is very good signed. But then again the funny thing. We are in the area but have to leave our fluids again and again a security control. Then I'm at my gate and have one and half an hour left. At Starbucks I get a - coffee Cortado!! and a porridge for t e n  e u r o s. OK I get some coins back but in Pound. Also a way to make business. And the porridge is delicious! The flight to Hamburg is full. Lots of business people are in the plane. I enjoy the nightview on London. And there are a lot of lights! Very interesting to see the structure of the town. Hamburg seams to be much darker. In Hamburg I go relaxed with toilet stop and an extra stop at the next automatic pass control system to the baggage claim. As I arrive nearly no one is there. And also only a few bags are driving around. Have I been so slow? Were the other travelers so in a hurry? I look for the extra luggage corner but there is nothing. After fifteen minutes waiting I ask around and then the first time for me. Declaring my bags as lost :/ I had the feeling at the start that this will happen. And my dad has extra borrowed a trailer to transport my big bike. At home a very special feeling. That was it. Two months on the road. I look at my flat as if it is a new and unknown place.

[kettelinks74]

2018-01-09 Malaga

9.1. Málaga

Today the forecast for the afternoon is rain. I go out for a coffee. This time the one next to the bakery and that is awesome good!!! Then I buy the last time dorade. It`s quite expensive (10 €/kg) but looks very fresh (you can see it in the eyes). Then I go to the free tour town walk. It's not by one of the hostels it`s by a "company". The guy is a little bit strange like everything in this town. He tells how good he is and asks us if we had a free tour before and if it was good. Then he tells us what a played tour will cost per person and what he usually gets for the "free tour". It feels not real what he is doing. Then he starts to walk with us and talks a lot and asks also a lot of questions if we knew things about Málaga. I feel that I need my own rhythm today and leave the group after twenty minutes. I see them later twice but do not get in contact longer. I look more around. More to the higher parts of the building. Can't explain it so clear but today I have a special focused view. A special feeling as if I'm connected to the stones. So I walk around. I visit the Alcazaba de Málaga which is a fortress and not a palace like in Granada. And not so big. No room more than 60 m2. Then the way up the hill to the Castillo de Gibralfaro. From there is a good view over the bay, town and to the mountains. Málaga is really not nice. It has grown very fast after the fifteenth. There are a lot of high, simple living houses to see. Different quarters of 8-10 houses. Looks funny but also sad. Now I know why we have been not in the town ten or fifteen years ago as I had been nearby in Fuengirola with my parents. Málaga is a place to arrive and to leave from the Costa del Sol. Not more. On my walk through the town and up the hill a lot of people are looking to me curious. I don't know why. So I take a selfi. I'm "only" looking very pleased, friendly and relaxed. But this is more than 95% of the people. This is not a good place of this town! Bad energy! Down I like to go more to the east to go to a Mercadone supermercado. I hope to get there my favourite Turron. But it`s not so easy to get down from this hill in other directions. I walk through an isolated neighborhood quarter. It`s at the hill to the coastline but there are no stairs down to the main road. So I have to walk the long way around on the street. At the Mercadona they told me they have no longer Turron. It`s really as with our Dominosteine. After Christmas they are not to get for the next nine months. And I and other people have loughed about me when I'm carrying too much food in the bicicleta. I bought four of the bars up in the mountains but eaten already two. Next time... I walk around the big hotels at the harbour and then try to manage the next challenge. Get Churroz once more before leaving. But that is also a "problem". Seams that the Churroz is only very popular in Sevilla and Cordoba. Here it is only common as breakfast and also not everywhere. At a Churroz Cafe they told me after three o'clock they don't make them. At another Churroz is out of the ice, not fresh made. And with the Turron... I look at the May supermercado, that's like Penny, but they have also only some leavings. So I go to the El Sol market nearby the hostel and buy the Turron almond sin sugar by the brand El Almendra. That`s really the best but the most expensive too. At the hostel I pack my stuff and have a shower. Up in the kitchen it`s crowded. I prepare my Dorada. Next to me is one of Switzerland who tells me a lot of stories about chemtrails and so on. He shows me pictures of the sky fifty years ago and now. I say nothing but think my part. In the last fifty years the traffic has increased by factor of some hundred percent. So it is logical that there are more and more clouds made by airplane than centuries ago. Later the one German who has talked so much to me and took so much space yesterday is offering that he is not working for seven years now in Germany. He works only in other countries some time and doesn't like to work in Germany. But likes to get Hartz 4 and knows how to deal with the system that he is still getting money. This hostel is really special and I would not visit it again! The energy is worse than in the rest of the city. Maybe especially because it`s raining again heavily and here inside is not enough space for all the people. Downstairs in the floor Mai, the woman from China, is sitting. She also left the common room and eating area because it`s too crowdy. We talk a little bit but then I leave the hostel to a bar for the last beer of the journey and a quiet place to write these sentences. At eleven I go to bed. Everything is prepared that I can wake up at 6:30 and have only to grab my stuff to leave. I hope the man at the reception booked the right taxi to carry my bike too. The night then is sleepless. Not because I have the special feeling that my journey is nearly at the end. One guy in my room is phoning until 1:30!!! One bed light was left on until two o'clock. And at one o'clock one guy hurries into our room directly to the toilets. Vomiting and went out immediately. He or whoever came back at two o'clock. For me this hostel has it`s name deserved. The Lights Out. Yes. Put the lights out in this hostel!!!

[kettelinks74]

2018-01-08 Málaga

8.1. Málaga

In the morning it`s raining heavily. I get up at half past nine. Around the corner of the hostel is a bakery. A real bakery!! With different kinds of integral bread and soja bread. I take a snack and a coffee. The snack is great but the coffee is not good. Then I buy some stuff at the supermarket. In the hostel I go to bed again. I'm tired and with this weather there is nothing that takes me out of the hostel. The most important thing, to get a box for my bicicleta, is impossible in this weather. OK not impossible but should I pay a big taxi only to transport two kg of cardboard? And the other thing I like to do here, buy some Turron Almendero, can also wait until it`s dry outside. At two the rain gets less but now the bike shops are closed.

At half past three I go out. First bike shop has no boxes. The main shop of them 2,5 km outside has some. I had contact to them before. At a mother shop nearby they are too complicated. She has to call the boss, blabla. I give my phone number but decide to go to the shop outside by bus. Bus is only 1,30 €. Near to the shop a supermarket. But only the Turron Almedera sin sugar. And the sugar is in that honey. At the bike shop they welcome me. One of them is from California. They are very friendly and I can get as much boxes as I need. But it looks as if one is enough. At the bus station the first bus did not stop. Why?? A young girl comes around and I ask her. She said 1. you have to show by hand that you like to take the bus. That is one thing I can understand. The bus drivers are driving like a "Henker". Very fast, in a hurry. And on this main road at the beach are seven lines!! for driving. But the second thing she tells is not so funny. My box is too big for the bus. Not that there is not enough space but above a size it`s not allowed to take things in the bus. I try it out with the next bus but the driver shows me that my box is too big. Yes I know it`s 2 meters long but only 4 cm thin!!! I have to leave the bus. What the fuck!?! Should I walk 3 km with this unhandy box??? At the next bus station I try it again but this time I fold it in the half. That's small enough. At the hostel I prepare the bike and with the help of one guy out of my room we put the bike inside easily.

Up in the kitchen are a lot of people. I talk to some Californian guys. They like to go climbing tomorrow. And I talk to Rob(ert) from Canada. He's living in Germany now for a few years and really likes our country. We discuss the good and bad parts. The good thing about Germany is that changes are slow. In this year where the world around is getting crazy (bank crashes, Trump, Erdowan) it`s true. The bad thing about Germany is that changes are slow. Our car companies will fail when they are not fast switching to hybrid or electric engine. Our change in egnery production has come to a stop. And when changes are coming there is most time a looooong period where you have not to change. For example for the farmers to make more space for chicken. They have to do but the poor farmers. Give them ten years for a change that has progressed in other country's in two years... We discuss a lot. Then I'm hungry. Like to leave to eat something. Go to a Spanish restaurant. No one likes to come with me so I go alone. In the older part of the city are some restaurants but none of them gives me the feeling that I like to stay there. So I take a falafel and go back to the hostel to talk to the people again. The Swabian photographer is also there. Great how simple he can talk about the technique to take photos. At half past eleven I go to bed.

[kettelinks74]

2018-01-07 Pananto de La Viñuela  - Malaga

7.1. Pananto de La Viñuela  - Malaga 55 km

The last day on the road. Yesterday I struggled a little bit to get to this place but in the morning I see that it was a good decision. The sun wakes me up. Shines directly into my tent. Sad that the weather forecast says clouds and light rain. And every time when you think you`re alone... A woman with two dogs comes around but says nothing. I have a relaxed breakfast and then prepare my stuff. The view over the lake is great. I'm wondering that the mountains have snow. Looks as if they are lower than 1500 m. As usual it takes a lot of time to get rid of the loamy shit under shoes and the mudguard.

On the road I decide to take the way over the hills to a quieter valley. This A-356 to Colmenar is too busy. On the other side of the hill only a few houses. Here are a lot of valleys. Small, steep, wild. The landscape is open and looks a little bit like on the classic pictures from the green hills in New Zealand. They are only a little bit higher and steeper here. Some farming but looks as if most places are not useful for that. Clouds are getting bigger and it`s cold today. The streets or better ways are simple and some parts have gravel. My legs are tired today and I have to push the bike on some parts. On the AM-3107, a normal street, it`s going up step by step to Riogordo and then to Colmenar that sits on a mountain crest, the Parque Natural Montes de Málaga.

There I'm on 650 m and it starts to rain and freeze!! I go to a hotel/restaurant. The restaurant is full. It`s sunday, the day after the three kings. Lots of families are out. I take a coffee and a cake, change clothes and then go out again. Then I take the A-7000 through the Parque Natural. It is climbing in smooth steps to 950 m. Here is a real natural parque. Wild landscape, mostly pine trees. On the top part are some restaurants and they are also very crowded. After 35 km with a medium speed of 10 km/h it`s now only going down. Some drops are coming down but the road condition is good. So the next 15 km with a medium speed of 40 km/h!! Hunting the cars :D. But then in Málaga in a not so sharp bend and driving slowly I crash. The surface is one of this that begins as asphalt and is driven down sleek by thousands of cars. Nothing big happens but after two months on the road on the last kilometers the first accident. It`s really time to leave this place.

The hostel is direct in the center. I called them before and asked about a place for my bike but they do not have a good one. Hope I find space to prepare my bike for the flight. I'm very tired today and also a little bit shocked by the accident. The hostel is very special. Not much space but well organized. Very clean and also very busy. Nearly every room is full and that in winter!! I enjoy a looooooong hot shower and lay down for a while. Good that they offer every evening a meal. Today chilli con carne for 2€. Not much but OK. Because of the rain the dinner is not in the roof garden and so it`s a little bit crowded. In the kitchen it`s more quiet. There is a 71 year old Schwabe. We get fast contact. He often travels on that way by using bus and hostel and has been here some times before. We discuss about live. I'm wondering why some people are so fit in mind and body with seventy and others are with sixty nearer to the grave as to anything else. Is it the right food? Is it because he moves his body every day? Is it the biology? Or the mind set. I don't think that we can control so much but when I'm looking on this topics. You should eat good stuff and use your body (with sport, walking or body work). But the most important of this topics is the mind set I think. Being open in mind, looking around, trying out new things, and that in a relaxed way. At ten I go to bed. Very tired. Over the night my six bed room is full and some scrabble in their stuff at midnight :/

[kettelinks74]

2018-01-06 Playa de las Alberquillas - Pananto de La Viñuela

6.1. Playa de las Alberquillas - Pananto de La Viñuela 55 km

Don't deal with energies you do not really understand!

At six o'clock in the morning it starts to rain but without storm. The forecast said it should rain until midday and so it does. At 11:30 it`s over. From nine I'm up. Yesterday I found a yoga movie on my tablet. Also I like to check for living projects /ecovillages. Enough to spend the day with at this nice place. But then at twelve I check the forecast. It`s better in the mountains as they said yesterday and so I decide to cycle the way I planned some days before. Lorenzo is also preparing for leaving. We talk briefly and he has again questions. I try to judge little but he is really not in his middle. Searching, hasting, not really listening. I leave the place before him, in Maro I take a coffee and then I'm on the road.

Today is Saturday the sixth. The Spanish people celebrate the three kings today. Yesterday there has been a firework in Nerja and there should be cars with puppets and people who are throwing sweets like at Karneval in Köln. Should have been nice to see that but with this weather forecast yesterday I had no power to drive the night to the town and back again. Today the children get their gifts (like in Germany at the 24.12.) and there are also public places where people meet and share presents. But I like to ride today to get up into the mountains. No time for long stops today. So I drive on the N-340 at the coastline. In Nerja it`s going down to sea level. The street is super quiet for this heavy built-up landscape. At the coast it has still strong wind and some drops came out of the clouds. The towns are full of hotels and all are ugly! All the time I think about this crazy guy Lorenzo and his way of life. Then I realize that I lost one of my water bottles. It's in the cafe in Mora. I will not drive back. So the things come and go.

In Caleta de Velez I leave the coast to the north to Vélez-Malaga. An also faceless town. Then it`s going up steeper. For some km I drive on a small road next to the A-356 but then I have to go on this road where one hundred is allowed! Good that today is celebration day. At the lake Pananto de La Viñuela then the unbelievable. The chain breaks. I think it is the first time in my life. Good that I have everything to fix it. And it takes only 20 minutes. Good so because the sun is going down and it`s unlikely to reach a selected place at the lake even if I could rest here where the chain sucks. Some meters later I go to a restaurant to get water. Then a short cut to the lake. A beton road very steep down and then very steep up. I give up. Too hard to ride. As I try it I lose control of the bike and fall. While seeking to keep my balance I struggle and roll some meters down. Fuck what's wrong this day??? What does the universe tell me that I don't understand??? At the place I saw on the satellite picture the road and place are loamy. The last day outside camping and then that. Yes I understand now. It`s time to leave Spain and to go home. My head and heart are already there. Now should my body move too. This evening I cook a curry with cashew, chickpea and the Garamasala that Alicia gave me.

[kettelinks74]

2018-01-05 Playa de las Alberquillas - Nerja - Playa de las Alberquillas

5.1. Playa de las Alberquillas - Nerja - Playa de las Alberquillas 25 km

I go out of the tent at 8:30. It`s very wet here near to the beach but the place is good. Very soft ground with long grasses. I have my first breakfast with fruits, prepare some things and a hot tea. After a walk at the beach I go into the water. The surf is not high but strong. The beach is a mixture of sand and rounded stones but in the surf are lots of stones. You can hear the stones rolling when a wave is coming. And that is what is not nice for the feet. The surf with the stones to the feet and ankles. But it`s nice to play with the waves. Then I pack my stuff and when I start yoga Lorenzo appears. He sleeped a little bit up the cliff to have less wet air. He's moving to Stephan, the guy from Sweden. And I see now that here is another guy living. And hear that around the cliff are much more people living. Stephan is now living down here or in the summer up in the mountains since one and a half year. And for eating he looks around what people are throwing away and they are throwing a lot away. He had 12 bottles of champagne for year change! And he shares some toast with us today. But now I do my yoga and after the second breakfast I leave this nice place at 12:30.

Up on the road I see a lot of cyclists. I see also road bikers in the same clothes as the Polish people the day before yesterday. Good that here is less traffic. Today wind is strong from the west and even though it`s 18 degrees it`s a little bit cold. The weather forecast said storm and rain this evening. In the small village Maro a dropout guy with handmade decoratives tries to sell me things. He is very pushy and I have to say him three times that I don't want to buy anything that he offers. Maro is a little bit touristy but looks still quiet and nice. Then I drive to Nerja that is a town here and that is touristy! Some dropouts are walking around and I see a lot of North European people. I buy enough at the supermarket for the next three days. Today is friday the fifth and tomorrow the sixth they are celebrating "the three kings" this is more important in Spain than navidad. At a café I spend some time writing and thinking what shall I do. The forecast for the mountain side is much worser than for the coast. I decide to stay a day more in this area. Maybe I find another place or go back to the place again. I check out the small beach of Maro. It looks as if it has less stones and the waves are looking pretty nice but there is a, of course closed, bar and no place to hide. With my fixed tent I like to find a place that is a little bit protected. On the next hill I look but here is everything steep or a gravel road. At one place are five cars. Four with German number plate. I talk to a couple from Hamburg.

Then I move to the beach where I have been before. Lorenzo is also still there. I look where Stephan has his place. It's great, hidden under a big but bent pine and very wind protected. I find a place nearby the place of the night before but a bit more hidden. Lorenzo tells me that he did not move today and stayed the time with Stephan to find out something about his way of life. Now he has to find a place for his tarp which is much more difficult than for a tent. And the sun is going down... A little bit lost this guy in his different way of thinking making things much more complicated. For me is always the first thing to prepare the place for the night when I find a place and do not wait until it`s dark and hanging around the day. But people are different and maybe it has a reason for his development that he does it this way. I offer him lunch again and today he will join. I try to get into the water again to play with the higher getting waves but it`s difficult with these stones. They scratch my feet so I leave the water fast. At sunset the first clouds come up. Slowly growing on the open sea. The forecast is rain and storm from the middle of the night until midday. I invite Lorenzo for dinner. We cook mushrooms with paprika and pasta. This evening only every twentiest word is fuck. He's a curious man. Did not find his way of life yet. His restless disorientated mind. But we have a nice talk.

[kettelinks74]

2018-01-04 Torrenueva - playa de las Alberquillas

4.1. Torrenueva - playa de las Alberquillas 45 km

At eight the light comes but I wait until a quarter to nine even if it`s warm enough to get up. The sleeping bag is a little bit wet. For my skin I had pulled the pillow case of my inlet sleeping back over my face. It`s also good to reduce the wind because I hate it when the wind rolls over my face. I place everything into the sun and after a fruit breakfast I go to the other cliff and down to the beach. There for a few minutes into the water and then the arduous path to get the stuff from my steep night hill down. The man who stood yesterday up on the other hill is again there and all the time watching me. But I have no fear that he might call the police.

I leave Torrenueva on the N-340 which should be the road I have most time to use today. It's the street at the coast line and there should be a lot of traffic even when nearby is a new road, an autostrada. I take the same way back to Motril that I came yesterday to have a look into the industrial zone for a shop or fixing place where I might find something to fix my tent. The emergency set is a short tube and that's what I'm looking for. I find a Chinese shop. And as we know from Portugal. Chinese shops have nearly everything. I take some things that might help. A packing tape for the bicycle box. A packing tape for fixing (power tape) some steel stuff that might be useful to put around the broken part. And a foldable bamboo fence because I found no other tube. Then I also drive to a craft shop (Aki) but that is less useful than the Chinese shop. I only take a threaded rod if the bamboo might not be the solution. At the big supermarket I buy the small fishes (Pescara) and squid rings.

Then I like to leave this busy town to get to a beach with a café and a place to fix the tent. So I'm on the very busy N-340 and drive to Salobreña. A bigger village which sticks around a hill near to the beach. At the beach it`s touristy. Lots of shops are closed but I find a café at the beach. It looks better and the prices are so. And it`s after the days up in the mountain the first day with tourists from Germany, France, Scottland and Netherlands. Then I start fixing the tent tube. I decide to take the bamboo. Good that I have the leatherman multitool with the saw. A Scottish couple on bicycles stops and asks me things about my recumbent bike. But I don't have the passion to talk a lot. I like to fix the tube. It`s not easy to hold the broken parts together with the rubber banding inside and also to put the tape around. I would need three or four hands. So I ask a Spanish man if he might help me. No problem. Then the bamboo tube over it and a lot of tape. Looks as if it is working. It`s a quarter past three. I have to move if I like to get out of the heavy touristic zones. I think in this part it`s nearly impossible to find a place for the tent. The mountains are raising fast and speed up from the sea. A lot of cliffs.

So I take the N-340 to Malaga. It`s getting up and down but most times not steep. Traffic is sometimes more sometimes less. But that is in fact no relaxing road. But there is no other option. It might take some time a part through the villages but that would be only steep down and up for a short distance and then I have to go back to the main road. So I stay there until I come to the Paraje Natural de Acantilados de Maro-Cerro-Gordo. There are some viewpoints where tourists are standing and then the steep gravel walkway down to the Playa de las Alberquillas. There are some people with dogs but I don't care about them and the hint that camping is here forbidden. There are no houses nearby and I don't think that the police will check this place in the winter.

On the way down a bike traveler comes from the beach. Lorenzo is from Italy. We talk a little bit. He is out of water and has to go. I offer him a bottle and say that I have enough for the dinner but he likes to move. We are talking a little bit. He's really rough. Only with a tarp and little clothes, in central Spain was freezing temperature. Yes I know I have too much with me but freezing. Nono! And I can feel his anger, his hastiness, his restless mind. Every third word is fuck. He`s going up the hill and I drive down to the beach. Sun is getting down so I put the tent up but tomorrow I will go swimming! Looks as if my journey has to end. As I lay my bike to a tree the flag mast breaks and a bit later I see that one seam of the bumbag is open... As it`s dark and I sit at the beach preparing my lunch Lorenzo is coming back. We talk a bit and share food. He's now out of Italy for six years. Traveling through the world. Working this and that. And he told me what Jana sent from New Zealand. It's expensive. Look I have been there with Micha at the right time in 2009. As we sit there in the dark (the moon is coming at ten) a man walks around. He comes to us. He is from Sweden and is staying here down at the beach the last winters. He is a little bit spooky but he offers us to join him. His place is around some bushes. I do not go but Lorenzo moves there later.

[kettelinks74]

2018-01-03 Pitres - Torrenueva

3.1. Pitres - Torrenueva 65 km

Day of contrasts. We get up at nine as the sun comes through the glass bottle wall. It is warm this morning. Ten degrees on 1250 m! We enjoy the breakfast and then it is time to say goodbye. I wish her all the best. I will have a look on what she is doing and maybe come back next winter season. It`s so warm that I start in short short clothes and only use the windstopper vest. Today it`s going down to sea level! To Pampaneira and behind it`s going a little bit up too but then to Órgiva it`s only getting down. On the way down some road bikers come up the hill - in long long clothes. And I go down in short short. So is the difference in temperature feeling from South Spaniards and North Europeans ;).

Then in Órgiva (450m) the first shock. The town is the main town in the West Alpujarras with only 4500 citizens but after the quiet days up there in the villages where mostly only one street is touristy it`s a culture shock. The people from Beneficio were here to buy/sell things and it`s also the rotation point for tourists and dropouts. Looks as if the small villages up in the mountains caught me with their magic. I buy something for my break and talk to a German dropout who is panhandling at the entrance of the supermarket. He likes to go to Las Palmas because of his pain after chemotherapy. On the road I cross the river and take the A-345 to the east at the mountainside. First time on the north side of the mountains here and it`s fresh because the sun is missing. The landscape is rough and full of pine trees. The water reservoir has low level and the big riverbed shows that there is much more water possible. Then it`s going south. I cross the autostrada from Granada to Motril and take the small A-4133 to the village Vélez de Benaudalla. At a cafe I meet some young road bikers from Poland but they don't like to talk. They are here on a training camp. I check the mails of the bike stores I contacted yesterday. One offers me boxes for 10€ the box. The other has none. And another has plenty but is a few km from the center away. We will see... On the road again it`s getting up for 2km. Mostly not so steep with bends through the pine trees. The road is getting sometimes near to the autostrada.

Up on the hill then the view to the coast and Motril. And fields. They look like water flooded rice fields when the sun is shining into them. But these are no rice fields. These are the greenhouses. More than enough. In Motril I buy dorade for the dinner. Motril is a town with 60.000 citizens. That is the next culture shock. I drive through the center of the town to the south east. It`s not beautiful and the buildings are looking like the town has fast grown 60 years ago. Buildings have three to four floors and the streets are old style narrow. Outside I take a small road through the greenhouses. In contrast to the greenhouses I saw in Portugal they are here closed and with grey or black plastic so that it`s not possible to see what's inside. Left and right of the streets are water channels and out of the fields water is running. It smells a little bit like cloaks. On the coast road N-340 I drive to Torrenueva. It looks like a sleeping and holiday town but a bad one. Ugly blocks with 6-9 floors.

Nearby is a very small beach where I like to camp. But the way to it is not to find or private behind a gate. Back in Torrenueva I take a sand road to the cliff. There on the top I find a place but the way up is so steep that I have to carry every bag seperately. I'm a little bit too early to see. So I wait until the sunset to prepare my place. It's still warm. Think the temperature will not be going down under ten degrees. Then I prepare the tent and then it happens. Knack knack. One of the rods is broken. And I can't find the fixing tube. Is it lost or at home? I think I will find a solution tomorrow. On the way out of Motril I drove through the industrial zone with a lot of garages. Good that it is so warm, less wind and dry (not totally at the coast of course). I enjoy the dorade and at nine the full moon is coming up. That will be a bright night too.

[kettelinks74]

2018-01-02 Juviles - Trevélez - Busquístar - Pitres

02.01. Juviles - Trevélez - Busquístar - Pitres 20 km

The night was very quiet. As the sun comes up it`s fast getting warm. I have a relaxed tea and then a long yoga session. The idea for today is to have a short look to Justin and Miguel and then meet with Alicia. We both have the feeling that we have to discuss a lot.

Then on the road some km up to the crossroads to Trevélez. And in Trevelez it`s the first time I see some strangers. Dutch campers and a car from Portugal. It is really warm today so that I can wear less clothes. In Trevélez I go to a bar only to fill up water.

In Busquístar I look into the bar where I met Justin. He is not there and has not been seen since I left. At their home Miguel and Justin welcome me. But their welcome is very different from the time I stayed there. Justin is a little bit confused and needs time on his own and Miguel is also preparing some businesses. I talk a little bit with a girlfriend of Justin. After an hour I leave. Justin and the girl are out for a walk and Miguel wants to go to Pitres into an internet cafe. I call Alicia that I'm on the way to Pitres too. At the plaza central I wait and there is another couple from the Netherlands. They are only a few days here to catch up some sun. It`s still horrible in the area of Netherlands and North Germany. I hope for a real winter welcome when I'm flying back in a week.

With Alicia I have a drink in the sun and then we go to her small but friendly house. It has been a Tool House of one who has lived on the campground too and she updated it a little bit. It`s much warmer than the house of Miguel and Justin. Alicia is cooking and we talk a lot about Valle de Sensaciones, and much more about her plans for projects and the steps toward it. She likes to buy a ruined house with land nearby. On the field she like to plant hemp and to use the fibres for clothes and paper. It`s a project to collect money for her final project and also to update the region, give jobs to people, revitalize the factories for working with fibres. Hemp is indeed one of the most universal plants on this planet. Seeds to eat, fibres to make ropes, clothes, paper out of it. Or to burn to make heat. It`s fast growing and in contrast to cotton it needs lesser water. Sad that it has the stigma of drugs and the industries threw it away. Also we discuss about how life works and how we manifest things. But the hemp project is only a step to here final project. A place where mothers can bring here babies to the world and old people can retreat. In nature, with organic food, with permaculture, with teaching how to use nature, gardening and so on. This great meeting ends at midnight. I put my bed in the lobby that she had updated to be closed and warm for the winter.

[kettelinks74]

2018-01-01

1.1.2018 Valle de Sensaciones - Alcútar - Juviles 20 km

Breakfast at ten and then the last Talking Stick round. A warm "see you again" and then I'm on the road again. I decide to take the same way back that I came. The road in the valley is today not so busy than friday but up there it was so nice and quiet. But after starting at two o'clock and having a break up there I don`t make so much kilometers. Only 20 but again 1000 hm. After Juviles near to the crossroads to the valley or Trevélez I drive up a dirt road to a natural reservoir. There I find a nice but a little bit steep place in the bushland. It`s smelling of thyme and chamomile. As the sun set the near full moon comes up.

[kettelinks74]

2017-12-30/31 Valle de Sensaciones

30.12. 31.12. Valle de Sensaciones

Only a few words. Because what has happened and has been said inside this place / this group belongs to the group and no one else. We made council speaking rounds to themes about the year change and love/sexuality. This place is well known for polyamory and so this and other themes around that had their place. And that was great for me to talk to people who have experience with other ways of living and loving. We made also a year change ritual and enjoyed the year change in a hot pool with the nearly full moon above us.

A great experience and one of my best year changes ever. The setting, especially the council and the deep talks and behaviour between the people (8) was similar to the way we used to handle it at my education in Erlebnispädagogik. That was great to see another teacher/trainer from another continent (American) how he is doing it.

All gives me the feeling and the clearness that I can and want to do it this way too.

[kettelinks74]

2017-12-29 Busquístar - Trevélez - Juviles - Alcútar - Valle de Sensiacones

29.12. Busquístar - Trevélez - Juviles - Alcútar - Valle de Sensiacones 35km

Starting with yoga today. The guys are still sleeping. At half past eleven everybody is ready to leave. They have to fix something at the house and to buy things for new years eve. Also Justin likes to go to Malaga to welcome a girlfriend. We have a hearty goodbye and they offer me to stay on new years eve and I think I will do it. I decide to go to the east now, have a look around there and come back at midth of 31th. I stay at the mountain side also because there is no other way before Juviles. So it`s getting first to Trevélez. Some thin clouds are there but it`s getting better and better. The valley to Trevélez is nearly the same as the valley to a Pampaneira. North south direction and very narrow. From 1100m it`s getting up to 1550m over 11km. So some ups and downs. In this narrow valley the vegetation is very special. The west side is dry but with lots of trees and nearly not used by farming. The east side has some terrace farming and more bushland. In Trevélez I go to a café. This village is strongly touristy as I see in the prices too. 1,50€ for a cortado. This village is most famous for Jamon Iberica which is drying here in the dry air for 10-11 months. But the funny thing is that most of the meat is not coming from this region. They import hind legs from Romania and other countries to dry it here. The same shit as with Schwarzwälder Schinken.

From here it`s going to the south again. Some ups and downs. I look around for a place for the 30th. When I drive back this way. From Juviles are two ways to the east. Should I stay on the level of 1000-1200m or drive down to the valley on an altitude of 500-700. I decide to stay at the mountains and take the valley for the way back tomorrow. I like to get today to Yatór where a small community is nearby. I have them on my list too and also Alicia told me about them. The last days were so friendly in getting contact and with great welcome. I think that could happen today too. But I have to go down from the mountains for that. So after Alcútar it`s getting down to the A-348. That is a well prepared road with much more traffic. Up in the mountains there were less cars. Maybe I should take the same way back tomorrow. Yatór is a small village. Maybe 500 people there.

Some meters outside it`s going on a gravel road to the community Valle de Sensaciones. It`s much smaller than Beneficio but also here are some old cars and vans standing. I see two guys working on a small field and talk to them. They are both from Italy and welcome me. Inside one is from Germany. He's staying here for a week now and shows me some places. And he said that's no problem to stay for a night. And that friday, that's today, is the arrival day. They start an event this evening and maybe I can join. Inside approx. 12 small houses on the ground and in the trees. It`s been built up by a German some years ago and it`s in contrast to Beneficio well organized. A meeting and kitchen house that's very beautiful. A bit later, not the owner, but the administrator for this time comes. He's German too and is not so amused that the others welcomed me so easily. Only because of the event. I might stay for the night but have to leave in the morning or stay for the event. It`s not totally clear what the event is about but I decide to stay after the teacher arrived and we talked a bit. In the evening we prepare the meal together but for the next days it`s organized by someone else who does it. We shall be eight until night that are here for the event and only one woman. She's also from Germany. The others are from Spain. One is not speaking English so everything has to be translated but they do it as a group very well. My place for the next three nights is a house in the trees.

[kettelinks74]

2017-12-28 Busquístar

28.12. Busquístar

I stand up at half past nine and have a look outside how the weather is. ATM its OK. There are clouds but no storm and the night has also been quiet. The forecast says rain and special for Trevélez where I like to go. And even when its not raining today and it might be possible to go on. I decide to let Almería  be Almería and drive around in this are. The forecast for the next day is normal weather with some clouds but temperatures up to 18 degrees. The boys are still sleeping so I chill on my own and read a book. Justin is a studied and intelligent guy. He has some books about the bahaviou of the  there. Special about the wave structure and the view from the point of mandalas.

I read a short book in German by Yanis Varoufakis. The now ex ex financial minister of Greek. There he, and two other authors, show simple ways to get out if the crisis without the need to change European contracts. Lists good and simple even if its in my point of view only a) an switching of debts into other books, pots and b) not a change if the system. So still profit, growth and a unnatural behavior of the bank and stock market. Sadlz the internet connection in the house is impossible and even out on the gallery it is bad. So I go up to the main plaza and the shop to by some things and enjoy the two bar of the internet connection to check up for some bike shops in Malaga to get a box for my flight back. Down I sleep a little bit at the stove and than we move to Pampaneira to by some things at a real supermarket. Its not so stormy as yesterday but clouds at hanging deep.

In Pitres Justin see some friends. He has lived here before. With Alicia we go to a bar. The is a powerful girl. Working as craftsman and we get a fast connection. Than we by some things at the supermarket. After that we go to Alicia's small home. She rent a small house out if wood. Ore better a summerhouse. And she updated it on her own with an extra wall at the long roof out of loamy and glad bottles. Looks like she is very handy in crafts. She cook a delicious vegetarian meal with buckwheat. We talk a lot. She is also in looking how she likes to life. About the house she is clear and can build it on here own. I would said! But the money is not there at the moment. She also tell me about the community project "Valle de Sensaciones" near by. She staid there for a time. And she write me down some other internet sides I should check. Than a joint makes the round. It does not smell strong and they said that it is out of pure flowers and not mixed up from over different steps of dealer. I feel really safe and welcome here and so I try it out. It has no great effect on me. Maybe a little bit clear in mind. The both other like to leave. Hope we stay in contact. Looks like she has some answers or ideas for me. Back at their home me sitting for some time but I move to bed before midnight.

[kettelinks74]

2017-12-27 Capileira - Busquístar

27.12. Capileira - Busquístar 17 km

In the night the storm came up and also the rain. As the forecast said. I stay until eleven in the tent. Then the rain is over but the storm is still there. Looks as if I had luck yesterday. Today it is as the forecast said. Wind up to 75km/h and gusts. The walls of the ruined house are good but not enough to protect me from the gusts. At twelve I'm on the bike completely in rain clothes. Yesterday the wind came from the east and did not reach the valley through the north. Today the wind is coming down directly from the north and pushes me down to Capileira. On the part after the first serpentine it blows from the front and it`s like a break, even the road gets down with 7%. It is pain in my face. In Capileira I go to a bar and have two coffees and a big bocadillo - for 3,70 €. Still some simple bars left for the locals. That's my breakfast at half past twelve. On the road the storm is still terribly strong but for the 400 m down only from the back. But the gusts are so strong that I have to stop some times. Then at the crossroads to Pampaneira it is going up again but that's easy with the wind from the back.

But then, around the corner from the north to the east it sucks really. The wind is so heavy that it throws me off the bike. Good that you don`t fall so deep from a recumbent bike. The storm is here so heavy and with the gusts I have to lay down beside my bike for a minute!!! It`s nearly impossible to stand up. Then I push my bike around the corner where the steep walls protect me from the wind from the north. And that is just the beginning. The next km are very difficult. The best is that it is not raining and it`s not so cold. But the storm and the gusts. It throws me twice off the bike again and I have to stop several times. Lots of deadwood is lying around and the cars drive slowly. I have to get down from this higher mountains (still 1200 m) as fast as possible.

On one of my maps it looks like I can do this in Busquístar. But when, then it is a dirt road. In the village I look down the way that it might be and have the feeling that it would be difficult. So steep it looks and it`s not clear to me where it is getting up. I think even when I make it down on the bike I have to creap up the hill step by step with the bags alone. So at least three times 200m altitude on worse gravel. But why not ask the locals? I go into a bar. It`s a simple one visited by locals. There are some old men hanging around. I start talking to one and about the language he refers me to another guy. And that is again coincidence! Justin is from Romania and had lived in several countries. Also some years in Berlin and he is a talent in languages. So we start talking German. He's now living here and he is a 37 year old survivor, multi talent and dropout and libertine. And he is also a drunken Master, that's what he calls himself.  We discussed about the way down with other locals and they have a look at my bike and said that it is not possible with my bike. They say I should drive back to Órgiva. That's the best way to get down. But that's where I have come from and with this storm... Staying on this road would mean to drive 8 km to Trevélez (1500 m) and then 10 km down but there I would still be on 1000 m. Might work because the valley is again very narrow and north south but who knows what`s coming after the next corner? To get down are 10 km more. The clock said three pm. And with this weather I would not make it until sunset. Justin offers me a place to stay as long as I like. When I stay here I would not make it to Almeria where I booked a hotel in two days. But the part to Almeria has never felt good to me. But in this weather... today no more! So I hear what Justin has to say. He takes care about a "big" house in this village for some artists they are living in Malaga. We have a coffee and beer in the bar and are waiting for the post. One package arrives but the guitar he is waiting for not. Maybe it`s been caught by the customs. There should not be only a guitar inside... They should bring him some packages from Germany. His mother lives there and she sends him some Christmas presents.

We go then to the house. As the houses look from outside they are inside. Lots of small rooms linked like a labyrinth on three floors. There are three rooms for sleeping, a bar room, a cafe room, the normal living room. This house has been used for artists, gallery and parties but now the owners do not use it any more. There are a lot of things to do but I think that it`s on the normal level here. Back in the bar the next beer. We are waiting for his friend that is coming from Valencia where he stayed with his parents for Christmas. Miguel is selling normally second hand books on the street in Granada and is there the only one that does it this way. He has a licence to do it! We carry some things to the home and buy also some... beer. A pack of 20 tin cans for 7€. That kills a cat! Then we stay at their home and discuss about life and so on. We are thinking in the same way but also I have still the feeling that another way should be possible without drinking and drugs and fucking the economy. How might that work? At midnight I go to bed. The others are owls and will hang up until 3 or 4.

[kettelinks74]

2017-12-26 Lanjarón - Capileira

26.12. Lanjarón - Capileira  35 km 1700 hm

This day should be different than others. The night was quiet but in the morning there is some rain. The sky is mostly dark as I look out at nine o'clock. As I'm outside and doing things a car comes up. An old couple in a Polo class car. And I thought this is a way were nearly no one comes up. An hour later a Jeep. And as I pack my stuff one drives up just to tell me that camping is here not allowed. Privado! I tell him that I'm away in half an hour. Still lots of clouds in the sky and sometimes some rain drops. And some heavy gusts. I hope it`s possible to drive today. And I have to find a mechanic shop to fix my bike. Yes again :/ Yesterday I checked lots of screws and other thing and what makes trouble? The only thing that I have not checked. The control tube of the bar that goes to the front wheel. Not nice when it`s moving. It will not open and fall down but now the control is imprecise. On the road it`s getting fast down to Órgiva.

Before the town I drive up into the direction of the dead end to the village Cañar. But only a km then it`s going to the left on a gravel road to a narrow valley with high walls. There is the permanent rainbow gathering "Beneficio". And this is the first time that I'm really welcome. As I reach the parking ground everyone who sees me greats me and welcomes me. I see cars and campers and bullies with German, Dutch, British and of corse Spanish number plates. Two men start chatting to me. They welcome me too. We talk a bit. One offers me Marijuana. Yeah that is what this place is about. I ask them if they have a tool to fix my bike. They have not, a few meters down a British guy helps me out. Then I'm walking around up the valley into the eucalyptus trees. There is the main part of it. Here inside the storm is less but the gusts are still strong. Here is a small river running down. To its left and right are some tents, tents out of plastic planes or simpliest wood houses not higher than 1,50m. A little bit more up bigger tipis. This must he the meeting place. There is also a message board. And a small garden with different vegetables. More up the valley it is more open. Here are some bigger and better houses out of wood and other stuff. I see not many people. Looks like most of them are in Órgiva to fill up foods. I saw some cars with this kind of people on the way up and in Órgiva is this day market. The space here is enough to grow everything for only one family. At Beneficio everybody is welcome. They are not organized. You put your tent or whatever at a place that is free. The atmosphere is very peaceful. A place with good energy. But not the right place for me ATM.

Back on the road it`s getting up and that for the rest of the day! On the A-3141 I drive up. I see a place at the road with an old house inside and decide to stop. Two men are there also watching. The one starts talking to me. His name in Thomas and he asks me about my bike because he has pain in his tailbone and does not like to sit on a normal bike anymore. He speaks a little bit German. He was a ski jumper and so he knows Oberstorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. And he has also been in the Olympic group for his country in Norway in 1994. The next village is Carataunas. Always with the look to the valley and to Órgiva. A bit later I take the 1 km dead end to Soportújar. A village that is a little bit touristy. It has witches on its town sign and also a big witch face out of wood but I do not understand by name why this is. There I have the next new thing - a break at a fountain and not at a cafe. If I'm right it is the first day without a break at a café. Wind is less now and from here is a great view down to Órgiva that is now 500 m down. Then the road turns to north and it`s going into a deep and narrow valley. Here is no wind. The west slope has a lot of leaf trees and is so steep that there are only some houses. The east slope is used a little bit by olive farming and there is a village to see.

Pampaneira is one of these old towns of the Berbers with the flat roof houses that stand wall by wall. Looks like a big collective on four levels. The view to it is beautiful and also the view down to the small river. Then behind a corner are the white peaks of the Sierra Nevada to see. But from this side the altitude where the snow starts is much higher. I think above 2500m because from here you can see the highest peak, the Mulhacén with 3478m. In Pampaneira I'm on 1050m and the temperature is still OK. Now the decision if I should drive on the road or go up the dead end to the next villages and then a bit more into the mountains. There is the highest road of Spain. It`s going up over 3000m. This afternoon is so good weather I decide to go up. Pampaneira has a very touristic road with shops. In Bubión are also some cafés and in Capileira, on 1400m, also some cafés and shops that offer the special ham from this region. Out of the town the road has still asphalt for two km and there are some people with cars or walking. They like to see the sunset. And that is absolutely great. But I have to drive up a bit more. I see that I don't make it today to the new point and so I take a dirt road to some houses. I try to get around the mountain to have a place with the view to the 3000th but it`s getting dark. So, and also the first time, I take a place in a ruined house. Only the walls are left on 1,50 m. I think a wind protected place up here is good. The weather forcast says storm and rain for the early morning. Up here... I tent in 1964m!!! Wow!!! The highest place I ever tented. Temperature is still over 5 degrees. And another new thing. I cook lupin. I found them in a supermarket some days ago. They are big as big beans. The skin is a little bit harder than that of the chick peaks and a little bit sweet after cooking them with tomatoes a piquant sausage and a mixed spice that I also found there.

[kettelinks74]

2017-12-25 Granada - Lanjarón

25.12. Granada - Lanjarón 60 km

So that was Granada. A very nice town with an equal nice surrounding. Directly to the mountains. Four complete days in a bigger town is in fact unusual for me. At breakfast I check the weather forecast. The weather forecast in Germany was in this year very imprecise. If less rain, much rain or no rain was even two days before not to be seen. Here it has been very good. If there should be rain, that was mostly combined with storm, it was there in time. And so, one week ago, the forecast said for this and the next two days storm and heavy rain. Over the day the forecast changed to less rain but still precisely these days. This morning still a little bit rain for the days and now clearer storm. Forecast wind up to 100km/h and 70km/h gusts in the towns on the north side of the Sierra Nevada. And also on the west side. When there is so strong wind in the town area, what would be on the pass over 2000 m? I decide to take the road down to the south and stay on the southern side of the mountains. Nearby the mountains the road is still on 1000 m but when weather and temperature are really running bad it`s easy to be in a few hours down at the warmer coastline. When I leave Thiago is back from breakfast outside. Looks like he got no breakfast. Lots of bars and cafés are closed today. We talk a little bit and he invites me to Brazil. I thank him a lot and wish him good luck for his plans here. For him ATM is not clear what he should do this day. His plan to go up to the mountain is ruined by the day also. Less busses are going up.

Out on the road I welcome that today is so less action. It`s super easy to drive on main roads out of the town to the southeast. At a petrol station I fill up my cooker fuel. At the cash desk she wants to charge me 70€!! A customer behind me has already used the same petrol slot. The things are getting complicated. The bill clerk calls the girl from the slot outside and .. and... I try to tell them that it`s no problem. I can give the customer behind me the 24 cents! I have to pay!! The clerks make it complicated. Then the customer and I untangle it and I leave without waiting for the clerk. Outside the town it`s for some km flat. I'm driving through faceless street towns. Then it's getting up a bit. I see a lot of cyclists. Some with MTB others with road bikes. Over the day I should see more than fifty and that's much more than on any other day. Maybe they have the feeling that I have on Christmas. After the eating party's I have to move myself outside. Or they like that the streets are so empty. From Villa de Otura I take the N-323A that runs for some time near to the autostrada. It`s going southeast into a wide valley. The road is wide and I'm glad that today is the 25. December. Normally here is definitely a lot of traffic. The towns are faceless but not so small and the stone, sand and cement industry is here very present. The mountains are raised in some parts 30-40m!!!

I leave the road up to the mountains to the village Nigüelas only for a break. The first time that I see a Spanish word with ü! That's also the first time that I take no coffee! I take a zumo de piña and get a tapas to it as well. On the road again in Mondújar I'm leaving the road to a small street that is right next to the highway. And that is a funny path. There are parts of the old main road and when it collides with the highway the street is cut off and to the next part of the old road is a 2m wide path. Then again a funny thing. And not only to the east are high mountains. Also to the west and the highway is getting fast down. Back on the 323 the road is running through walls of mountains. Ten meter high and 90 degrees cutted. The rocks/soil look like pressed trash of the mountains. Small stones and pyrites mixed with this soil and loam and pressed. That's why they could cut it so clear in 90 degrees. And the road is going over a very narrow valley. The bridge is old besides is an older one, wide enough for one donkey cart. And above it/me is a newer bridge out of steal that is the A-348.

And that road I take then to the village Lanjarón. This village is the beginning of the Alpuljarras. The south side with the deep and narrow valleys of the Sierra Nevada. And this village is highly touristic. A lot of smaller hotels and some parks are placed between the steep mountain sides and the equal steep valley. And the view to the watch said me I have to find a place in this landscape! Two km behind Lanjarón I have luck. I drive up a steep small path to some little farming houses that are not in use ATM and find a place on a 8x8m olive tree terrace. Protected by hills from view and the sound of the road one of the best places nearby the road on this journey. It`s half past five so I could drive a bit longer but the first drops came from the sky and in this landscape you should take a good place when you find it. And after a few days again cooking. I check the mushrooms I bought a few days ago and they look as if they are OK...