One of the main reasons why I decided to go to Malaga was so I could do the Caminito del Rey walk.You might remember a video of the walk that was popular on Youtube years ago where a bloke with a head-cam walks along a scary path. If these blog entries are to make sense to you, watch it again here.
But first, breakfast at a nearby churro cafe. I had a double shot of espresso.
And a couple of churros which are essentially fried dough. The Pennsylvania Dutch do much the same sort of thing with funnel cake. It has no redeeming qualities other than tasting good.
The train from Malaga leaves at 10:05 and costs a bit less than five euros each way and you get a reserved seat. Buy your return ticket at Malaga since there is no ticket office at El Chorro where you get off the train.
My train was on the left. The journey takes about an hour through numerous orange groves.
You get off at El Chorro. If you stay on the train you come to the very interesting town of Ronda.
You all pile onto a bus that will take you to the head of the walk. In the video, the bloke is steadily climbing the valley. The current walk is one-way and descends the valley finishing up near El Chorro station. The bus fare is 1.50 euros.
My bus filled up and some people had to wait for the extra bus. In summer, you will be battling crowds.
The bus crosses a dam and then steadily climbs a narrow road. Our bus had to back up at times when meeting cars or other buses coming down.
Huge parking lot at the top. There are other things to do other than do the walk. Windmills in the distance.
We all got off the bus and there is a sign pointing the way. You have to hike the 2.7 km to get to the ticket office.
First you go through a tunnel.
And then it is a most pleasant stroll through the woods.
This tunnel / viaduct featured in the film 'Von Ryan's Express' with Frank Sinatra.
I wondered what the curved concrete wall was for.
And it turned out to be the spillway for a dam.
There had been a rock slide that had knocked down a large tree.
Eventually I came to the ticket office. It cost ten euros.
We all donned hard hats. Each hat comes with a hair net which you put on to keep your lice out of the hard hat.
The gate was closed but soon opened.
And away we went. There were several tour guides explaining things but I was keen to get moving so off I went.
A curious little dam.
It's one way traffic and you go down hill.
Nothing much too exciting yet.
The narrow gorge comes into view.
On the other side of the gorge, part of what must have been part of the path years ago.
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