The local tour operators do their tour to Lanjaron and the
Alpujarras. We drove up past Lanjaron from Malaga on Day 1 and
didn't fancy retracing our steps, so we drove ourselves up to the
ski resort of Sierra Nevada. This gave views of Pico Veleta, and
even though it is mid-July, there is still pockets of snow at
this altitude (2500m) and it was possible to see snow on the
higher peaks.
The map suggests that it is possible to drive higher than the ski
resort, but this road had barriers preventing our passage to
higher altitudes. We did however walk up a bit to the snow to run
our fingers through it (large ice crystals, really).
We had lunch in the ski village which, being out of season, was
like a ghost town but without the tumbleweeds, before setting off
back down the mountain.
We decide to have a walk round the Albaicin area of Granada - we
can see it on the map and how easy it is to get there - WRONG!!!
We get there, but it wasn't easy by road. The town area sits next
to the cliff face that holds the Alhambra which looks quite
impressive. We walk around the streets as our guide book suggests
to admire the cobbled alleys with carmenes, villas with Moorish
decoration and gardens . Our guide also book tells us that
"In the evening, when the scent of jasmine lingers in the
air, take a walk up to the Mirador de San Nicolas... ...the
Alhambra glowing in the sunset is magic". We did and it is,
though the "smell of jasmine" is very reminiscent of
drains, dust and crumbling plaster work.
The edge was taken off the evening when Val bashed her camera
against a wall (dodging a clumsy local) and rendered the lens
unusable as the lens elements are out of alignment and the
focusing is jammed - for the first holiday since she last broke
the (same) lens I haven't brought the spare. Last time (1990)
Sigma didn't charge for the repair even though it was out of
warranty - they didn't say, but the camera shop thought it was a
design fault in their 28-70 zoom in that a slight knock put the
elements out.
Anyway, yes, the sunset was particularly nice.
Bed at 11.45
Go to Day 4
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Author: val_and_andrew@hotmail.com
Copyright © 1998 Andrew J White