Spring Break 2024/Andalusia, Spain (Malága)/April 3

beautiful street art

 Last night after I brushed my teeth and was crossing the hallway back to my room to go to bed, Pablo--one of the guys that runs the hostel hailed me.  He handed me a map that he had marked of places in the city to go to and get authentic Spanish food for locals.  How sweet!  Well, today was another up and out day.  I have a hike at the Caminito del Rey (The King's Path).  I got to the train station about 15 minutes before the train was to leave.  Tried to find ticket machines but couldn't, so I asked a guard.  He pointed out the ticket office.  I tried the machines, but they were only in Spanish.  I saw a line and joined it.  There was a machine by the line.  Thinking it was a ticket machine in English, I tried to use it and it only gave me a ticket with a 25 on it.  Well, when I was at the front of the line and an agent opened up I went to the desk.  Another man came up as well.  She asked if I had a number.  Surprised, I said 25.  I hadn't seen a machine anywhere with the number or any announcements.  Well, the man had 24 so I stepped back.  Then I looked more carefully and found a monitor up near the ceiling that had the number being served.  It changed silently and no one called out the number.  Weird.  So anyway, I got my round trip ticket.  He wrote down all of the trains today and I said the 8:58 train which I had looked up last night.  Oh, the one it 10 minutes, he said.  Yes, I said somewhat frantically.  Well, he took his time and eventually I had two tickets:  one to El Chorro at 8:58 and one returning at 4:39 (the other return was around 1:00 and I knew that I would not be done with my hike yet.  I figured that I could go into the city of Ardales and maybe get lunch and walk around (Pablo recommended this).  I was wearing capris, hiking socks, hiking boots, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt.  

The walk on the way to the hike

This is a multi-step story, so bear with me (and your reward will be a lot of photos!).  Arriving at El Chorro easily, I stepped off the train, right into a line to buy a ticket to get to the North end of the trail (€2.50-cash) because the train station is at the South end and it only goes one way.   The bus dropped us off at a convenience store with bathrooms and a giant drawing of the two ways to go to the gate to the walk (it's a state park type of deal).  The other hikes in the area are free, but this one is highly managed and you have to pay.  I had tried to order a hike-only pass, but those were all gone, so I had to sign up for a guided tour, hoping that I could just slip off.  The walk to the gate is a 30 minute walk through the woods--longer if you went the other way. I was directed down a set of stairs to mass with my 11:00 tour group.  They eventually divided us into two groups--English and Spanish.  Everyone has to wear a hard hat--they issue and collect them and everyone on a tour (which was mostly everyone) also had a radio pack and ear buds.  The earbuds did not fit in my ear so they gave me a set of children's with the silicone squishy at the end.  Those fit perfectly!   They alternated each group with blue and silver hard hats to keep the groups straight.  There were many groups and we had to wait sometimes for the group ahead of us to finish so that we could move on.  Some of the history was interesting, and the flora and fauna was interesting.  They asked us to make sure we turned in the radio receivers if we needed to leave the group.  Some people did, wanting to move more quickly or move more slowly.  That had been my initial intention, but with  the path filled with groups, it seemed kind of silly, so I stayed with the group.  

me in my hardhat and earbuds

looking down to the river

looking down the gorge

One of the canyons

These are called the Chocolate Steps because
they have the same form that Spanish chocolate
did at that time.  It gave the workers and their
donkeys better traction in a steep area.

that's me!

the water in the old viaducts (there are fish in there!)

looking across the gorge

looking down

an old bridge

the old path below made with railroad ties and concrete

The path was originally built as a pathway to construct and maintain the country's first hydroelectric dam and viaduct back in 1900.  Even after the work was completed (it took four years),  they needed workers to stay and maintain and work the viaduct system.  So the workers were encouraged to bring their families and received houses in the area.  One man had a wife and 11 children--he worked the dam, she took care of their animals and grew food.  There were many children in the area, so they built a chapel that doubled as a place for the children to go to (school maybe?).   Then the power company decided that the water for the viaduct would travel in metal pipes (1960s) and the workers weren't  needed anymore and they all had to leave.  The homes are abandoned remains, but the chapel still stands.  

part of the old viaduct

Do you see the baby ibex?

Here's mama

Walking in the viaduct

A bat house--the hole at top

Across you can see the rail system that is still in use

looking down

You can see the old path under the new

me again!

a fossil in the rock from just after pangea split

The suspension bridge

the last part of the hike

the old chapel building

the new hydroelectric plant that powers Malága

The area is beautiful with gorges and fossils.  Cormorants and Ibex are everywhere.  Oleander, carob, and olive trees grow wildly.  Fun fact:  carob seeds are formed in a pod, when the mature seeds are removed, they are uniformly the same size and weight.  So they began using them to weigh things--like jewels.  Carob became carat.  We saw some cormorants (vultures) and some ibex.  Many of the paths are bolted onto the sides of gorges so it looks a little scary, but it's not unless you're deathly afraid of heights. You can see some of the remnants of the old paths that were not safe anymore.   The new paths only took 11 months to construct because they could bring things in by helicopter, including laying the pieces, and they used drones to take pictures so they knew what to do and where to place everything.  

The story of the king is that they brought the king to see the new hydroelectric dam because it was so innovative, and he walked a short portion of the path.  The hike used to be one of the most dangerous  hikes, but it is not now because they fixed it and regulate it.  It is almost 8 km and takes about 2 hours to hike.  It is a medium-low level hike with some stairs--especially at the end.  There is a suspension bridge that sways as you walk across and in the wind.  Most of us took off our jackets and hoodies in the first third of the hike.  The sun came out and was quite hot even though it was only the mid-70s.  

Then at the end, you turn in your radio things to the guide and hike another path to get back to the train station.  There are the shuttles for people who parked at the north end to take them back, but I didn't need that.  I couldn't see the city of Ardales from the train station and was really tired anyway so I hung out at the uncomfortable train station for three long hours.  They have benches without backs in the sun and a bar area in a tent (with smoke).  I was hungry, so I went into the bar and ordered a plate of french fries.  I was told it would be 25 minutes (to make french fries??).  Well, an hour later they were done (I know!).  So I ate those as a type of lunch to go with the almonds I brought along and ate on the trail.  In the smoky tent.  Then I moved outside and had not brought my book, thinking that I wouldn't need it, so I used my phone with really sloooow cell service.  Finally it was time to come back.  The train that came was more like a light rail train, even though it was heavy rail.  The train was making me tired, so I took off my hat and wadded up my sweatshirt against the window and must have fallen asleep because I woke up to some older women telling me to wake up with chinese and spanish accents.  I jumped up and asked if we were in Malaga.  They said everyone is getting off, you need to get off.  Thank goodness the end of the line was in Malaga, and the station after mine.  It turned out to be closer to my hostel, so that was good.  I walked back in a sort of adreneline fog.  After resting my weary body and charging my phone again, I got up to find that it was 6:00.  Time for dinner but not enough time to visit that castles that I had planned on visiting before I knew how tired I would be.  

I chose an area to look for food--one of the areas that Pablo had marked.  But every restaurant/cafe was full.  I saw an empanada take-away, and even though it was argentinian, it sounded really good.  So I got two and and took them to a nearby plaza (they are literally everywhere) to eat.  By the time I finished eating and read my book a little in the plaza, it was starting to get dark, so I went back to my hostel.  

The statue in the plaza where I ate dinner