I am posting my journals backdated to the day I wrote them, so read from bottom up if you have just arrived. Keep checking back, I have two weeks of journals to upload.

Today began with a hot 11km climb out of town and up the Sierra Palada. As we crested the pass, we stopped to put on warmer clothes against the cold winds and began a long, exciting descent down the other side.

The remainder of the day alternated between climbing and descending as we wound our way through the rocky canyons towards Malaga. On the hillsides around us, countless bells on sheep and goats rung like wind chimes and the cool breeze pushed up from the Mediterranean, cooling us despite the 31°C temperatures.

14km outside of Malaga, the road was closed by a large rockslide. We were unwilling to go back, so we carefully picked our way through the giant boulders, over the cracks in the ground and then finally up a meter high cut in the road where the ground had dropped.

We rolled into Malaga in the early afternoon, showered, changed and headed out to explore the city. We started with the Picasso museum, then headed up to a town square to meet Dave and Mari. A Spanish ska/punk band was playing in the square in support of a local communist labour movement. I liked the music and would have happily joined the party, but it grated on the others, so we found a small alley café to sit, drink beer and watch the world go by.

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering the streets and haunting the sidewalk cafés.

As the sun set, we said our goodbyes to Jen and Rich before heading off to bed. The remainder of the trip won’t be the same without them. Juliette and I haven’t known either of them for long, but they are already amongst our closest friends and are an important part of our lives. It is tough seeing them off to Sweden, but it won’t be long until we see them again.

Download GPX file for the day. [maptype=G_MAP_TYPE]

View Jen & Rich’s post for today.