Ronda to Jimena de la Frontiera – 58 km
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.
Last night we went online and booked a van to drive back to Malaga on Saturday, and booked a hostel in Tarifa for Friday night. This gives us a lot more freedom in our schedule. Now to see what we do with that freedom…
We made breakfast and coffee in Dave & Mari’s apartment this morning, then reluctantly rolled out of town. Everyone is tired after yesterday’s struggle through the mountains, so we are taking it easy and riding slowly.
There was a long, easy climb out of town, then the road followed the ridge South, up and down, passing white towns clinging to the hillsides. At about 30 km, we crested a hill and in the distance we could see the Mediterranean, the Rock of Gibraltar and across into Africa.
We stopped just past here for elevenses in GaucÃn, a cute little town that sees few tourists. We sit at a café by a small roundabout while the local cop hangs out talking to everyone who comes by. As we order our lunch, someone from the café runs out to the grocer to buy the food.
After lunch, we had a short climb out of town, then flew the 15 km down into Jimena de la Frontiera. As always, it was a short, hard climb into town, then steeply down to the Hostal. If you don’t climb into town in the evening, and out of town in the morning, it is not a town worth visiting!
The Hostal Anon is a rambling maze of stairs, patios, rooms and plants. We spent most of the afternoon sitting by the rooftop pool drinking beer and soaking up the sun before heading into town for snacks, then back to the bar at the hostal for dinner.