El Caminito del Rey

A big adventure today: El Caminito del Rey. This used to be known as the most dangerous footpath in the world. It was revamped about three years ago and now it is frankly so tame that basically anyone who can walk can do it. You are issued with a hard hat at the entrance, but that's just for the remote chance that a rock might fall on your head. Other than that the biggest risk is tripping on some of the few steps; most of it is a flat wooden walkway with handrails and barriers everywhere. It's now a mass tourism destination; there's a constant stream of people walking along it, released in groups of 30-40 at 15-minute intervals. You can see the original path in many places though (including in this photo), and it looks well dodgy. 

Anyway, the scenery is spectacular, as you can see; you may have to go large to see the people on the glass platform. It's the type of place where you have to be there to appreciate the scale; a photo can't do it justice. At one point our guide pointed out some climbers on the sheer cliff opposite. The cliff was so tall and vast that it took ages to even see the tiny figures halfway up, and then only because one of them was wearing a red jacket. And I'm not blipping a photo of them because even zoomed in you can hardly see them.

The walk took about two and a half hours; it was hot, and we were glad of a cold drink at the restaurant once we'd got the bus back to the car park. We'd booked our tickets a couple of weeks back (yes, you have to book in advance) and a couple of days ago while checking the map, S noticed that it was only a further hour's drive to get to Ronda, which was on my to-do list. So we promptly booked a night in an AirBnB there.

We got to Ronda at about 6; our host Pepe met us at the flat and we immediately asked him for recommendations of a place to eat. A short rest, a swift bath, and then we went out to explore. At his first recommendation, a "gastronomic" tapas bar full of guiris, we spent 30 euros on two quite good but scanty tapas and two glasses of wine, and left still starving. Luckily his second recommendation, El Almacen, was much better. More down-to-earth, fewer foreigners, friendly staff, and delicious food. We somehow managed to consume five glasses of wine between us while ordering one tapa after another: melt-in-the-mouth pork cheeks with sliced and roasted potatoes, pisto (the Andalusian version of ratatouille) with a fried egg, monkfish wrapped in bacon with romesco sauce, and artichoke stuffed with hummus. And the bill was within a few centimes of the bill in the first bar. We were thoroughly satiated by now, so we waddled back to the flat for a good night's sleep.