Ronda, home to one of the largest & the oldest bullrings!

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Rain was ample yesterday when we were in Cordoba. Despite a joys trip, the weather stood against us from the beginning of the trip till the end. Today's weather is bright - the sods law rules.

Visiting Ronda was not in our itinerary but we decided to take advantage while we are in Malaga. Going to Ronda was certainly a short adventurous trip as we had to purely rely on various modes of public transports which are not regular from and to Ronda particularly on Saturday.

Having bought return tickets for both bus and train, we settled down at the bus station to have a locally famous mixture of coffee with milk. This reminded me Chai in India where you could get it in a clear glass with lots of sugar.

The bus journey was enjoyable as it climbed the mountain in zigzag way. As we reached the top of the mountain, mist and the drizzle surrounded us. It was frightening to scenery with sharp steeps and poky ridges. The bus driver was driving along the slippery & curved road without taking any notice of the condition but the road is wet and the visibility is less than 20 meters.
After all, it was another journey for him. I felt a bit uneasy but reserved to myself.

I could see Costa del Sol to my left, is far away from us, the vast area is blue and shining with sunshine. Here we're again, facing doom & gloom.

Ronda is situated on inland plateau surrounded by a mountainous range about 750 meters above sea level. The Guadalevín River runs through the city, dividing the city into two and carving out the steep, 100 plus meters deep El Tajo canyon upon which the city perches.

There are two most famous sights in Ronda.

One is Plaza de Toros, which is said to be one of the largest and oldest bullrings in the world. In fact the story is confusing as read it in a leaflet. However this bullring on has the seating capacity for 5,000 spectators, hardly the largest in the world. The Rueda, which is the large round circle of sand, is the largest in the world at 66m wide.

The other sight is Puente Nuevo. Standing 120 meters high between the gorge and Río Guadalevín, is one of the tallest bridges its kind.

Our time was up again as soon as we came out of the bullring. We got the train back to Malaga which snaked lazily many olive and orange fields through the picturesque countrysides while cutting across the mountain range of La Saguijuela.

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