Last night in Las Alpujarras

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This is our last night in Las Alpujarras. The week has gone quickly for us and we are happy to have hiked four of our six days here. Today we fully intended to relax, read, and do laundry. We knew it was market day in Pitres so we wanted to go there and buy some fruit from the farmers who come to town on Friday. At the last minute we decided to hike to town since it is only a couple of kilometers. We threw on our Camelbaks so we would be able to carry our purchases back home, and we needed to wear our hiking boots because there is a stream that we cross (no bridge) on the way there.

We made it to town and bought peaches and plums and honey, and then went to the store for fig bars and coffee. After a stop at Paco's bar for cafe we decided to take a short walk up to the only village in La Taha that we had not visited. Turns out it was straight up to Capilerilla and felt a bit like a forced march, but I was determined to see the smallest of the villages of La Taha, the seven small villages set between two river gorges with origins dating back to Roman times. Once in the village I continued on in spite of some sort of mumbling from Sam. Soon he got into the spirit of adventure as well and we decided to hike a bit further. We knew that there was a trail that went over the mountain to Bubion and Capileira where we had been on Wednesday.

The walk was not excessively steep and we agreed that as long as we were going up, or flat, we would continue because it would be all downhill on the way home. We walked through groves of olives and almonds, past pine forests and oaks. The views across the valley, high above La Taha, were beautiful. And the smells - oh my! I wish it was possible to capture smells with photos or words so that I could enjoy them later. I can imagine sitting at my desk in February and taking moments to breath in the scent of warm sage and rosemary and pine. I nearly hyperventilated trying to suck in as much of the experience as possible.

Finally we walked through an opening in the rocks and were greeted with a stunning view. Far below were the high villages of Bubion and Capileira and beyond them the Sierra Nevada mountains. If it had been a clearer day we would have been able to see the mountains in Morocco, but there were clouds above the Mediterranean, so we did not get that view.

We could see that clouds were gathering above the mountains so we decided to start back down. Close to town we passed some fig trees. Most of the figs are still too hard on these seemingly wild trees, but just as Sam stretched for the ripest fig, a dog started to bark so we quickly moved on in case the tree actually belonged to someone. We arrived in town at 3:00; our early morning trip to the market had dragged into lunchtime. We stopped at a restaurant and picked a table outside under a canopy. After ordering a chicken tangine, the sky opened up and rain poured down. We pulled our gear towards the center of the covered area and welcomed the flavorful hot dish when it arrived. By the time we were finished with lunch and coffee, the rain had stopped and we made the final 20 minute hike back home without getting wet - well, except for our boots since the stream we cross had risen a bit from the rain.

The rest of the day has been spent doing laundry and reading and starting to pack up for our drive tomorrow. I don't know if we will ever be back in Las Alpujarras - there are just so many other places to visit, but then I have thought that the last two times we left here, so who knows?!

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Photos

Each village has a place to do laundry
Some still wash their clothes in these spring fed tubs.