Our arrival in Málaga was a dream. The fast train from Madrid made the journey in two and a half hours. We went from toques and gloves and jackets walking to the train station from our hotel in Madrid to sunhats and sunglasses and bare arms as we walked into the historic centre of Málaga from the station. We've had a couple of stays in Málaga and so easily navigated our way in and enjoyed an afternoon and evening of wandering and eating and drinking.
To make the steep hills at the end of the usual first day a bit more manageable, we divided the first stage in two, so today only needed to walk out of Málaga. That let us have a relaxing morning of picking up dried figs and fruit at the beautiful market and getting packs and poles ready for the next camino. After the two weeks of rain on the Portuguese camino (still need to write that one up when time allows), it was a joy to leave the rain poncho at the bottom of the pack and slather on some sunscreen.
From the church of Santiago the camino wanders through Málaga (we did this part earlier in the day) and then crosses a bridge and heads in a northwesterly direction from the city, along one road but whose name changes quite often. It was quite awhile before we saw our first marker, so we were glad when we did (although not in any doubt we were on the right route). The city melded into suburbs and then into a small town that still felt like it had its own core. The climb was easy on the sidewalk route, but glimpses behind made it clear we'd gained altitude. And we could see the hills that would be tomorrow's climb. The path leads through a deserted area to go under the freeway, but we knew this was the routing so decided it was probably safe enough. But it's the kind of place that makes me glad I'm not walking on my own.
Emerging on the far side of the freeway, the landscape was arid and barren. We could see a small town in the distance and imagined it was our stop for the night. It was only another kilometre or so in and while our hotel is rather overpriced and rundown, there has been a lovely courtyard in which to eat our late lunch and while away the afternoon. Soon the restaurant across the road will open and we can enjoy dinner before getting an early night. The climb tomorrow will be challenging and an early start will help with the heat.
- All Camino Mozarabe blog posts
- next >
- 1 of 27