Alcaucin is a village 5 kilometers by road from our village and is where our town hall is situated.  The road is windy with no pavements and to get to the car park involves driving through the village which is only one car wide and makes my knuckles very white as a passenger! The view of the village when approaching from the road is marred by some large developments of apartment blocks and therefore doesn’t seem to be very picturesque.  We have always believed it would be possible to walk there, so one September day when the weather had cooled to the high 20s we decided to give it a try.

The hill behind our house looks like it just goes on up towards the mountain and we had always planned to go exploring. My endeavours to obtain a good walking map, or indeed any map of the area, despite importing a military map at great expense from USA, proved completely unsuccessful at detailing any footpaths or routes. 

However, having successfully found our route via the dirt tracks to Vinuela post office, we were hopeful that we would reach our destination.  As from the photographs above, not only was it possible but it was absolutely spectacular.  The track climbs steeply behind us then goes round a bend to reveal a hidden, deep valley, which even in September when there has been no rainfall since May, seemed green and for here, lush! The only sounds audible are those of occasional birdsong, and our own footfall on the dusty track.  We passed a couple of Spanish homes where their dogs alerted the owners to our passing and they came out and peered at us as though we were completely bonkers, but still nodded buenas dias!

After the steep climb with the valley to the left, we turned a bend to see the main valley opening up infront of us with the “horseshoe” or “saddle” pass. The path continued to climb and apart from one dip, we seemed to be getting higher and higher. After a final turn, there it was, just to our left – the village.  As I walked along, a round object seemed to roll for no reason down a little embankment, then scurrying after it a large beetle caught it up and continued to roll it along (as above). We watched it in fascination for a few minutes (later confirmed as a dung beetle of the “roller” variety by Wikipedia) before continuing on to Alcaucin.  Our arrival there was a lovely treat as the view of the village when approached from above is very welcoming and rustic.  The little houses and lanes lined with plants seductively led us to a village centre bar and much needed refreshment, having consumed our 2 litres of water on route.

There is a chestnut fair there on 30th October so we are going to go and see what that entails, walking again, weather permitting!