We found a place, luckily. The next place looked closed so I went to go ask people if they knew of any place. Laurie stayed with our packs. A man came to the office that Laurie was at. He had a place for us.
It was a small apartment. Not a full kitchen, but good enough for us for two nights. We have a big window looking out at the mountains.
Laurie and I went to the grocery store before it closed at 2:00. We got food for a couple of dinners and breakfast.
After we looked for the trail that goes down to the town below Pampaneria. We didn't find the correct trail, but kind of made our own. It wasn't until the way back that we found the correct trail.
We got back before dark. It was freezing in our place. The man told us that the heat would go on automatically. We waited and waited and nothing happened. We decided we better go ask him. Once he saw us he realized the problem, he forgot to turn the switch on. We went to our place, but I had closed the door not realizing it would lock. So the owner had to go get his keys. He was very nice. He was helping with my Spanish.
Laurie and I felt much better that the heat had come on. We read and then cooked dinner.
November 29, 2003
Laurie and I didn't start hiking until 11:00. It was a perfect day for hiking. I had picked up a paper with a trail description for a hike. It wasn't long before we were high above our village. We got up to about 5000 feet. Then we went down the other side into a couple of villages. One was named Capillerilla and the other was called Pitres.
We had a little trouble finding out way back because we were taking a different trail. We kind of made our own trail again. We eventually got to a place we recognized, but it wasn't the trail we wanted to be on. That's OK. We knew where we were and how to get back.
We got back about 3:45. It was a good day. I sat on the back terrace enjoying the sun and relaxing.
I have to pack up because we are catching the bus at 6:25 for our next stop. We weren't sure if the buses were going to be running because it was Sunday. We asked the owner when we went to pay him. He said they were. He is so nice. Everyone we have run into while in Spain have been great. We have been very lucky.
November 30, 2003
My alarm woke me out of a sound sleep and dream at 5:50 a.m. UGH!! I hate to get up, but I had to.
We were dressed and out of the apartment by 6:10. It was still dark out and the stars were still out. I could see Gemini and Orion. The bus came at 6:30 and we took it to Orgiva. I couldn't believe how many people were on the bus already, especially since it was Sunday.
It was a short ride to Orgiva and we had to wait for 2 hours and 45 minutes. We waited in the cafe there. It wasn't long before the cafe was crowded with locals having their cafe and charros. The next bus came at 10:15 and our bus ride was about 2 hours. It was another beautiful ride in the hills. I could see all the village clusters in the hills. They are easy to spot because all of the buildings are painted white and they are all nestled in the hills.
We arrived in Mecha Bumbaron. We went into a cafe to see if we could get directions to one of the places listed on the sheet we had gotten from the tourist information in Granada. Someone was able to speak English and she helped us. We walked down the road and turned where we thought we were suppose to. We couldn't find anything, but there was a man outside with his kids. We asked him. He didn't speak English, but from the Spanish we know it sounded like those places were closed. He did say that he has this place to rent. He showed us. It was a full 2 story apartment with 2 bedrooms. He gave it to us for 44 euros a night.
He and his wife were still cleaning it so we waited outside in the parking lot. The sun was out and it was warm. The grandmother was now out with the kids and we had a little conversation. It is so nice when you can speak a little of their language.
I asked them about this tree that I have seen. It has orange color fruit on it. All the leaves are off and the tree looks dead. They said the tree is called caqui. I looked it up in my Spanish/English dictionary. It means khaki in English, but I have never heard of that kind of fruit. They said it was good.
I took a nap and then Laurie and I went out for a walk around the village. We stopped at the cafe that we first went into when we arrived in town. Laurie had a beer and I had a soda. After we went back to the apartment and cooked microwave popcorn and watched TV. It is a good thing we had some food because the stores were closed today.
December 1, 2003
Only 24 more days until Christmas. I am glad I don't have to get all caught up in the shopping and parties this year. I will miss my family though. I can't believe it is right around the corner.
When Laurie and I got up this morning the mountains looked threatening. We decided to wait to hike to see if it would clear up. We went to the store to get some groceries.
The sun came out and we saw some blue in the sky so we went out to hike. It was about 11:30. We found a trail and started walking. We weren't quite sure where it would take us. After about an hour of hiking we had lost the markers and the trail was not visible. The clouds were moving in and it was spitting snow. We decided it was best to turn around. It took us about half the time to get down.
We decided to go to the store and get microwave paper and relax. I read for most of the day. Thank goodness for books.
