Day thirty seven

I leave the hotel in Cullera at 10:00 and ride around this coastal town for a while looking for breakfast. Eventually I opt for a tomato y olive oil tostadas with a cafe con leche at a seafront cafe. It comes on a tray with an orange juice, which was a nice touch and it turned out cheaper, even with a tip, than the hotel breakfast, which was only on offer on paper and never materialised.

Afterwards I head for Oliva and by midday I am in the town centre after an easy run and looking for a lunch spot. I make my own salami baguette and eat it sat on a concrete bench watching the street cafes close one by one. When I arrived it was mayhem with mostly children and teenagers dashing around excitedly. When I leave around 14:00 the place is almost deserted. I head for Alicante and the mountains, which I finally have to face. It is not quite as bad as I had imagined and I managed to pedal all the way without pushing, though I had to stop frequently for breaks. That said, I am still a long way from the high point, which hopefully I shall reach tomorrow.

A typical mountain village in this area with many names beginning with 'Ben' ... which makes me wonder about Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui in Scotland and the names origins.

By early evening I find myself in the heart of the mountains looking for somewhere to overnight. There are no campsites here and wild camping is not really an option as it is too mountainous. I read a sign that says I should try the local guest-houses and that seems like a good idea until I see the prices, which are way beyond my budget.

As I ride into one village I ask a woman if she knows of any places here where I can get a room for one night and she gives me a name and points in the general direction of its location. I find it but the street to it is so steep that I am unsure whether I will be able to push the bike back up. Nevertheless I descend with visions of having to unload all my stuff to get back. The place looks interesting but when I look it up on the Internet it is also very expensive. I ring a doorbell but no one answers. Meanwhile I am being bitten again by some very aggressive mosquitoes and wonder whether I should just carry on.

I start to make my way back and come across the main entrance to the place. I try the door and it is open so I go in expecting someone from reception to greet me but there is no one around. It is quite bizarre as the place is very well decorated with artworks and has many rooms, which I start to investigate. I call out Hola! but no one answers. I find a toilet and bursting for a pee decide to grab the chance. Having seen enough and now somewhat intrigued by the place I decide to call them while sat outside on a bench. Hardly any English is spoken but they eventually realise I am waiting outside and do not want to book for next year. Ten minutes later a guy arrives and promptly begins to show me all the facilities. My room has it's own private entrance, there is a well stocked old world kitchen, lounges, swimming pool, reading areas, all very tastefully and artistically done. I gather it is some sort of up-market commune or retreat and decide despite the cost I should at least experience this new novel way of overnighting...

I visit the local supermarket ( a tiny store inside a bar) and buy my evening meal of pasta, tomato, fish and cook it in the kitchen, which makes a very pleasant change and finish off the meal with peaches and cream and a cuppa Earl Grey tea.

A bridge on the way out of Oliva undergoing renovation work, I think.

One thing that struck me about the rural regions here is how similar they are to Taiwan. The humidity, bamboo sprouting in the valleys, fields of grass, like rice fields with workers busy in them, egrets  chasing tractors, the deep drainage ditches beside the roads, wide dry river beds and the dark green mountains. I passed vast orange groves with trees bulging with unripe fruit that was already being collected in truck loads. Olives, figs, limes, lemons and oranges are everywhere left on the ground to rot and maybe provide the soil with nutrients for future crops.

The blue painted 'retreat' Hotel Gallinera, where I stayed overnight and my room (top floor) with a beautiful mosquito net hanging over the bed and en-suite bathroom.