Pugsworth in Murcia

Checking out the eroded landscape was also the highlight of my ride to Murcia, lots of mountains and valleys and roads flat enough to enjoy the scenery. I even stopped for about 40 minutes to explore one small baranco of about 100 square metres. They are just such a fascinating environment in miniature and this one had a river bed that came from nowhere but in about 20 metres was deeper than I am tall! Further on I came to a town called Fortuna and I think I discovered the reason behind its name. I stopped in a square to have a bite to eat and decided to try one of the oranges growing there. I´d seen these wild orange trees in Valencia and other places and knew they were sour but wanted to taste them because I´d never tasted a sour orange. I also knew this would seem weird to the locals so I waited until noone was around but just as I went to pick the orange, a man walked around the corner. He saw me and came up to say it was no good and I shouldn´t eat it. I made to throw it in the bin but kept one segment to taste, yep definitely sour. The real surprise though was that a few minutes later he came back and gave me a whole bag of oranges and apples! I tried to refuse but he wouldn´t have it. He must have thought I was really starving and desperate to be picking sour oranges. The bag lasted me about a week, so I can see why the town is called Fortuna.

Murcia, the city didn’t do much for me but it was one of my best servas stays. I was only the second Servas guest Marie-Angeles had had, and the first guy sounded real dodgy, but she and I hit it off real good. It is amazing how you can meet people and have so much in common and yet a lot to learn from each other that after three days you feel like life long friends. Human beings are fascinating creatures and travelling is certainly a great way to learn more about them. To think that across the world with all our different cultures we can be so the same and yet so different is really remarkable.

From Murcia I rode to my first Spanish woofing place, and what a day! I slept in and woke up with about 25 minutes to catch my train. I made it and then slept a large part of the way. Most of the trip was inland heading back to the coast at the end through one of narrowest gorges I´ve seen. I was the only person to get off the train in the tiny mining town of Jaravia (Harabia). It seemed completely deserted, noone around for miles, like the middle of nowhere. Such an amazing feeling to get off the train, just me and my bike, a vague idea of where I am and where I had to go and just setting off, down the hill towards the sea. I followed the coast for much of the day. The first stretch was deserted and beautiful; then into a tourist zone that, while in the quiet winter season, seemed noisey and chaotic compared to the peaceful first hour. I stopped for lunch on the beach and was amazed to find that even though the road ran right behind it, a little drop, a line of trees and the small waves breaking on the shore completely drowned out the noise of the traffic. The next stretch took me into mountain country and I had a long winding ride up to a peak with a fantastic view and a brilliant descent. The lookout even had a sign showing the landscape and naming the peaks and bays etc on which someone had graffitied two cyclists screaming down the hill. Finally I got to where I could ride no further, I didn´t know if the minor roads went right through the next mountain range and the main road turned into a freeway. It was also getting late and I´d arranged to call and get picked up, so eventually a big blue bus arrived to take me into the unknown wilderness of Cabo de Gata Natural Park.