After a lovely lazy day
ligging about on the campsite in the low 20s and catching up with van duties,
we were looking forward to our trip to the small spa village of Montanejos in
the Sierra Espadán. The route was to the south this time but involved another
short hop across the mysterious Parque Desierto de las Palmas. Mysterious, as
its neither a desert nor laden with palms in the bits we traversed – a place
for subsequent exploration if ever there was one!
The drive up to Montanejos
was similar to the one to Morella a couple of days earlier, but this time we
were treated to more, and richer autumnal colours. Autumn can’t have advanced
that much in 48 hours, so we put this down to a landscape that included more
deciduous trees than the ubiquitous evergreens that can dominate these parts.
We arrived in Montanejos and
parked up at the far end of the village where we would be closer to the river
source that feeds the many bathing areas that the village is famous for.
Allegedly with water temperatures of 25c, there are various access points for
public bathing as the river snakes its way towards the source. With a small
number of other visitors heading in the same direction we noticed both how
clean the water was, and well populated with some very large barbell-type fish
that clearly enjoy the warm water conditions…. unlike potential bathers at this
time of year, of whom there were precisely… none!
The water was quite a bit
warmer as we neared the end of the public access zone and we might just have
been tempted to take a dip, had the winter sun not dropped below the top of the
gorge, casting the bathing area into shadow. (The fact we hadn’t brought any
bathers had nothing to do with it!)
The walk up to the source
was in many ways very Spanish – lots of signs with rules about not washing in
the river with soap, no double lilos (really!) etc, and also what looked to be
some smallholdings that had probably been established before the area had received
its tourist makeover and were stubbornly holding on to their right to stay put.
We’ve seen this before where home owners refuse to sell up and end up
surrounded by new developments – but none quite so quirky as one with a
collection of gnomes and Virgin Marys watching over the route to the source!
Walking back to the van looking
out for a lunch stop, we passed the municipal water purification plant – a
little more picturesque than most UK equivalents.
We’d expected (it being a
weekend) to be spoilt for choice on where to eat, but with such a fabulous
backdrop all around us, and a limited choice of eateries, we opted for a picnic
by the river instead. And besides, we’d soon be off to Valencia city where many
gastronomic delights would be awaiting us!
S.
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