Day 46 – at Trevélez

A quiet day with just a walk into the village in the morning to pick up some bread and investigate sausages.

The village is divided into three levels, the Barrios Bajo, Medio and Alto (low, middle and high), with 200 metres of altitude difference between the highest and lowest points. The low (at 1486 metres) is a particularly popular tourist destination at weekends and in season, but at the moment it’s a good time to visit.

Of course, it’s quite an effort to get to the middle and high levels, and the higher, the fewer tourists. Those levels are much more typical of Alpujarran style of building; white houses and apartments with colourful flowers in the window boxes, and narrow streets or alleys which it was incredibly easy for me to get lost in – heading into a dead end, and someone’s privy..

The last picture is the van at the campsite. Autumn is much more evident here than in other places I’ve been. The village must get very little sun in the height of winter, if any. At the moment it doesn’t come above the mountains until almost 11 am, and is gone just after 5 pm. At the campsite it’s even less. The house I lived at in Queenstown (NZ) in Franklin (with 4 others) didn’t get any sun for about 3 months. The stairs up to the front door needed an ice axe and crampons.

The sausage investigation went well. I made a purchase at the carniceria in the Alto barrio of the village, having browsed in the two lower ones. I ended up with a 50 centimetre long longaniza which had a good amount of spice to it. I find the shopkeepers really proud of their produce and helpful in getting exactly what you’re after.