Safe Return Doubtful

Being a weekend, the town of Biar was busy, and the aire became much sought after. There are about 16 well spaced places with free electric and water, and though it was only half full when I arrived on Friday lunchtime, there were vans waiting patiently for a space on Saturday morning. The town is attractive to visitors, with several little plazas with cafes, and its narrow streets meaning it has almost no vehicles. But the main attraction seems to be the free electricity. Many aires charge for a hook-up, but not here, hence its popularity. The big motorhomes can’t get enough power from solar energy, and they require quite a bit for heating and satellite television as well as the more urgent requirements. Most people just want to be away and sit in the motorhome watching TV, a break from using their own electricity back home. Mind you, I can hardly talk, having not paid an electricity bill for almost three years..

My main reason to be in Biar was the mountains beneath which it is situated, known by locals as the Sierra de Biaz, but actually called the Sierra del Fraile. There is a ridge between two peaks just above 1000 metres and a great view across the region. As Biar itself is at 500 metres, it isn’t a long hike to get up to the ridge, though once there, the going is slow, is the trail is narrow and airy with a few bits of scrambling. This was Saturday morning, and a good start to a day that continued by watching sport. 

On Sunday morning after a walk around a wide circuit of the town I moved half an hour or so, to the Via Verde at Agost.

Of the many via verdes in Spain, this is one of the smaller ones, travelling about 18 kilometres to the Maigmó pass at 680 metres, a gradual climb of just over 500 metres. 

I stayed at the Agost station, a couple of kilometres out of the town. There was an older Belgian guy in a converted full size passenger coach already there, and we chatted briefly. It was an interesting conversion, but surely cumbersome on the road and expensive to run, though it seemed to suit him. A couple of other Dutch campers arrived later, and we also chatted. The car park is huge here though, so plenty of space for all. 

The following morning I rode the via verde, starting quite early at 9 am, as I had a few bits of business to attend to around the town of Elche, which I passed on the way south to my next destination, Ojós in the Segura valley, in the region of Murcia. There’s a place to stay just out of town next to the river and it’s weir that wouldn’t be possible in the summer, as it’s a swimming place also and would be busy, but on this night I was the only person there.

The temperature is warmer here, high in the early afternoon of about 19C, but still with a cool night, down to around 6C.

The name Ojós means orchards in Arabic and relates to the fertile grounds of the wide valley upon which oranges and lemons grow, bordered on both sides by spectacular bare and rugged mountains of the Sierra de Ricote, popular with climbers and hikers. Last afternoon and this morning I took in the special landscape, which looks at its best in the fading sunlight of the early morning and late afternoon. 

Today I’ve driven just fifteen minutes further up river, five kilometres or so, to Ulea, the next little town, where there is plenty of space to park up on the riverside, for my monthly afternoon of work on payroll for the Lodge.