Tuesday 26th December 2023
This afternoon we headed south in the hire car to head inland to a mountainous road to the Col de Rates. Initially we headed to the town of Callosa d’en Sarria where the route to the Col began. All along the road there are oranges and lemons growing commercially and although to us it appeared as an eyesore the farmers protected the trees with huge areas of netting.
Part way up the mountain road we came to the village of Tarbena, very Spanish and not touristy, having said that they provided for motorhomes and two were parked in a specially designated area.
From Tarbena the road continued steeply uphill on a road that twisted and turned, we stopped at a view point to take a few photos.
Eventually we reached the Col where there was a parking area, again populated with two motorhomes, both from Germany.
The views from the Col were very impressive, you could see for miles inland and when you turned round you could see the Mediterranean in the distance.
At the correct time of year we could have enjoyed a refreshing drink in the bar cafe, sadly it was shut.
The road down was as twisty as that up but eventually the road levelled out and we headed for the town of Benissa, it was late afternoon when we arrived but sadly not late enough for the shops to open at 5pm, we had a drink outside a cafe where unfortunately most of the locals were smoking, something we are not used to any more in the UK.
taraabit 