Time to explore Pampaneira, Las Alpujarras.
We have been sharing all that we love in our town of Almuñecar.and Costa Tropical, but today we decided to explore the mountains. Just a quick day trip to the Village of Pampaneira (only about 75 km from home, but narrow mountain roads). According to the 2005 census, the village has a population of 355 inhabitants. We read there were many Artisans to visit and gorgeous scenery to enjoy, so off we went.
DAM
First stop was about 30 minutes into the trip. The kids wanted to explore the Dam “Presa de Rules“. We could walk across the top and enjoy the lake and mountains to one side and the gushing water from the other. It was a fun stop along the way and loads of fish to feed too. Onward and upward to Las Alpujarras Mountains.
Look Out Below!
The drive was absolutely gorgeous, especially with the trees adorned in their fall colors. The roads were narrow and hugged the mountains up and then down through a valley and back up again. I felt like we were goats perched on the side as we were driving. Sometimes the “CLIFF” was on the passenger side, and I did not like that! You can call me a bit of a nervous Nelly, but it was a LONG way down. Alan would laugh at me because I would hang on to the door handle tightly or lean to the inside of the car, as if that was going to help anything. You see, they aren’t much into fences or guard rails to keep you on the road. I don’t care much for heights, but layer in a narrow road and oncoming traffic and it just about puts me over the edge.
Stinky Cave and a Pit Stop
We crossed through a Valley with a typical White Village, Órgiva. It was very quaint and picturesque. Along the river as you enter town was a goat herder, moving his flock. We were crossing a single lane bridge, thus couldn’t stop for a picture. I so wanted a picture of that. We decided to explore this village more on the way back and get up the Pampaneira so we could enjoy lunch there.
Just above Órgiva, we did stop for a moment to explore the cave along the road. Not the best sensation for the old olfactory, but was cool for the eyes to see. Of course, once we are far from any town, the kids sound off that they are hungry and need to use the rest room. Luckily there was a small little mesón, just around the corner. They weren’t quite open for lunch, but they did allow us to use their restrooms. I had a fun little conversation with the proprietor as well. The restaurant has been in her family for just 18 years, but remains busy due to all of the tourists in the area.
Pampaneira, Las Alpujarras
We continued on and so enjoyed all of the evergreen trees as well as those of orange, yellow and red. As we wove up and through the canyons and gorges, we could see little pockets of white way up high near the snow capped peaks. That’s where we were going! Once we arrived in our little village, we wanted to explore every inch of it. It appeared to be pedestrian only, so we parked and headed over. We first walked up on the main walkway through town. There was a string of places to eat and tourist shops. You can tell they are used to tourists as they all descended upon us to eat their food or buy their wares.
I can’t quite describe this Village to perfection, but pictures are worth a thousand words. Enjoy the photos from our day trip to Pampaneira, Las Alpujarras.
For more info on Pampaneira visit the tourism board. As well as more information on Las Alpujarras.
