Heading south from Granada the landscape changed. The earth became more red, the vegetation more sparse and the hills became more rocky and sheer. Perhaps it was the heat we'd been experiencing for the past few days, or perhaps I've watched too many movies, but it felt like we would should be seeing huge cactuses growing at the roadside and from behind would appear bandits wearing sombreros. Well there were no bandits but I was right about the cactuses, enormous cactuses in fact.

Although Córdoba bound, today we were on a mission to walk El Caminito del Rey (in english, The King's little pathway), which is in El Chorro, in the province of Málaga, southern Spain. Before reaching the start of the walkway we stopped at a little town called Ardales, it's narrow cobbled streets and whitewashed buildings made for some great photos.

On arriving at the start of the track, we parked the car close to the one and only cafe at that end of the walkway. We had all our travelling belongings in the car so wanted to park somewhere 'on view' and visible to passing motorists. Into our day packs went all our valuables as well as 2.5 litres of water each, not our hottest day in Spain, but it was about 43 degrees.

To reach the 'control point' we had to walk 2.8 kilometres first. This was along a very dry and dusty track, through some wooded areas, but mainly in the baking hot sun. Tony's research proved invaluable as much of this part of the walk was either on the flat or downhill, I pitied those who had started from the other end. On reaching the control point we were issued with hard hats and given a safety briefing, then we were off, no turning back now. There is a limit to the number of people who can walk through the 'controlled area' at one time, a maximum of fifty people allowed past the control point every half hour, so although currently free to walk we had to book a time slot. I expected there to be lots of people walking, but there wasn't, we only passed a handful of people going in the opposite direction and although a group had set out just ahead of us, we didn't see them again. Heights really aren't my thing, but I like to challenge myself and I'd been psyching myself into it since I'd woken early that morning. The boardwalk pinned along the steep walls of a narrow canyon started at the lower end and we gradually worked our way up to the highest point, 100 metres above the river, literally on the side of a sheer rocky cliff. I'm not sure if it was the spectacular views or adrenalin, but not once did I feel scared, in fact quite the opposite, I even happily stood on the 'glass floor' that jutted out on one part of the track, despite having told Tony prior to starting the walk that definitely wouldn't be happening.

On reaching the other end we were both buzzing, we had just completed, El Caminito del Rey in Spain. At a total of seven kilometres long the walkway, that had previously fallen into disrepair, had been closed for over a decade, due to fatalities. Once dubbed the worlds most dangerous walkway, El Caminito del Rey reopened in March this year, following four years of extensive repairs and at a cost of over five million euros. The new wooden walkways are built just above the old crumbling paths, which can still be seen below as you walk through the canyon.

Onward to Córdoba ........

On arriving in Córdoba it was early evening, so after checking into our hotel it was time to explore the city on foot. We first headed to the 'old town'. We found the famous 'Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba', which has an interesting history, starting as a Christian church, being rebuilt as a Muslim Mosque, then being once again taken over by the Christians who literally built a cathedral inside the mosque, hence its current name. As by this point it was late evening the Mosque-Cathedral was closed, but the outside was lit, so it was great for photos.

Time for dinner .......... I could only describe the food in Spain as amazing and really cheap too, as was the beer, in fact a glass of beer was cheaper than bottled water. Tapa's were once again on the menu so after wandering through the narrow cobbled streets, checking out menus as we walked, we found a tapas restaurant in a plaza that had outside tables, the food was once again spectacular and although being well after 10pm the temperature was still in the early thirties.

The following morning we were able to leave our car at the hotel in Córdoba for the day, despite having checked out. We headed back to the Mosque-Cathedral for a look inside. There is a huge courtyard within the 'outer walls' with orange trees growing in the centre. Inside the Mosque-Cathedral the architecture is Moorish in design, hundreds of arches all striped with pink and white stone, in the centre a Christian Cathedral literally built in the middle. There is a bell tower built on one of the outer walls and for an extra €2 each were were able to climb to the top. The view over Córdoba was spectacular & definitely well worth the short climb. A short walk around the city took us to the Roman bridge, built by the Romans in the early first century. The bridge has sixteen arches that depict the famous Moorish architecture that is common in the city. We also wandered past Roman ruins & through the narrow and cobbled streets of old Córdoba city before returning to the car and heading to Seville.