To Mojacar, Cartagena and Valencia

After spending 3 days in Nerja we headed along the coast toward Valencia, avoiding the divided highways as much as possible.  We rode some nice winding roads though several coastal tourist communities.  The coast line here is quite hilly and very dry.  Parts of this area have been extensively used to film western cowboy type movies.

One interesting aspect that puzzled us was the abundance of agricultural crops being grown in large white tents. Large in area, rather than height. The tents were perhaps up to 4 metres high, most a bit lower.  It was difficult to determine what was growing in these tents. It looked like vines or small trees.  We looked for signs and have asked a few people but no one has given us a definitive answer.  We though perhaps that the tents contained orange trees that were sheltered to protect them from the sun and wind (which was very strong, the day we passed through). Also it appeared that irrigation would necessary so the tents might help reduce evaporation. ???? These tents continued all the way to Cartagena.

The first night we stopped in a motel on the beach strip in Mojacar.  This area really reminded us of parts of the Baja California. Similar topography and more rustic than other Mediterranean coastal areas that we have seen. There were also plenty of campgrounds and rows of RV camped along the isolated beaches.  Below are are couple of photos of the sunrise and the beach in front of the motel in Mojacar.

From Mojacar we continued along the beach roads and winding mountain roads until we reached Cartagena.  Cartagena is a mid-sized Mediterranean port with a long history.  We found a nice hotel not far from the centre of town.  We have been in the habit of booking accommodation a day or two ahead of arrival.  At this time of year there are lots of last minute booking deals that are available on the booking sites. We have used booking.com quite often.  As I have mentioned in the past navigation into and through these cities can be quite challenging. One we make the booking I can enter the address into the GPS and we find helps us find the place and reduces the stress substantially. We have been quite happy with most of the places we have booked in advance, with some minor exceptions.

After arriving in Cartagena we freshened up and headed out for a walk.  There appeared to be large crowd on the street toward the old city.  As we came closer we realized that it was a street festival.  There were merchants selling a variety of goods and food. In the plaza there was entertainment for the kids. The entertainment included donkey and camel rides. The festival was part of a fund raising effort to help restore some of the historic buildings.

It appeared that the port is the centre of activity in Cartagena.  We were in town for 2 days an a couple of passenger liners came and went.

On the second day in Cartagena we walked around the harbour to a small bay. We had a drink and snack at the beach restaurant and then relaxed on the beach for while.

Cruise liner leaving the port.

Now we are in Valencia. We rented a small apartment in one of the suburbs, Massarrojos. We are here for a week and will be attending the last MotoGP race of the 2016 season.  On this leg we stayed off pay roads but used the 4 lane highways, for the most part. Approaching half way we missed a turnoff and rerouted onto another highway.  This route was only15 or 20K longer so we decided to continue on this route rather than turn around.  The alternate route was very nice but it climbed over a high pass. We climbed to over 850 metres and it was friggin' cold.   We were very happy to descend back into the warmer air.  Valencia is quite  large city and the traffic was quite busy on our arrival. Thanks again to the GPS we found our apartment without any problem.

We selected this apartment mainly because it was inexpensive and there was not many rentals available by the time we started looking. One of the drawing points was the access to the Valencia Metro.  The station is located about 300 metres from the apartment. It takes about 20 minutes to get downtown and from there we can catch a train to the race track where the MotoGP is being held. (Circuito Ricardo Tormo).  This will save the hassle of riding the bike in very busy, slow moving traffic. It also has the advantage that I can have a beer or two while watching the action.

During the last 2 days we took the metro downtown and explored.  Below are a few photos of downtown Valencia.

The first couple of shots are of the rail station (Estacion el Norte) Outside and inside.   Beside the station, to the left, is the bull ring. Quite an elaborate structure compared to those I have seen in Mexico.

Below is photo of one of the main plazas in the city. 

 Partly because of the climate and partly because of the lack of parking space, there is an abundance of motorcycles and scooters.  Below are a couple of photos of motorcycles parked in designated MC parking areas. They are also allowed to park on the edges of the wide sidewalks.  These photo and NOT the exception. Nearly every street has a row of motorcycles park along it.

Tomorrow the MotoGP event starts. 3 full days in all, 2 practice and qualifying days followed by morning practice sessions and 3 races in the afternoon. I'm about to start packing the back pack in preparation for an early start in the morning.  We are meeting Gary Armstrong and Kay at the track. They are camping their VW van.