Bedrock

Sometime last week, Maureen spotted someone selling coal on one of the Facebook sites and though of course we don’t need it now, it seemed like it might be a good idea to get some for October just in case (our burner here, unlike many, is imported and is multi-fuel and so won’t buckle if using hot coal).

This required a trip to Albox – well, we just had to take up this offer as there are some decent stores in Albox. We decided to make a mini-holiday out of it and I remembered being told there’s a half-decent Indian restaurant in Mojacar.  Accordingly we booked an overnight stay in the old town.

Mojacar is split into two pieces – the old town way up in the hills and the more modern and touristy part along the sea front. Both are very pleasant but the latter was pretty much booked up when I checked and so we found ourselves booking a little hostel up near the top of the old town called “L’Olivar”. Nothing in the way of stars – but Google map readers were consistently giving it really high marks.

Once the news was out, we got an email from friends of ours who just happened to be in Mojacar at the time and suggested we meet up.  Driving is never a good idea when planning to have a drink and taxis are expensive so they suggested we take the bus.

Now, if this were the UK, that would be one dead idea, travelling with the great unwashed on public transport isn’t my idea of fun – but hey, we’re in another country and apart from a tour bus we’ve never taken the bus before – also at 1.20 flat rate we figured it was worth a try.

We arrived at our hostel mid-afternoon, via a narrow, dead-end road which led to a VERY pleasant area up at the top of the old town in which was our destination. In the photo above, the hostel is on the right and the bar I mention is on the left. A note on the door read “Pete – ring us on XXX number of call in a the bar opposite”.  The number returned a message in Spanish so I walked the 50 steps to the bar and a smiling lady acknowledged that I looked like a tourist and made a phone call. Minutes later our French host arrived with keys. The whole area reminded me a little of the magical area on that TV show of the 70s (I think) called “The Prisoner”. Very pleasant.

He showed us around the place, small but comfortable with a breakfast balcony with views to die for before giving us the good news. The water was off. The workers were expected to get it working by teatime.

Well, that didn’t happen. Mid-evening we headed off out of the building on foot, having paid £10 for private parking (which as it turns out was un-necessary) and went down the little lift to the main street. We had plenty of time before our bus and so stopped for a beer at a local bar. The sun was getting low in the sky but the temperature was just fantastic.

At 7.45pm sharp our bus arrived – we paid our £1.20 each and settled down for the short trip to the coast. I have to say the condition of the bus was excellent. After a while our friends Steve and Sue got on at their stop and we headed along the sea front to the restaurant.

I basically can’t fault the evening – superb weather, sitting outside overlooking the sea and having a CRACKING Indian meal at “Mountains of the Moon”. Not cheap – but very good  – ESPECIALLY as Spain is not known for being a capital of Indian restaurants – and I’m used to some winners in London and Newcastle.

The next morning we got up – had breakfast – a VERY nice, simple French affair – it turns out that the two owners are a French couple and VERY polite and pleasant with it. When it came to pay, the fellow simply would not accept payment for the private parking because of the problems we’d had with water (which did come back on in the morning). We popped into the local market (not stunning) before heading off home via a shopping expedition to Vera to pick up some “mushy peas” at Iceland for some friends.

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