Friday October 7, 2005, 99 km (62 miles) – Total so far: 11,479 km (7,133 miles)

Great cycling through some amazing countryside again today as we entered Andalucía and the infamous Costa del Sol.

In some places, we rode through what was almost desert-like country between the little white villages. I managed to get some interesting photos of strange half grass, half cactus-like plants, plus a traditional windmill or two.

Our worries about having to push the bikes down dirt tracks through the desert proved unfounded. The tracks shown on our Michelin map of Andalucía proved to be fairly decent roads. The traffic was light today, so it was an enjoyable day’s ride. We’ve checked into the Hostal American in Almería. We have a very basic room, but it’s cheap and seems clean enough.

Cactus farm

The coastline of the Golfo de Almería

The descent back to the sea

We encountered a few big climbs today

Almost desert like terrain