We headed off to buy return tickets to Grazalema – one of the very famous white towns (peublos blancos) close to Ronda.

Grazalema has Roman origins and is one of the wettest places in Andalucia, because of its height above sea level. We hoped it would not rain today!

We had worked out a bus left at 11.30am. When we arrived at 10.45am to buy the tickets, the office was closed – our first hitch. A sign said it would re-open at 11.15, so we decided to have a coffee and wait.

I was first in line to buy tickets at 11.15 and while I had practiced how to say two return tickets in Spanish, it was not necessary – the ticket guy could speak English and he clearly told me there were no such thing as return tickets. I had to buy the ticket to Ronda from the bus driver when I got on board in Grazalema – our second hitch.

The tickets cost €2.87 each, and I have not typed that incorrectly. Why €2.87 and not €3 I will never know.

The bus driver had his colleague there to chat to him the whole way, as with our other bus trips. The police were at the bus station and were armed. We were seeing a pattern with our bus travel in Spain. We were the only tourists on the bus with the half a dozen other locals, and yes it was a huge bus.

The road was very windy and extremely narrow. We noticed a sign that indicated we had left the Málaga Provence and entered the Cádiz Provence on our travels. We passed many cork tree plantations but unfortunately we were going too fast to get a good photo. They fascinate us, or should I say they fascinate Mick! The countryside was rocky and looked pretty unforgiving. This area is a national park and apparently loads of tourists like to walk through here. We only spotted two resting in the shade on the side of the road as we whizzed by in our huge air conditioned bus. We arrived after 45 minutes on time to a bustling little town. We looked forward to spending a few hours here.

The streets were very narrow, but there was nothing new in that. But like some of the Greek villages, it looked like it is mandatory for people to paint all the buildings white, but I am not sure about that; many looked like they had only just been painted.

We were surprised to find an outdoor market on in the town when we arrived, mostly clothing and Mick could not resist buying himself a pair of shorts, made out of cooler material than the ones he had packed, so he was happy. His spirits lifted even further when he noticed we were right in front of the tourist office, and he headed in for a map. While he waited I snapped him with this bull.

We then spent the next hour wandering the streets of Grazalema, soaking up the sun and the sights. We stopped a few times to check where we were. I had read there was a swimming pool in the town.

I was surprised to find it very close to the centre of town, and I regretted not packing our swimmers.

The views from up near the pool were impressive and showed the windy road we had travelled on, plus the unforgiving land the farmers try to work.

There was quite a lot going on when we first got there. These men were repairing the paved roads, and Mick was keen to watch them for awhile.

Several buildings were having their roofs repaired and it looked pretty old fashioned and pretty back breaking work.

People started to disappear indoors as the day progressed, so we followed their lead and found a bar for a few beers while we waited for the bus. In the main plaza near the bar we chose, was a man with birds of prey sitting on a perch. He was selling the opportunity to have your photos taken holding one of them. The poor birds were there the whole time we were in town. It seemed pretty cruel to us.

We waited where we were told to at 4 pm to catch the bus. At 4.15pm we started to get worried. Was this hitch number 3?

No, while the bus was late, we were able to buy our tickets on board, there were two other passengers. A local fellow who wanted to tell Mick about all the things we were driving past, and Mick did not know how to tell him he did not understand.

Anyway, we had a great day. And, because we did so well with the bus travel, we plan on catching a bus to San Pedro de Alcántara on the Costa del Sol tomorrow, our last full day in Ronda. This town is very close to Marbella, but not as big. Perhaps a swim in the Mediterranean is in order. Will let you know.