Travelling to Spain

The first in a series of four posts about my trip to El Chorro last weekend. This one doesn't have photos because it was more-or-less a travel day.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Nick and I woke up at 4:30am, GMT, to start our adventures. This was after being awake until midnight the night before. Which was kind of my fault. When we were booking plane tickets, we had to commit to how many bags we would be bringing or else be charged a lot to check an extra one at the airport. Because we got carry-ons, Nick and I had committed to one checked bag because I thought it was ridiculous that we would need to check more than 20kgs of stuff for four days. Well, when we combined our checked items into one suitcase and weighed it the night before, it weighed 30kgs. Oops. And we had already packed quite lightly.

So we spent several hours the night before unpacking and repacking and figuring out how many clothes we could wear at once on the plane to get the suitcase down to what ultimately turned out to be 20.5kgs (I think we could have fit at least an extra .5 kg in their before they started squawking...). We got rid of one of Nick's pairs of climbing shoes, 8 quickdraws (bringing our total down to 12 from 20), my helmet (which really made Nick's mom fuss ... I had to take it out when she wasn't looking), a pair of my flipflops, both our towels, and some other stuff. So that chewed up a lot of time and sent us to bed quite late.

There were two buses that went to Luton airport, where we were departing from, from Baldock. One left before 4 in the morning, and Nick's mom was trying to get us to take that one to make sure we had plenty of time. Nick convinced her, though, that we'd be fine taking the one that left at 5:38 and arrived at the airport at 6:15, since check-in closed at 6:40. So we took that one, and while we were slightly late getting to the airport, we still checked in long before 6:40.

Then we wandered around the terminal for a bit before Nick decided he had to go the bathroom before getting on the plane. This turned into an issue. The thing is, we were flying with EasyJet which does not assign seats on planes and instead puts you in a first-come, first-served position of getting seats. This means that everyone goes completely crazy to get on the plane first. So Nick was in the bathroom when the screens announced which gate we were supposed to go to. We missed the rush to get on, meaning that we were just about the last people on the plane. We managed to get aisle seats next to each other near the back, but I was not too pleased; I like the window seats.

The plane ride was pretty uneventful other than my occasional fusses about my seat. When we got to Malaga, the whole plane filed past a single immigration agent. Because just about everyone else on the plane had a UK passport, they could just wave it at the agent without it even being opened to the picture page, and he would let them go through. With mine, though, he had to take it, open it, stamp it (right in the middle of a page, taking up four boxes at once), and send me through while backing up everyone else behind me in the meanwhile.

We easily got our luggage, but finding our car was more troubling. There was a sign for airport rent-a-car companies, but our company that we had pre-booked with wasn't listed. I made Nick go up to the desk of one of the existing companies to see if he could find out where ours was. The woman directed us upstairs in a way that sort of indicated that everyone always asked this. So then at the airport exit there was a guy from our company with a list of people who rented from them directing us towards a shuttle to get to ours. We manage to find the shuttle and get on.

The shuttle takes us past a whole bunch of other rental agencies that are near-but-not-in the airport until we finally get to ours, the last one along the line (probably why it was the cheapest). We get our tiny two-door car after waiting around for a while. It has really tiny wheels so I feel like I'm sitting on the ground. It's no extra cost to put me on as an extra driver, so we do so even though I can't drive a manual. (In retrospect, it may have actually been more useful to get Zeb's driver's license ahead of time and put him on it, because then we would have been able to get back and forth between our houses in El Chorro more easily.) Then we take off towards Alora, which is the last major town near El Chorro that should have a moderate-sized grocery store.

The GPS directs us towards what it is calling the town center of Alora, and we arrive there after about 45 minutes of driving with periodic fussing from Nick about how much he dislikes the car ("no performance!"). When we get there, the streets are extremely steep and narrow, and we don't see obvious grocery store signs. We drive down streets/sidewalks (they looked like sidewalks but seemed to have cars going down them) and eventually saw a small shop. We had to park a few blocks away, though, and then walk up some very steep hills to get back to it and get food.

There was no fresh milk at all, so we had to get some UHT milk for our morning cereal. GROSS. Nick also grabbed two bottles of wine, figuring that it was a bit more than needed but he could donate leftovers to the Hampshire kids. We also went to a fresh fruit store where we were getting eight apples. We pointed and I said "ocho," which made Nick's jaw drop -- he had no idea that I knew so much Spanish, apparently.

From there, we got back in the car and drove towards El Chorro. On the way, though, we passed what was really the main part of Alora which really did have signs to large supermarkets. Oh well. We got to the train station in the center of El Chorro at about 1:50. Zeb was supposed to show up at 2, but we had no idea whether that was actually happening punctually or not. I saw which direction it was to walk towards La Almona Chica (where Zeb was staying) and Finca la Campana (where we were staying), so I instructed Nick to stay with the car at the town center while I hiked uphill in the general direction of the houses to see if Zeb was up there. On the way up, I passed a herd of goats and a man with a donkey, but no Zeb. Right when I see their houses, though, *honk honk* behind me. Nick's got Zeb in the car.

So we head into Almona and eat lunch and chit chat with Zeb. Zeb mentions that one of their only rules on the trip is no alcohol -- which Nick is shocked by. It also means that Nick is responsible for drinking all the wine he got by himself. Oh well. Nick and I then attempt to drive up to Finca and check in, but reception appears to only be open 7pm-9pm. So we head back to Almona and stash all our stuff there in the house that Zeb shares with Earl, Luke, Max, and Mike. Then we head out to the climbing.

We climbed near the left end (Los Albercones) of the Frontales, one of the largest buttresses with climbing in El Chorro. The weather is pretty chilly and overcast, and there are a few intermittent raindrops. We start off with the Hampshire kids, but eventually they hike further up the hill to a different sector while Nick and I stick around down low to get more climbing in. We do 4 climbs (both leading them all) that are all easy 6's (easy-to-mid 5.10's). At that point, it's getting darker and colder, and we are getting ready to pack up and drive off. Right then, Zeb and Max make an appearance to see if they can get a ride back to Almona. So we all head out.

Nick and I collect our things at Almona and then drive up to Finca to check in at about 6:55. The main office still doesn't seem to be particularly open but we're directed up to the bunkhouse where we do a sort of disorganized check in. It seems decent, though -- we have a (tiny) room off to the side of the bunkhouse and access to a large rec-room/dining room and a kitchen. So we unpack, eat dinner, and then head down to Almona to hang out with the Hampshire kids and use their computers and internet for a while. Zeb, Earl, Luke, and Max are engrossed in a rather aggressive game of hearts that Zeb is currently winning ... and has quite a 'tude about. I make general plans to stop by their place the next morning to further discuss where the tiny shop in town is and what we should climb, since tomorrow is a scheduled rest day for Hampshire.

After that, Nick and I go back to Finca and head to bed on the early side because it's already late and we've been up for a while. Our first day was more-or-less successful, and we made it to El Chorro successfully.