Valencia

Leaving Catalunya we headed into the mountains surrounding Valencia for a week of hiking and searching for rivers and beautiful swimming pools.

The first stop after a tortuous drive was Fuente de los Baños in the town of Montanejos. This is a natural (luke) warm spring favoured by the locals of the valley and has magical youth capturing powers that we were both keen to try out! The pool is quite spectacular and as we arrived late in the afternoon after the sun had gone we pretty much had it to ourselves. The water was not so warm and the powers not so strong but a very enjoyable natural phenomenon to experience.

We found an incredible location to park for the night overlooking the village and were enjoying a bottle of wine when a psycho local woman started slamming the van and screaming at us in the pitch black which was quite alarming, and after calmly explaining that we were doing nothing wrong she drove off still screaming. Deciding that discretion would be best we left and parked in a lay-by on the main road, but it was our first negative parking experience of the trip so far.

We next drove cross-country on very picturesque and completely empty roads to our next destination of Calles. Finding a lovely parking spot next to the river we left the van and headed out to find the Roman Aqueducts for which this area is famous. The hike takes you deep into the mountains and high above the twin towns of Calles and Chelva until you get to the aqueduct and waterways. Its an incredible feat of engineering with deep walls, tunnels, and a very impressive bridge all hand worked in the middle of nowhere and in times when you cant imagine creating such structures. We followed these amazing waterways and dropped back to the very quiet town of Chelva with its labyrinth of crazy tiny streets and sleepy cats before following the river back to Calles for a deserved beer.

Next on our itinerary was the highlight of this area and a visit to the hilltop town of Chulilla with its gorges, oasis, and hanging bridges. The drive there was again testing but we found the most amazing parking once more and set off on our pre-planned and very long hike to try and see everything on offer in one day!

First heading out of town there are some outstanding views of Charco Azul which would be last on the days itinerary, and then paid the attendant the 1€ each to enter the gorge of Turia. This is quite an amazing natural oasis and almost looks like it has been created by Disney as it is almost too good!

The hike takes you back and forth across the river on high hanging bridges and wooden paths and follows the river to the end of the gorge where most turn back, but after a break we headed on to take a look at the Loriguilla reservoir and then the tough and exposed hike which brings you to Pinturas Rupestres.

These prehistoric 5000 year old cave paintings were first discovered in 1998 and even though natural decay has eroded nearly all of the frescos, it was still worth the effort to witness and to be so close to such amazing history.

Back on the path it was another decent hike to the village but after a break we headed this time back up the gorge to the truly beautiful Charco Azul and after a very hard 20km in hot weather we were ready to finish the day with a swim in this breathtaking location.

Moving on from Chulilla, the final water stop for this section would be the town of Buñol. This town is not famous for the natural pools but more so for the crazy Tomatino festival held in August each year where for 1 hour, 10 thousand people decide to throw tomatoes at each other and then wallow in the sauce filled streets before being hosed down and leaving this sleepy village to get on with its business for another year.

But we were there for the river and cave pools this time and although the larger of the two caves was closed for needed path repairs, we soldiered on to the upper cave which was just an amazing natural experience. As we were there on the Spanish National Holiday, it was a little overrun so we didn’t get in, deciding instead to follow the river back down and away from the crowds.

This turned out to be a great move as we not only saw some wild Ibex but also found some beautiful small pools to bathe in alone. Taking a look around Buñol on our return there didn’t seem to be any party planned for the evening and as our parking was nothing exciting we decided to move on for the evening.

Randomly picking a remote village parking which was midway to our next destination we arrived early evening to see that there were banners and plastic chairs placed along the main street so for sure there was something going on later. So we parked under the imposing Montesa Castle, had a quick beer, and headed into this tiny village to see what was going on.

The rest of the evening was a surreal blur of a few beers, wine, and tribes of Christians and Moors in full regalia, make-up, masks and horses all stamping through the town. Each tribe was followed by a marching band pumping out an incredible sound, and they were greeted at the end of the village by a blast of fireworks. It was quite an amazing spectacle and a completely random find where we were for sure the only foreigners there but welcomed in by a local family wholeheartedly.

Leaving through the main street and the clean-up operation the following morning, we headed to our last in-land stop for a while and climbed the 700m mountain road to Sierra Natura Naturist camp nestled deep in the mountains. Here we spent some lovely days in this quite unique campsite wishing that the weather was better so we could have stayed longer. It is quite a random collection of buildings and pitches laid out across the forrest, all surrounding the quite bizarre swimming pool. The facilities were spotless and the owners very friendly and together with the quite wonderful forest walks available we would really recommend a visit if you are in the area and want some complete peace and quiet in total nature.

Returning to the coast south of Valencia we found a perfect place to park right on the ocean where we stayed still for over a week and enjoyed the amazing sunrises each day and time on the wonderful naturist beach of Cullera. It was just incredible to be enjoying full summer days in the middle of October and we were making the most of this lifetime experience that we had given ourselves.