snakes don't like it when you attempt to wee on them....

So, after the coastal loveliness of the Cabo de Gata, I headed inland to the only desert in continental Europe, called Tabernas desert. It was very picturesque, and reminded me of the Flinders ranges and the breakaways in South Australia. A part of it is called 'mini Hollywood', as they used to make lots of films here, mainly spaghetti westerns. The main town there is called Tabernas, and there is a ruined Arab castle there, so of course i set out for a look. It was quite cool.... very ruined and not a whole lot left, but worth seeing nonetheless, and had some great views over the desert. Unfortunately, by this time I was absolutely busting to go to the loo. As there was absolutely no-one else around and the castle was up high enough so that no-one could see me, i decided to go for a bush wee. After finding a suitably protected spot where i thought no-one could see me, I proceeded to unbutton and unzip, and had managed to get my shorts halfway down my bum when i heard a slithery noise behind me. I turned around to find, of course, a snake very close to my bottom, slithering slowly backwards and sort of half reared up ready to get me!! well, I haven't run that fast in a long long time, but got away from it pretty damn sharpish!! Here is a photo of the scene of the crime......

After that experience i left the desert and drove to an area called Las Alpajurras, still inland and on the way to Granada. They have lots of cute little villages where all the buildings are whitewashed and quaint, like this one called Bubion....

In one of the towns, Orgiva, I was lucky enough to run into a Flamenco festival!! It was fantastic!! The streets were absolutely brimming with people and there was lots of music, dancing and food, including this giant paella....

It was lovely to see most of the women were dressed in Flamenco type costume, and there was a very happy vibe in the air!! The queen of Orgiva even posed for a photo for me...