#65 The Smurf Village and a Sulfur Bath

February 2-4, 2022: Olvera, Setenil de las Bodegas, Júzcar, Casares

J. The region around Ronda is beautiful; so beautiful that we stayed for a week instead of the planned two days. After admiring Ronda itself and the Hundidero Cave (#63) and hiking in the Sierra de Grazalema mountains (#64), we drove to several surrounding towns and villages.

We actually went to Olvera because our GPS gave imprecise instructions and we got lost. But it was worth it. Olvera can be seen from afar. It is located on a hill. At the very top, next to a church, there is a castle that deserves the name watchtower. Because from here you can really see the whole surrounding area. The city itself is very beautiful and has a cozy yet lively and very non-touristy atmosphere.

The next stop was Setenil de las Bodegas. This town is known for its location along two gorges. The overhanging rocks in these gorges were used by the residents for building houses. So you can see whole streets that are overhung by threatening rocks. The houses nestle into the rocks. The rocks serve as the back wall and occasionally as the roof, with the houses conforming to the natural hollowing. Only the facade has been added. An old man opened his house to tourists and attracted attention with many very explicit signs. However, at first we weren't sure if we should really enter the small room where the old man was sitting in a chair, eating and watching TV. But as soon as he heard me after repeated questions, he immediately jumped up, invited me in, and asked me to go upstairs and take many photos. The house had four half-floors, of which the man only occupied the lower two. Each of these half-floors consisted of one room, connected to each other by a steep, narrow staircase. Only the man's bedroom had a door, which was wide open. The upper two floors each had two beds and a few old tools on display. But the most impressive part was the ground floor, the largest room by far. Here, in about 15 square meters, there was both a kitchen and a dining and living room. The house was about 3 meters deep here, until the rock formed the back wall. Since the rock continued to push up into the street, the rooms became smaller towards the top. In order to accommodate the quite large and presumably new refrigerator in the house, a piece of rock had been chiseled out of the back wall of the living room, exactly in the shape of the refrigerator.

The rest of the town was also very beautiful and lively. Some restaurants used the protruding rock as a natural roof for their terraces, while others used the climbing plants hanging from the rocks as natural shade. The town had its own unique atmosphere.

The next day, we headed south from Ronda to Júzcar, the Smurf Village. This village used to be one of the classic white villages of Andalusia that you can see everywhere here. Until a film crew came by and painted the entire village blue with 9,000 liters of paint. At first, we thought that the Smurf movie from 2011 was filmed here, but it is set in New York. Júzcar, the Smurf Village, was only used for the world premiere of the film, where all the actors, directors, and journalists were brought here. When the film crew offered to paint everything white again a few months later, the village declined because they had become a tourist attraction. The blue village is actually quite beautiful to look at and has many Smurf figures standing around in the street.

The road leading through Júzcar to the west runs through beautiful mountains with breathtaking views. Here and there, white villages cling to the mountains, and the scenery is simply impressive.

Finally, we stopped in Casares. This slightly larger white village was practically on our way and has a public parking lot with a good view. But the place is also very charming, as the houses are stacked up in front of you due to the extreme slope.

Just before we continued our journey, an Austrian man raved about nearby hot sulfur springs. Of course, we made a little detour there. We already encountered the small river on the way to the Roman baths. It is milky light blue and looks very inviting. But when we reached the baths, a strong smell of sulfur struck our noses. Nevertheless, it looked beautiful, as the water fell from one shallow pool to the next through many small walls in small waterfalls. We sat on one of the walls and dipped our legs in the soft water. After a while, my nose got used to the smell and we discovered the bathhouse. A dome built by the Romans covered a rather deep pool, from which a man had just emerged. He told me that it was wonderful to swim in it and even smelled his skin again for me to assure me that he didn't smell like sulfur. So I got my bathing suit and lowered myself into the 20°C warm pool. It was really wonderful to swim in here. The walls with their many recesses echoed the gentle splashing of the waves back in many different voices, almost like a piece of music, and above me was the pretty dome. The water felt soft and gentle. Later, I walked through the shallow pools outside and enjoyed the beauty. I didn't even notice the stench anymore.

In the evening, as we sat down to eat after shopping, I finally noticed the smell. I was itching all over and my skin smelled like sulfur. Of course, I should have known and Florian had also warned me. But I thought it couldn't be that bad. I would have liked to take a shower now, even if there was only cold water, but we were in the middle of a residential area where it wouldn't be welcomed to shower on the brightly lit street next to our car. So I had no choice but to scrub myself with washcloths and soap. The smell went away. The itching may not have come from the sulfur bath, but from the many mosquito bites from the previous night, which were activated by my intense scrubbing. Maybe I should have taken the Austrian man's comment, who recommended the bath to us, more literally when he advised us to go there to bathe if we wanted to wash ourselves again.

The bath was still very refreshing and enriching. However, I recommend that everyone only take a sulfur bath if they can shower afterwards.

Day 112 - Total Tour 7,151 km

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