Cordoba to Granada

SIGHISOARA: I keep wanting to update my blog more but it seems like my travel companions are incapable of organising anything so I'm left grabbing snatches of time to blog something. I've been wanting to add something about the bus journeys for ages so here goes.

Coming from Cordoba to Granada I wasn't expecting too much but as the bus pulled out of town and across the river into the countryside I was astonished by dusty fields that seemed to roll around the hills. The land looked dead though at the same time it was quite obviously farmed and cultivated. Occasionally it was broken up by groves of small hardy olive trees. When towns came into view they were invariably a mosaic of white, carving up the hill like cubists. Known as pueblo blancos, and as often as not topped with castles, these villages are a sight to behold.

But perhaps the most astonishing part of this journey came as we climbed still higher, cutting in and out of the hills like an expert knitter with her thread. And then, as we rounded one hill, the enormous Sierra Nevada reared up between the hills dominating the skyline. It was at once like an American desert scape and like nothing I'd ever seen. I had my headphones on to soak up the Leone-esque atmosphere and all I could do was stare with my jaw hanging loose.