A Spanish Sunset

We step off the train a couple of stops early en route to Benidorm. The sun only has a couple of hours left and we decide it will be nice to take a walk along the coast before heading into Benidorm itself.

A quick check of the map and we are off down the road It finally feels like we're in proper Spain now with little villas on the side of the road and a donkey in the yard of one of them. We walk past one house with a woman in her kitchen, window open and singing away to herself and it's nice to see people so happy going about their lives.

Soon enough we reach the coast and the beach and the sun is just about right. We're on a road that runs along the beach with a small wall over to the other side of the beach that's covered in boulders. We each jump up onto the wall and walk along the top of it as we set off along towards Benidorm, with no idea how far we'll go or how close we'll get. Our main concern is going to be whether or not we'll have issues with the tide or the sun going down and leaving us stranded. But from the looks of things there isn't too much of a walk at any point along this coast in order to reach a road so we should be fine.

This soon turns inland so we hop down to the beach and start moving along there. We're not going particularly fast, preferring just to enjoy the scenery and spending time in such a nice place than being on any particular mission to get anywhere. After going for a run earlier today and putting myself on a bit of a time schedule, sometimes it's nice to just chill out and enjoy the moment you are in rather than having to worry about where you are going, the time or...or any 'goal' as such. 

The beach has a nice walkway going alongside it so we head along that, constantly looking back at the sun going down behind us and it looks like it's going to be a spectacular sunset. There are a few houses alongside this as well, one in particular jumping out as it's clearly been modelled to look like a ship although quite some time ago as it's now fallen into considerable disprepair.

The promenade of sorts ends a short while later so we jump over it onto the rocky coast line and start moving along there. Jess and Nik are a little nervous that we might get stuck I think but I'm imagining we should be fine and at worst we turn around and come back to here. 

The rocks make things more interesting as the gradient slopes down to the water and they jut out at you from every which angle so we definitely have to be a little more careful than normal of where we place our feet but again find ourselves in no hurry so it's not really an issue. 

After a while this drops down onto yet another beach with yet another promenade so we take a minute or two to wander around here as some local kids on bikes scream around us as their parents try to sit them down for some sort of a picnic. 

The walkway goes right down the middle of some Spanish palm trees and it's really relaxing looking through the middle of them at the sea beyond. The past few weeks at home in London have been quite busy and cold so it's a real relief to get the chance to be in another country with nothing pressing to worry about. 

At the other end of the walkway there is a car park. We're not entirely sure where to go from here as there looks to be a path on the hill behind the car park but we can't see an entrance so eventually we just opt for scrambling up it until we find a path, which soon enough we do. Thankfully this one actually looks to be a well-designed and designated path so it looks like we can just follow this all the rest of the way. The map shows this as being a road that goes for quite some time although it is definitely a path. It looks like it goes all the way through to Benidorm as well so is a bit of a relief not having to worry about how likely to get stuck we are going to be.

This climbs up a bit so that we are about fifty metres above the sea and looking down on it. We're still taking it pretty casually. The sun is getting closer to going down and as expecting is looking even more amazing behind us, turning the hills a shade of orange all around. From this view slightly higher up we can see almost all the way back to Alicante and the sun’s rays beaming back up off the water is quite something.

After a couple more kilometres we reach what looks to be something of a car park. It's a bit hard to discern which way the trail goes but it looks like it goes slightly in and around a bay, meaning we won't be able to see the sunset until we come around the other side of it. We stop a moment and turn to face it for one final glimpse before we hopefully see it once more from the other side of the bay. It's getting closer to ducking behind the horizon so we get a move on.

The path around the bay is quite wide and looks to be used for four wheel drive cars although there aren't any here at this time of day. Soon enough we pop back around the other side of the bay and the sun is still out but a little closer to kissing the horizon. We keep moving at a steadier pace for a while and there is very little noise around us. It's very quiet. It's very peaceful.

The trail does slowly thin out as we move along and the drop back down becomes a little more cambered so we again have to keep a closer eye on where we are stepping, particularly as the light is slowly fading. Soon enough, though, we come around to another bay with quite a steep scramble back down to the ocean and yet another car park. I bolt down the slope and wait for Nik and Jess to come down a little more gingerly, not quite showing my penchant for throwing myself down hills. We stop here a moment as the sun has really painted this bay a deep orange and we stop at the bottom to look out at is as we hear the waves lightly crashing into the bay just below.

Another climb is ahead of us and this time steeper and less well marked. As I'm getting nearer the top I realise Nik isn't near us and that he may be a bit worried being on his own in the middle of nowhere is Spain so call out to him. It turns out I was right in that he hadn't seen which bushes we'd gone behind and was wondering where we had got to so it's lucky I did shout out. At the top we are on a piece of land just jutting out from the rest of the coast line. We stop to catch our breath and get a really good view of the sun as it finally reaches out and touches the ocean far into the distance. 

We continue on and the slope of the hill again begins to get sharper than it was on the previous sections. Neither Nik nor I are particularly good with heights although I am slowly getting better with them and find this to be fine. He's not finding it quite so fine but is valiantly soldiering on all the same. Plus if he doesn't he's a bit stuck as to where to go. We continue on higher again until we're about a hundred metres above the sea lapping below us. It's not particularly high but the path at this point has become nearly non-existent and the gradient is about twenty per cent so it is getting mildly treacherous and we do have to make sure we are careful of our footfalls. 

Nik is finding it less and less enjoyable so we make sure to keep going at a slower pace to allow him to feel comfortable with where he is stepping as his shoes aren't particularly well gripped. Eventually we reach another outcrop and turn around to see Benidorm in front of us, the last rays of the sun tainting the tops of the high rise hotels. After having spent two hours wandering in the wilderness it's quite a jarring difference, almost a shock, to see so many buildings and such a condensed city tucked away into this tiny little bay. Not one of us finds it particularly inviting nor are we terribly eager to get there as it is known as a party town for Brits abroad, which is far from the reason any of us have come here.

We do make our way down towards it all the same though, and once we move around the hill to reach a more open path down to the town Nik starts to feel more confident again. As we approach the town, which is actually an outer suburb just outside the main part of Benidorm, we decide to call it a day and walk the last couple of kilometres to a train station, feeling no need to go into Benidorm proper. The town itself looks deserted and almost eerie, this not being summer and therefore not attracting British tourists.

As we reach the town, the last of the sun disappears and night descends.