Today Dave is back behind the wheel taking us on a road trip to Ronda and Setenil de Las Bodegas. As it’s just the four of us we’re in a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross which I’m sure is a relief for Dave after the vans we’ve been in.

Our first stop is Ronda which is about 100 kms from Malaga, once we’re out of the train station it’s a pretty straightforward drive (says me longtime passenger) taking about 1 hour 20 minutes. There are plenty of tours that we could have taken but having our own car gives us real flexibility with times and what we’d like to see.

Ronda is one of the oldest towns in Spain and is well known for its bridges, the discovery of prehistoric remains and drawings, as well as a deep gorge that is 120 metres at its deepest. Ronda was originally settled by the Celts way back in the 6th century BC who gave the town its first name Arunda – which means surrounded by mountains (which it is). Ronda like many of the towns and cities we have visited has a dark history involving lots of bloodshed over its ownership. There is evidence throughout the town of the many different groups who have called Ronda home.

Our first stop is at a lookout just outside of the township to get a good look at the “new bridge “. This carved stone bridge over the Guadalquivir River took 34 years to build in the 18th century. It is huge and certainly worth a visit.

Making our way into the township I am struck by two things firstly how similar Ronda is to other European cities with incredibly skinny side roads, and secondly that google maps isn’t completely on your side. Despite the complications of small town driving Dave and his back up crew of navigators (Pip and Steve) did a stellar job of getting us into town and parked so the tour could continue.

After lunch we walked across the 1616 built Puente Viejo pedestrian bridge (Ronda bridge number 2) which along with a number of flights of stairs takes us to the Banos Arabes or the Arab Baths.

Banos Arabes are similar to Roman Baths except the steam generated by the hot water is used to sweat out pollutants from the body (like a sauna) rather than soaking in hot baths which are common in Roman Baths. There is a really informative film that you can watch which provides lots of information about how the Baths looked as well as there important function as a meeting place. I was walking out as a little boy was walking in and exclaimed “These are epic!”, and I’d have to agree they are pretty unreal.

From Ronda… it’s so tempting to sing “Help me Rhonda..”, gosh I’ve been hanging with dads for too long… to Sentil de Las Bodegas which is about 19 kms or a 20 minute car ride.

Sentil de Las Bodegas I would suggest is almost as epic as Banos Arabes, and really do wish that I was travelling with a little kid who got a glimpse of this place. Imagine being somewhere that was not only famous for having an Arab fortress but also had whitewashed houses built into cliffs.

The drive from Sentil de Las Bodegas to Malaga is about 96 kms and takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes. I felt for Dave as there’s nothing like having to navigate into a skinny car park under a train station on the other side of the road after a full day at the wheel – but he does it without breaking a sweat.

Today was a long day, we picked up the car at 10.00am and we’re back at the hotel after 8.00pm, but it was really fabulous. Today like each of the days before it we’ve seen something special and met a local person who is so pleased that we’ve made the trip to the place that they live. I feel so very lucky 😀.