The end of the road - goodbye N340

We've followed the old road south, the N340, on and off for weeks. Today we completed it as we headed towards its termination in Cadiz.

After crossing a ridge of hills at the back of Cape Trafalgar you enter an upland plateau of cattle farms with at times distinctly Mexican looking Hacienda. Maybe the roadside statue of the flamenco guitar player was put there to remind travellers that this is still Andalucia.

It's a great road to drive, light traffic and interesting scenery. A portion of the plain is covered with hundreds of giant wind turbines. I was going to make some comment about modern Spain making the most of its natural resources - wind and solar power. Cervantes, however, reminds us that they've been successfully harnessing the wind for some considerable time.

The pueblo blanco, Vejer, is just off the main road; it looks spectacular. We made a mental note to stop off there if we do return this way next autumn after a trip through Portugal. There is a lot to see and do in this less frequented corner of Spain. It should have been a really enjoyable, relaxed journey today, through lovely pastoral countryside with a hint of Spring in the air. In actuality, it turned out to be very stressful indeed, at least the middle part of the day did. It's a complicated tale - as the next post explains.....