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Ronda Spain

I saw this bridge in a picture once while researching things to do in Spain.  I thought Tyler and I could stop for a minute and take a cool picture then move on to other things on our itinerary.  We ended up spending an entire day adventuring in Ronda, capped off by an inexpensive celebratory dinner served with the finest 4 dollar cooking wine... on the edge of a cliff overlooking the bridge and the mountains on the horizon.  Our day in Ronda was one of my favorite days... our last day in Spain. 
This blog post will be dedicated to describing our enchanting and slightly dangerous experience in Ronda... those seeking adventure can follow in our footsteps. 

We arrived at the bridge (Puente Nuevo built in 1751) in Ronda and started walking down a trail in our sandals, trying to get a better angle for some pictures.  A few minutes into our hike I spotted a rusty metal ladder rung sticking out from one of the rock cliffs.  I peered over the cliff edge and saw several of the cliffs along the side of the bridge had these precarious ladders hammered into them, some going straight down hundreds of feet.  So naturally we immediately got off the trail and started climbing down these ladders instead... 

There are several of these ladder contraptions all over the cliffs, choose your route wisely...
Tyler descending where we first discovered the ladders...

These metal ladder rungs are individually connected to the rock face.  The rock seems a little crumbly like sandstone and who knows how long ago these things were installed, so climb at your own risk.  Some of these things are lose and there's no saving yourself if one of them slips out...  

Hidden village grown over by time

Once you descend down the ladders and hike across some narrow, olden-day waterways you find yourself among some ancient buildings disappearing into the past, overgrown with jungle.  




Lord of the Rings

When we were in Ronda, climbing and exploring beneath the cliffs and staring up through the jungle at Puente Nuevo (the giant, ancient stone bridge) it felt like we were in a movie.  It felt like we were Hobbits and men (I was Aragorn) exploring new worlds and hiding in the shadows from our adversaries.  It was awesome.  It was epic.  I highly recommend this journey into olden times beneath the bridge in Ronda Spain...