White villages of the Taha

The Taha is an area of the Alpujarra about 10km east of the Poqueira area. made up of about a dozen small villages tha arera is ideal for easier walking in the area. The history of the area is moorish and the name itself, Taha means settlement in arabic. Our route takes in six of the villages from the smallest Altabeiter to Pitres which is the mane village of the area. Starting in Fondeles we follow a pack horse track up toward Pitres passing through the hamlets of Mecinilla and Mecina en route. Reaching Pitres after about an hour comes as a relief and the plaza makes an ideal spot for a break. Pitres is known as the ''Port of Pitres'' and even though it lies at about 1,200m it has its own fishing boat moored at the entrance to the village. The maritime theme is in response to a past politician who promised the good people of the village anything they wanted if they voted for him, the response a request for two harvest a year and a port. Villagers on the coast ha rd of the request and sent a boat and ships anchor up the mountain to support the cause.

We leave from the eastern end of the village and follow GR 142/E4 signs to pass by a hostal and drop into a river bed here again is evodence of recent landslips and flooding . Continuing along the path we reach Altabeiter, a small hamlet of about 30properties which is worth the five minutes it will take to expplore the village. After the village we continue east(ignore the paths off this route) and reach an old watermill perched between two small streams. The path then climbs to run between an unusually formal garden set amongst the almond groves. Continueing east we finally reacj a track heading south down in to the valley follow this for about 5 minutes to a waymarker pointing back west along the valley side.

This section of the route adds mountain drama to what has so far been a much more pasoral scenery.The south side of the Rio Travelez valley is made up of dramatic cliffs and peaks with steep zig zaging paths climbing up the vally side. The path is well waymarked as you slowly descend passing a well maintained era or threashing circles soon followed by a magnificent spring with naturally carbonated water coming out. Soon we enter Feriaroles, at the old wash house in the cente of the village turn left then right at the bottom of the short street to soon return back to a small path which takes us back to Fondales an the start of the walk.

duration 4-5 hours
approx 10km
water at springs in villages