We sleep until 8.30am, we must have been tired. Three or four campers arrived after dark, we often wonder why people travel so late, maybe they travel more slowly. There is still lots of empty spaces. The service area is excellent, having a grey water area that would take about five campers and taps on both sides. Hymer is still covered with sticky salty water, the result of being on the ferry deck for the crossing from Portsmouth, so I fill a bowl with hot soapy water and over the grey drain area, wash the front and both sides (especially all the doors and windows) with the long windscreen brush, then hose the whole down with the hose pipe from the water supply.

Car washing using the fresh water is strictly forbidden on these sites but as I washed with a bowl and long-handles squeegee, no one seemed too bothered at the 30 seconds it took to rinse it all off using the hose. Hymer now looks much better, no longer sticky on the outside and we can see through the windows again! On our way out of Pinto we filled up with diesel again, €0.953 per litre, really cheap compared to the UK. Come to think of it, most things are cheaper here, I often ask myself why that should be, TAX is the answer I always seem to come up with.

We head south again on the E-5 through Madridejos, Aranjuez and Manzanares. Here the terrain becomes mountainous as we climb the foothills of the Sierra Andújar. We stop under the shade of tree at a truck stop with a huge car park and restaurant (Casa Juan) and spectacular views of the mountains. It is hot now, 26°C and blue cloudless sky. There is a man selling water melons, so we walk over to buy. €2 for golden melons he says in Spanish without a smile, not a great salesman! We buy a medium melon and get on our way.

Sunflower fields give way to mile after mile of grapevines, planted in straight rows up the mountainside. We are entering the wine growing area of Valdepeñas. There are many people out grape-picking by hand and deep trailers full of green grapes pass us en-route to the wineries. As we climb through the mountains, the country is wild and dry with very little plant life and no habitations. We pass from the province of Castille de Mancha into Andalucia and through the Despeñaperros Natural Park. Here too the landscape is steep with rocky canyons the road winding through the mountains and passing over several very high viaducts (best not to look down!).

Gradually vines give way to olive trees and rows of vines become rows of olive trees. At Bailen we take the A-6100 towards Baños de la Encina, a small white town on the edge of the reservoir (embalse) in the Guadalquivir valley. We park the camper at the bottom of the hill as it is too steep and narrow to negotiate. We walk to the top of the fortified town which is mostly deserted, despite being 4.00pm in the afternoon. Perched on the top of the hill is the Castillo de Bury Al Hammam is a huge Moorish-Christian fort dating back to Roman times. The present fort or Castle Burgalimar (castle of the baths) is perhaps so named as it has two huge underground water cysterns, filled from the Guadaquivir river running close by. It was built in 968 by Caliph Alhaken II and, given its strategic position overlooking the Jaen plain, was much fought-over during the eleventh century as it formed the gateway to Adulusia.

As we arrive at the gate below the tower, it opens and a guide invites those of us outside to the guided tour, so we join!! The tour is in Spanish, Alan does not understand every word, but sufficient to know what is going on.  This is actually an organised group, not a public tour, so we are gatecrashers, but nobody seems to notice as long as we pay the €3 each all is well.

The fort is built in the shape of an oval with fourteen towers along its crenelated outer wall. Later a fifteenth Christian Tower of Homage was added. The castle is in remarkable condition having suffered little damage over the centuries, despite being the meeting place of the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. It is known as the best preserved 10th-century Muslim fortress in all of Spain. A really good visit. We spend two hours here, fascinated by the fort, its history and the attraction of the narrow streets of the old town, but head for Ùbeda on the A-32 , arriving there at about 7.00pm.

Here we stay on the Auto-Caravanas park at the back of the Police Academy on Travesia Commendador Messias. Another super motor home park, tucked just of the main thoroughfare to the old town. There are 12 spaces, when we arrive we are number eight. We park up, and agree we are tired, we have driven 300km. We make a stir fry with the jamon iberico and relax in the sunshine. Later I fall asleep reflecting on the views, the roads, it’s all so different and exciting.