The only way is down.

As in we both fell over, a few bruises and grazes were all we suffered. No-one would believe we’ve been away if we came back unscathed.

Today, we walked from Cuber reservoir, one of only two on Mallorca built to supply water to Palma, back to Soller. We arrived by taxi and our only option was to walk the whole route. There would be no short cuts or buses today.

This walk is all about the descent through the Biniaraix gorge, down almost 2000 stone steps cut through the mountains by the Carthaginians about 2500 years ago. A path created to expand olive oil trading, there was a lot of grumbling about ‘bloody carthaginians’.

The first few km’s took us along the reservoir shore through a nature reserve where we shared our path with horses and donkeys. In the background, there was a constant sound of bells so we knew there were sheep around, but could we see them? There are at least two in the photo below, can you find them?

The highest point of our walk was under the distinctive, triangular peak of l’Ofre. Luckily we didn’t have to walk to the summit but the following 800m descent over 5km was tortuous.

As we descended, our views across to Port de Soller were amazing but the zig zag, cobbled path along the Barranc de Biniaraix through the gorge was extremely tough going. Although well maintained, 2000 uneven boulder steps on a path dug out of the side of a mountain was hair raising. In places it was slippery and, over two hours of descending, took its toll on knees and ankles. Would we do it again? Probably, just not this holiday. And we were grateful not to have walked it in reverse.

Reaching Biniaraix, only 45 minutes later than the suggested guideline in our route instructions, we felt rather smug while collapsed in a heap with a beer to fortify us for the final descent into Soller. 30 minutes on a nice tarmac road!

15kms walking had taken us over 5 hours.

We have a different kind of adventure planned for tomorrow. No walking poles required!