ROAD TO MANDALAY

IHAD been set the challenge of getting from my flat in Duquesa in Manilva to La Cala de Mijas via public transport.

Two coastal resorts on the Costa del Sol, just 60-odd kilometres apart, it should be a cakewalk I thought.

Armed with my trusted mobile maps and a good level of Spanish (it’s my university degree, after all, at Bristol), what could possibly go wrong? Little did I realise, the answer was everything.

The News Editor set me a generous arrival time of 3pm and at 11am I began to plan my route.

After an hour of scouring Google maps, the main bus company Avanza’s website and downloading the pointless ‘Moovit’ app, I began to realise how wrong I was. Not only was there no apparent feasible route, I also couldn't find the waiting times of changeovers, or accurate timetables.

MAMMOTH 952 147 834 TheOlivePress-256x170-HOME02.indd the tourist office in Duquesa, where a friendly lady told me I needed to go to Sabinillas, and with no bus in sight and my foot hurting I ended up getting a taxi – a cheat I know.

The Olive Press sent student intern Nadia McDonald on a short midweek mission to get to Mijas… or should that be Mandalay?

To add insult to injury, the bemused taxi driver told me my assignment was nigh on impossible and that I should just cough up €140 to get there and back… or realistically expect not to make my appointment. As it was by now approaching 13.00, frustration was building up, much like the clouds overhead.

However, not one to quit, and refusing to walk into my office, which happens to be in Sabinillas, to report that I had aborted the mission, I eventually found a bus stop.

That hope very quickly turned to dismay as the bus timetable at the stop reported a wait of an hour and a half for the next bus.

Another youngster at the stop (who looked as though he too was losing the will to live) said he had already been waiting for 40 minutes for the previous bus which had still not shown.

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I changed tack and decided to ask from Tel: 952 147 834 See back

Google on an poll, over half respondents said transport problem on the Costadel 38% agreed prob- lem, despite and not be- ing affectedbyit.

I didn't know if this was even the correct bus stop, but two locals suggested I start by taking the bus from there to Estepona, which at least gave me some hope!

At this point I instinctively reached for my phone to get a live update of the buses in the area, which proved to be a fantastical idea.

After I waited for 50 minutes and it started to rain, I figured there was no way I was going to be on time. I would definitely have been late. I didn’t even know how or where I could change in Estepona?

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