Started the day with a great desayanos (breakfast) at a place that would make anything for us. We had bacon, eggs, toast with butter and jam, coffee, and orange juice. The server looked at us strangely. When he brought the jam, he asked if we put it on our eggs or what. We said that we would butter the toast and put the jam on it. Again a strange look. Anyway he was very accomadating where most aren't. We were eager to leave town quickly, but I new I had to do something about my backpack weight. I thought I would quickly go to the post office, where you can box some stuff and send it ahead to Santiago and retrieve it there. I send 4 lbs of stuff ahead. My pack then felt great. The post office personnel were another story. No there is no return address, I live on the side of the road! The walk was then very long and hot. We went thru 3 litres of water each. Just dragged ourselves into town. As we head further north, the days should be better. Made it to Fuente de Cantos at about 5:00 o'clock. Ended up at a splendid place today. Has a pool and everything for 15.00 ! (See video) Anyway here are some trail pics from today and a vid of the hostel. Terry
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Today was again a very hot, dry, long trail. We did see a farmers barn on fire, and watched the fire dept. arrive . The last 8 kilometres were very hard . We dragged our carcasses into the town of Monesterio later than expected. These stages make the Camino France's look like a walk around the block! Two more days of pain, before the towns start to become closer together.
Good night! Terry We took it fairly easy today, just 14 Km to El Real de la Jara. This walk was mostly thru farmers properties, that have the Camino going through them. We had to open and close numerous gates along the way. Every creek bed, stream, watering hole, etc was totally dried up. Farmers were hauling big plastic crates of water . Many animals looked like they had little water. Hope you like the pics from the trail today. Terry What a day. I can't put enough o's in the word brooootal to describe it. We new that it was going to be a hard 30km go today, so we had a good breakfast, had fruit, snacks, and lots of water with us. The first 16 Kms were on a hardtop road, with traffic whizzing by. We where fairly tired when we reached the entrance to the National Parque Natural entrance. We had a choice of going through the park, or just staying on the road. We thought that the park would be a great walk. WHAT A MISTAKE! I encourage anyone who has come across this blog to be very mindful of what you are getting into here. This park is totally void of all things relevant to the human condition. Absolutely no water supply, or even a place to sit in the whole 14 Kms. The air seemed to suck all the moisture out of you. We finish our snacks, and tried to make the last sips of water last. I can see why two pilgrims died on this stretch lately. Exiting the park quickly became a death march. Talk about camino Angels! A cyclist named Jose seen that we were staggering down the trail, and offered to share his water with us. He literally saved our lives today! Jose left his home in Tenerife by bicycle, and is riding his bike all the way to China ! You can view the map of his journey on this Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/BaifoWorld/?ref=ts&fref=ts# Please give him a like. How he came across us after not seeing a single soul all day was beyond me. After coming across Jose, we thought that there was only a couple of kilometres left. We barely had the strength but shuffled on. Then it happened. The last kilometre consisted of the rocky trail going up at about a 30 degree angle For a full kilometre. We literally were taking about 10 steps and then stopping to rest. The water that Jose gave us we took by sips at each stop. This was the hardest thing I have ever done. Both me and my walking partner thought we were done. Somehow we reached the top, and reached the town where we stumbled our way into the first cafe bar we came to. The guy brought us out water glass after glass. We had made it. We sat for sometime with our backpacks, shoes, and socks off. We have found a great room here, where we showered and fell on the beds. Tomorrow a light day. Sleeping in! Thank you Jose! Terry 967 kms to go Arrived tonight after a hard day on the trail. Started off with roadside walking on a fast highway. Thankfully was not for too long. Most of the day was spent walking thru farmland on a very rocky trail. The multitude of rocks made it a tough go. We are preparing for tomorrow's hike, which has been called "The Stage Thru Hell". It will be 30 km with no places to stop in between. We are loading up with water and energy bars to get us thru. Anyways here are some pics taken along the trail today. Terry 977 km to go Last night, I went to the cathederal to obtain my first stamp for my pilgrims passport. Now the VDLP is not that well developed here yet. I went into the main cathederal Doors, and asked the guard there for a sello (stamp). He said that that was done at the office on the other side of the church. So I walked around and spoke to the guard at that station. He informed me that I was wrong, and that I should get a stamp at the other main door. I walked back and informed the guard of this, and duly informed me that there was a special person at that other door who had the stamp. So, going back again, that guard told me that the stamp person goes home at 5:00, and that the only other way to get a stamp was to go back to the other door. Undaunted, I went back again where I was told that the stamp person was absolutely there until 6:00 and that I should go back. After returning to the alternate door yet again, I noticed a person who seemed to be a superior and quickly caught his attention before speaking to the same guard as before. He of course told me that the stamp was at the main door office, and that I should go back there HOWEVER, he said that he would come with me. As we entered the main door, the guard seemed surprised to see that I had a "friend" with me this time. My "friend" simply went into an office and stamped my creditial. Yeah! If I had obtained a stamp every time I went back and forth, my Camino would be over. Anyway, we left Seville at 7:00am, and proceeded to try and leave Seville. Now as a said, the Camino is not that well represented here. We saw the first few arrows, then they stopped. Accompanied by a very bad guide book, we ended up in an area of highways and no markers with no idea where we were after a few hours of walking. After admitting we had become lost, we decided that the only course of action was to have a cab take us to the nearest Camino trail. As if sent by the Camino Angels, a cab came by and we hailed him immediately. It turned out that he had done the Camino on by circle. So he dropped us off at a familiar Camino sign, were we picked up the trail. The first place we stopped at was a village named Sontiponce. Here we had their breakfast "special". It was bread with hard ham, cheese, and tomatoes on it with olive oil. We chewed this down with coffee and a fantastic glass of orange juice. There was also a Roman ruin here. The complete city of Atalica. This was the birthplace of Hadrian of Hadrians wall fame. The coliseum was amazing as you can see in the video below. Walking the rest of the way to Guillena was a big challenge for us. We took up residence in an alberque named "Luz Del Camino", run by a very nice man named Peter who is originally from Germany. Wanting some lunch, we left the alberque after having a showered and hanging up the laundry. Stopping at the first place that was open, Paul ordered your standard bocadillo sandwich. When it came, it was bread with hard ham, cheese, tomatoes, and olive oil, remarkably identical to breakfast. Tomorrow we head for "Castilblanco de Los Arroyos". Hope you enjoy today's pics and videos. Terry 1000 km to go First just a few tails from day 1. To get from Malaga airport to Seville, I had to take a train. The Spanish have a funny system for boarding trains. The cars are car 1, 2, and 3, however marking the cars seems to have been deemed unnecessary. (Ended up it was 3,2,1)The system is for all people to rush the train all at once and get into a car, then they ask the conductor on board what car they are in. At this point everybody tries to get to their proper car, (baby buggies and all) thru the 18" wide centre aisle. The resulting pandemonium could be an Olympic sport. Today was a rest and get acclimatized day. Slept until 7:00 am, then toured the city with my Aussie friend Paul and his son. We attended a flamenco festival, located the central cathederal and received our first pilgrim passport stamp. We also toured some of the local archectural marvels. We start at the front door of the main cathederal tomorrow at 7:00 am. I have a few photos and a video for you today. Tomorrow we walk to Guillena! Journey went like this; London, Toronto, New York JFK, Malaga Spain, bus to Seville.
As soon as I arrived in Seville, I contacted my Aussie friend and we met. As you can see, I secured a decent hostel for the next 2 nights. I am just about dead and am going to sleep now. I will stay 1 day in Seville before starting out on the VDLP on Wednesday. I will post pics and video of Seville tomorrow. Oh oh boy here it comes. |
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