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Published: January 24th 2008
Here we go again
Part I - Vía de la Plata - Camino Mozárabe
For convenience we’ve covered the planning and training sections in the earlier blog entries and broken the walk itself into the following three sections:
Camino Mozárabe from Seville though Mérida and Salamanca to Zamora
Camino Sanbrés from Zamora, through Ourense to Santiago de Compostela
Camino Finisterre from Santiago to Finisterre they mythical end of the world.
The total route is just over 1,100 km, and most guide books recommend that it can be walked in around 6 to 7 weeks to Santiago plus an additional 3 days to Finisterre.
Many of those we met on the
Camino Francés commented on how this longer route was much quieter with very few
peregrinos (pilgrims). ¡We considered this a major plus! Not because we are anti social (okay we do get a bit feral and hermit like), but once you’ve experienced the crush and litter (especially of the later stages) of the
Camino Francés, the
Vía de la Plata is a refreshing change - it’s also a much less religious route.
If you are not into days of walking seeing no-one - try another route.
Guides
There are some great up to date French and German guide books with detailed maps and a good size for your pocket or your pack.
We started with a farily good English guide called “Walking the Via de la Plata” by Ben
Cole and Bethan Davies (sadlye we lost it along the way). Its prettty straight forward with diagrammatic maps, without photos, but in may ways a better guide book then the other guide we took, the impenetrable and often inaccurate Cicerone Guide written by the religiously obsessed Alison Raju. Perhaps the best thing that can be said about this guide is that it fits into your pocket. It has basic maps, but fall all its incredibly detailed descriptions it is all too often misleading and inaccurate.
The so called “NEW Edition” we took was published in 2005 but despite that it didn’t include many of the features and
albergues on the route that had been put in place for the last
albergue year -2004. Indicating that it hasn’t been updated very well and is mainly based on information that is over 9 years old.
While this is an ancient route, it does change, especially with new
albergues and
desvó caused by motorways (and the high speed rain in Galicia). She is also more interested in point out where you can spot St James memorabilia then where the
albergue /
mesón /
ultramarinos is - and trust us when you
Follow the Arrows
Sevilla street bollardshave come in off the dusty
meseta hot and thirsty after 30+kms you are more interested in a bed, a drink and some food then where the nearest statue of
Santiago Matamoros or San Roque is! Besides which most churches are locked so you haven’t much chance of seeing them anyway. Also frustratingly she hardly mentions any of the many Roman ruins along the way which are a highlight of this route. So it’s well worth doing wide research on the area before you come so you know what to look out for.
The most important thing to look for is the
fetcha (arrow), a trust splash of yellow paint that indicated you were on your way. As usual Hel was the navigator on this trip and if she wasn’t looking for
fetcha, she could be found with her head in the guide book muttering as she consulted the “oracle” to work out where we were and were to go next.
Go down the stairs and with your back to the ayuntamiento take 5 steps north west, wave your foot in the air and take the second right, hard not veering left…
Hel also had her trusty hand made fold up map (although Scott suspected this was more for collecting
sellos then anything else). More often then not we just following the arrows (or our noses), and
we could reliable predict that the day would end with a decent into a valley to cross a river before climbing up the other side over a bridge and on into the town.
If you are interested in this route (or the other caminos) visit:
Getting Started
We chose to go in European autumn to miss the worst of the heat we expected to find in Extremadura and yet still arrive in time to beat the winter rains in Galicia. As with our last
camino we trained before we left (see earlier blog entries) but we would call ourselves super fit. We also knew our limits pretty well and had learnt some hard lessons on foot care from our last
camino.
We also stripped down out gear to the minimum and had invested in some light weight packs and gear, Hel’s pack weighed 7kg with the basics and up to 9kg with water and food included. Scott carried the camel with 3 litres of water and so typically carried 12kg per day.
¡We had carried almost twice as much weight at the start of the Camino Francés!
In total we had just over 8 weeks but this included getting
over to Spain (from New Zealand) and coming home again. We’d allowed for a week travelling and stopovers and had an extra week up our sleeves to spend “recovering” most likely in Portugal or back in Barcelona. That left us 6 weeks on the road. Given we wanted to go from Seville to Finisterre and would probably take a couple of days off to visit some of the more interesting places along the way that meant walking 25kms a day. Easily done.
Most people are put off by the sheer distances involved. But you don’t have to be super fit to walk, it you work it out you’ll find that walking 4 to 5 hours in a day will take you around 25kms. The trick is to think of it as one step at a time and enjoy it, because of you thought of the hundreds of kilometres involved, well why would you start. But a 5 hour stroll with a picnic on the way- that’s not so hard. The hard part is that you get to do it every day.
In the end we walked the route in just over 5 weeks and averaged over 28kms per day.
Seville to Guillena
4 September, 25km walked today - 25kms total It’s
Thursday, we’ve come down on the overnight train to Seville and as we pull into the railway station we can see the city waking up with us. Unfortunately we can’t see the cathedral tower from the station so Hel sorts out which way to go and double checks in broken Spanish with a local that they are heading off in the right direction.
It’s a couple of kms into the cathedral and we’ve warmed up nicely, only to have to sit and wait for the cathedral office through the Puerta de la Campanilla (the gate by the bell tower next to the fountain) to open (after 11am - Monday to Friday only) so we can get our first stamp in our credentials. Meanly, the old guy manning the
sello would not stamp Hel’s carefully drawn map, but we do finally get our credentials and we finally hit the road again around noon.
The first
camino way mark or
señal is hidden behind scaffolding on the cathedral but we head off and cross through the old centre of town to the bridge Puente Isabel II across the Río Guadalquivir.
While there is initially a pleasant historical start to
the trip, it is soon overtaken by the grim
barrio as we pass through the city outskirts on the road to Santiponce. Apart from some French who were also getting their credentials at the cathedral (but not starting to walk until the following day) we see no-one walking the
camino all day.
When we finally reach the open countryside there are clumps of cactus, sunflowers and fields of cotton. Many of the
finca have bored dogs tied up to act as barking alarms with dangerous dog signs - i]¡cuidad con el perro!
We pass by the Monasterio de San Isidoro (it’s closed) and reach Italica (founded in 206AD) and stop to see if we can find somewhere to stay and have a look at the extensive ruins here. While there are a couple of tourist style hotels they are closed for the season. We learn a new Spanish word which we are to use all to often on out walk
cerrado (closed). At least the bar is open and all to happy to sell us lunch and cold water and look after our packs while we check out the ruins. No-one else is mad enough to be out
in the noon day sun but Italica is well laid out in park like surroundings and its great to be able to start our
camino with Roman ruins. There’s even a replica Roman garden to keep Hel horticulturaly satisfied. Scott’s more interested in the pits and tunnels under the gladiatorial arena.
However despite the impressive ruins and the shade from the trees, it’s hot. We debate going on to Guillena or going back to Santiponce. Given most of what we had been was
cerrado we decide to push on despite the heat. So much for our claims to start of slowly and keep things evenly paced
Guillena is similarly closed. ¿Is this to be the dominant feature on the way? After quizzing some locals about the availability of
pensions or places to sleep, we are ushered to the edge of town and what looks like a sports complex it’s the local
refugio one set of the 10 bunks is free and we manage to find our first beds on the trip. Its basic accommodation but the showers are hot and the other pilgrims (most of which how have sensibly taken 2 days to get here) are a friendly
Follow the arrow, Badajoz
This looks a lot like a Taranaki gate! mixed bunch.
There is no kitchen in the
refugio, and no place open to go for dinner so we make do with the leftovers from lunch. The evening passes with liberal snoring of
peregrino and barking of local
perro.
Guillena to Castleblanco de los Arrgos
5 September, 19km walked today - 44kms total As we head off early in the morning Scott looms out of the dark complaining that his face is hot. It takes Hel somewhat by surprise, we eventually deduce it’s a combination of sun burn from being hatless in Barcelona and the effects of a new hi-tech face cloth. This combined with a seat rash is taking its toll on Scott which is somewhat ironic as on the last
camino it was Hel who was surprised to find herself falling apart right from the start.
We cross the Río Rivera de Huelva by ford as we leave Guillena in the dark, a few torch lights tinkling behind us indicate where the other keen pilgrims are also up and on their way. A couple of hours in and just as the sun is starting to show itself we take a break for breakfast
at a truck stop at Venta la Casa de Pradera - the junction where the
camino de tierra (dirt road) meets the
carretera (main road). The coffee is hot and good and the toast plentiful. A young French boy joins us just before we leave, he is travelling on his own and looks all of 12 years old. Turns out he is 19 year old Simone from Bordeaux who is doing his first
camino and hoping to travel as far as Mérida.
We set off again in the glorious golden light that it such a feature of the
camino, while searching for a lost
señal two Spaniards join us and together we back track till we find the arrow we missed on a curb by the industrial park. It leads to a trail through olive groves on one side and golden fields and picturesque ruins on the other. We start to see more of the
encina holm oaks and join up with an old cattle drive, the
Via Pecuria Cañada Real de las Isas This 16 km track will take us most of the way to Castleblanco.
We pull up early at Castleblanco de los Arrgos the
albergue is above the petrol station and it has a number of rooms so we can spread out as there are now about 20
peregrino as we catch up with others.
Castleblanco de los Arrgos to Almadén de la Plata
6 September, 29km walked today - 73kms total Another early start and we eat
melocotton (peaches) for breakfast. The first section is along the
carretera but it’s a quiet road and there’s generous
arcén (verge). A number of bars are open supplying us (and the local deer hunters) with coffee. The hunters later pass us in the 4x4s as they head up towards the
coto de caza (hunting preserve). We pass several
finca entries with large water pots.
It begins to rain, gently at first then increasingly more steadily, we are drenched by the time we reach the entry to El Berrocal a nature reserve dedicated to replanting of trees - gardening mad Hel approves. Luckily has a covered gate house that provided a convenient place to change into dry clothes and wet weather gear.
The country side is beautiful, more
encina some stripped for cork, stone fences an the occasional long legged Iberian pig.
We pass through the park and hike up a very step ridge before descending steeply to emerge with a view over Almadén de la Plata (and its extensive solar farm harvesting sunshine for power). On the way down we pass a number of
iberico farms. We were still soaked and pleased to see the town but hadn’t quiet counted on the municipal
albergue being placed at the far end of the tow - up a hill.
¿What sadistic bastard put the hill in front of the albergue?
When we finally reached the large and well appointed
albergue we discovered that the passport holder was not waterproof and not only was our guide book wet, but the passports, credentials and all of our euro notes were now bright blue thanks to dye leaking. At least they were still useable although we did look like we had robbed a bank. The good news was that Scott is on the mend… but he has come down with a couple of blood blisters. Hel takes him into her foot care regime and we both go to bird with greased up feet.
The supermarket is still open (just) when we finally track it down and we stock up on oranges and dried
sausage for the walk, and cold 1 litre bottles of
cervessa. We break out the cards and play last card while we rehydrate back in the
albergue kitchen. Our passports and shoes dry on the make shift pilgrim drying rack - a couple of staff taped to chairs to hold them over the heater. Finally a use for those stupid sticks people carry.
Almadén de la Plata to El Real de la Jara
7 September, 20km walked today - 93kms total It’s Sunday and everything is closed as usual so no morning coffee. We get lost a couple of times in the grounds of the Dehesa Mateo Arroyo (a large estate the
camino crosses) and end up adding on a few extra kms to the day. Still we did get to see an impressive array of animals adding cows, goats, sheet and chooks to the stock we have seen on the way.
When we come out of the farm it’s down the hill and back on the
camino de tierra past the memorial for José Luis Salvador who formed the Amigos del Camino de Santiago who help maintain and the
camino and work with local
towns to maintain and set up
albergues. It’s worth noting that there a number of groups that help do this work and during our trip we ran into locals maintaining makers, installing stepping stones, and clearing the track etc. While José is memorialised here, Andrés Muñoz Garde popularising the route in 1991 when he painted many of the arrows we so dutifully follow.
We reach El Real de la Jara with its castle on the hill and
refugio in an old wine seller. We decide not to press onto Monasterio as its annual festival of the pig has just ended and the place is apparently shut, recovering from a massive hangover no doubt. Speaking of hangovers, Scott manages to create a massive head ache of his own, not from
cervessa or
vino tinto, but from banging his head on the low doorways in the
refugio.
We visited the castle, sections had been badly restored but it had a great view. On the way back to
refugio.the we collected a
sello from the
Guardia Civil and tracked down the tourist office to pay our donation for the
refugio. Only to find that when we returned the refuge keeper had
thrown our packs out of the room. Well at least we had a key and the other
peregrino are honest folk.
El Real de la Jara to Fuente de Cantos
8 September, 43km walked today - 136kms total We passed another older castle ruins on the way out of El Real, apparently these mark the border between Andalucía and Extremadura. The country side continued to be a pleasant mix of fairly open wood land and pasture and we wondered if Extremadura’s reputation was perhaps ill founded.
The Ermita de San Isidoro is a pleasant spot to rest, just like the retinue for the saint who stopped here when the carried his body this way on their way to León. We weren’t carrying anything that important (or heavy) and didn’t stop long as we found of we stopped for any length of time our way would feet began to think that we had called it quits and refused to get moving again. So we tended get up early and travel a steady pace through the day and stop to catch the end of the lengthy Spanish lunch break (realistically around 2pm). This meant that we travelled in
the cool of the day and were able to take our main meal at a reasonable time (otherwise you have to wait till close to 9pm) which left us plenty of time to do our laundry, rest, check out the town, play last cards and oh yes - drink beer.
After 21km we reached Monasterio, which was closed after its week long festival oddly called the
Dia de Jãmón. The bar keep at Bar Mesón was a pig of a guy and so we went down the road to another bar for our well earned coffee. We filled up with all the cold water we could carry and hit the road, out into Extremadura in the heat of the day, otherwise referred to as the “death zone”.
The
camino flattened out and the way was littered with granite cubes that mark the way through the province. The woods continued and while the trees became more widely placed, they were still large spreading oaks that provided plenty of shade. We saw a hopeful looking sign for the
albergue turistico in Fuente, everything was looking pretty good. It was still going to be a long day as Fuente De Cantos
is 22km from Monasterio, but if it kept up like this we wouldn’t have any problems we thought.
Then we came out of the trees, the
meseta stretched out before us completely without shade, we could see Fuente in the distance, probably 10km away. The problem was the trusty yellow went one way, and the new marker cubes went the other. The guide book was useless as usual and we had to make a choice. We stuck with the arrows as we’d followed these on two
camino now and they had never let us down. A quick water check showed Scott’s camel was dry and I was down to ½ a bottle. We had been enjoying the frosty cool water from the insulated camel water carrier a bit too much and had gone through 3 litres, we still had 90 minutes to walk with next to no water in completely open country - in the heat of the day.
We pulled out hats down around our ears and the collars on our shirts up - full body cover to protect against the sun. We walked on. In one of the depressions we came across an unoccupied
finca, it
had a pear tree. The pear tree had pears on it, nearly ripe juicy pears. They were delicious, we slowly sucked them down to the core as we walked, when we reached the road we swallowed the last of the water and set off the last kms into the town. When we got there it was closed. But there was a water barrel by one of the vegetable gardens that we stuck our heads in and then looked around for the
albergue. A German
peregrino, Hans, was sitting in the shade of a tree laughing at us. He’d come in an hour before us and was waiting for his energy to return before going in search of the
albergue. We knew that if we stopped we would not be able to get up again so kept on up the hill (there is always a hill). Just as we were starting to look along the streets to see which way the arrows went we looked up and saw we were standing right in front of it.
Fuente’s albergue was more like a parador.
The
albergue turistico is in a former monastery, complete with vegetable garden, glass house, bar and restaurant. The bar and restaurant were
closed but the
albergue wasn’t - and it was air conditioned. We breathed deeply as they registered us and then showed us to our room. Okay it was still bunks but only 2 pairs to a room and they had crisp white sheets… bliss.
At around 15 to 20 euro per night the
albergue turistico are usually in interesting buildings and more expensive then the donation based
refugio or 8 to 10 euro per night
albergues but they are better equipped, have bigger rooms with fewer people, and include breakfast.
Despite being exhausted from the walk in, we recovered enough to wander into town in the hope of finding something to eat. Hans was sitting in a bar by the central church eating a
bocodillo, he assured us it was the only place open. Given most Spanish towns don’t open in the evening till after 8pm we decided to wander around a bit and see what we could find. As we wandered up the road we found increasing numbers of well dressed locals joining us, most of the windows were also hung with pale blue banners. We stopped at a plaza at the top of the hill by
a very pleasant brick building with blue tiles. The local bar was open and the served us a range of
tapas with our
cervessa. The food was really good - most of the meals we had previously had, were good simple fare but this was something special and included complementary herbs and flavours to bring out the best of the food.
It soon became apparent what the locals were milling about for, it was the festival of the Virgin and she passed us by on a platform of flowers and candles on her annual tour around the town. All the women of the village made an honour guard for her as she passed and the procession was led by a pretty young girl (who was also a hunch back) carrying a banner.
Fuente de Cantos to Zafra
9 September, 26km walked today - 162kms total We left Fuente late (7am), deciding to make the most of the luxury and the breakfast. The French couple we shared the room with spent considerable time tending to their damaged feet. Hel greased ours up and we hit the road. Despite the hard experience of the day before, we were
in pretty good shape over all. Scott’s problems had subsided and were on the mend, Hel’s feet were holding up well. However both sets of feet were threatening to mutiny if we pulled another 40+km stint again - and we didn’t blame them.
Another Roman road led out of the town and passed a giant bull silhouette on a distant hill across fields of cabbages. While there was no shade there was a gentle cool breeze that lasted most of the day. We harvested the odd grape along the way and managed a refuelling stop in Calzadila along the way. Puebla Sanchez was mostly closed after yet another festival and multi-coloured flags of all nations fluttered in the main square over a wine stained Santiago dagger set into the pavement. We went on the extra 5km to Zafra, including a section along the rail line past the old railway station. We stopped at the
parador in an old former castle of the Duke of Feria and asked for a room. Despite being unshaven, dusty and a bit travel worn the staff didn’t miss a beat and booked us into one of the lower rooms overlooking the courtyard - so
we didn’t have to walk too far.
Hel enjoyed the
cava in the bath, even if it was only a little bottle. The clean sheets and lack of pilgrim snores was also a big plus, as was the dinner under the stars in the courtyard. Ahh bliss.
Zafra to Villafranca de los Barros
10 September, 22km walked today - 184kms total Leaving Zafra in the morning, after a very pleasant breakfast, we passed the
albergue turistico in a converted nunnery that the guide book failed to mention. The many plazas and arches in Zafra made for an atmospheric early morning walk, topped of by the tower of the former church San Francisco.
Once out into the open it was more
camino de tierra and a great view over Santos de Maimona. Then back out into vineyards and olive trees. The bulk of the Tempranillo grapes are grown as free standing bushes then wired vines on fences that we are used to seeing back home. The harvest was just about to start and we enjoyed a few early “samples” which helped keep the blood sugar up on the walk.
The
albergue turistico just outside
is in a converted olive oil mill, but it was closed and 8kms out of Villafranca (and the nearest bar). Apparently it has a great dinning hall and bar (when it’s open) but none of this was of use to us. So we kept on into Villafranca which had no
refugio and few hotels. We eventually stayed in Hotel Diana in the centre of town, after much searching for alternatives.
Villafranca de los Barros to Torremegía
11 September, 28km walked today - 212kms total Up early the grape harvest was in full swing and as we left the town in the dark we were accompanied by a convoy of tractors all heading out into the miles and miles (should that be kms) of grapes. We swung our torches to avoid being run over and were generally tooted at by friendly locals.
We marched like Caesar's Xth legion in a 5 hour straight stint to Torremegía. Along the way we passed a group of three Spaniards who were musing along with an interesting collection of plastic bags hanging off their packs and sticks. Every now and again the shortest of the group would nip into the
field and emerge with a bunch of grapes.
When we finally arrived in Torremegía the
albergue turistico was closed - which was a pity as it looked a great building with scallop shells around the door. As we didn’t want to push on to Mérida we booked ourselves into the local hotel / bar and passed the time playing cards till the dining room opened. Later during an after dinner walk we found the boy from Bordeaux slumped in the bus shelter, he’d slept out in the open the night before as the Villafranca
albergue was shut and he couldn’t afford a hotel… while it works out okay for two people to share a room it can be pretty costly for one. So he had made the call to catch the bus into Mérida. We wished him well and arrived back at the hotel in time to meet the three Spaniards booking in, philosophical about the additional costs.
Torremegía to Mérida
12 September, 16km walked today - 228kms total In the morning we rose late-ish and hit the road again, basically following the feeder routes into the city. As we came close to Mérida we
joined the promenade to the
puente Romano across the Río Guadiana into Mérida. The bridge is nearly 800kms long and has 60 arches (the original roman sections were between the islands in the river and were later joined up to form a single bridge) it has been in constant use ever since it was constructed and has only relatively recently had cars banned. Across the bridge the
Alcazaba (military fortress) also demonstrates the Arabic connections to the area.
Also across the bridge is the
albergue turn left and walk along next to the river and you’ll find it in a converted mill house. We had already chosen to spend a day in Mérida visiting its many sights.
Mérida was founded by the Romans and originally called Augusta Emeritus. It was used as a centre for pensioned of legionnaires from the fifth and tenth (Casers famous X legion was recruited from Iberia). Thankfully much of the roman origins of the town are well preserved and presented including the 3000 seat
Theater is still used (as evidenced by the lighting scaffolding being taken down during our visit). The
Anfiteatro (amphitheatre) next door had seating for 14,000 is still in
very good nick. But not much remains of the 30,000 capacity circus - although you should still go down to visit it as along the way there is a really good section of aqueduct appropriately called the chariot race-course.
The
Museo Nacional de Arte Romano (National Museum of Roman Art), is located across the street from the
Theater and
Anfiteatro. Its worth visiting just to see the building itself as it uses Roman arches in its design and is made from the thin roman style bricks. It’s built over a section of roman road which you can visit in the basement along with foundations of Roman wall and buildings etc. Inside it houses impressive Roman mosaics, coins (including many from the local mint), sculpture, glass and wall paintings.
Along the river bank there’s also an austere mix of cubes built on stilts over part of the Roman town so you can still see the foundations of Roman defence wall and buildings etc. In addition to visiting the
Theater and
Anfiteatro we mooched around the town tracking down mosaics and ruins including the giant
Arco de Trajano and the
Templo de Diana with the oddly grafted 16th. century
Palace of Count of los Corbes built inside it.
But the highlight of the day was going out to the
Acueducto de los Milagros (about 5 minutes walk from the
albergue) and watching the sunset cast golden rays over the stone work. This aqueduct brought water from the Embalse de Prosepina into Mérida. And both the aqueduct and the roman dam are on the
camino.
Mérida to Aljucén
13 September, 17km walked today - 245kms total In the morning we walked over the lesser known roman bridge out of town (over the Río Alberragas) and looked out over the impressive ruins of the aqueduct in the dim morning light. We kept on to the roman damn and lake Proserpina and had hoped to catch a coffee at one of the many resort bars around the lake but as it was early Saturday morning, every thing closed again, so we stopped for an orange and kept walking.
We briefly admired the old church at El Carrascalejo, interestingly along this section of the
camino the way markers include the St James daggers with the familiar yellow arrow. There was even a dagger onto of a
rollo. A
young local dog joined us and walked through the country side behind us much of the way, passing a mix of open country and more pig farms.
In Aljucén Hel spotted a sign advertising
Termas Romano and that was it for the day, we had to stop so that she could “take the waters”. The roman baths were a real treat for aching feet and backs, even more so as they were completely unexpected. The local bar and
ultramarinos were closed as usual, but eventually they opened and while the bar didn’t serve meals the small local
albergue had a small kitchen and so we enjoyed an alfresco meal in the courtyard sharing tomatoes with Domingo and Manuel (the three Spaniards where down to two now). Hans the feral German got told off by the
hospitalero for moving a cot outside and had to make do with sleeping inside for a change.
Aljucén to Alcuéscar
14 September, 22km walked today - 267kms total Sunday was another modest walk through to the Alcuéscar along twisty dirt tracks through the local
dehesas (farms) and more basic arrows and the odd concrete
cruceiro (cross). This stretch of
road is particularly beautiful with more holm / cork oaks, the odd orange and olive trees.
Just as we enter the Alcuéscar we found the
refugio in the House of Mercy which is also a home for disabled or homeless men. Established by Father Leocadio as part of his work for the "Slaves of Mary and the Poor" the monastery here offers a support to pilgrims as an extension to their work and ask that you join them for dinner (after vespers) and include a brief tour of the chapel and explanation of Leocadio work and their efforts to beatify him. The people are friendly, the showers and washing facilities are great, supper is hearty walking food.
There is an important Visigothic church near by (the Basilica of Saint Lucia), but we settle in for a snooze and don’t venture out. According to some experts this is one of the best examples of Hispanic-Visigothic religious constructions in the Peninsula.
Alcuéscar to Valdesalor
15 September, 28km walked today - 295kms total This section had a number of
miliario including one incorporated into a stone fence and anther with a hole cut in it that pilgrim
used to leave notes for each other. There was also a lot of lovely roman bridges including one at Ayuela, near Casas de don Antonio, where we picked up another dog looking for a walk. There are a lot of sheep in this area and the dog who followed us was one of the Spanish sheep dogs that actually look like a sheep (often they have docked tails to help with the disguise).
Parts of the original roman road have also been uncovered and the
camino follows these in long straight sections. The roman bridge at Valdesalor was long and had been over-restored with modern granite handrails, it led into a park like area where the locals were busy tidying up the place. We went into the town and found the
ayuntamiento (town hall) where we were given the keys to the mayoral chamber and allowed to stay for free sleeping on some mats. We double checked before we hung or knickers out on the balcony next to the town flags but yes that was the clothes line. The two bars in town were shut and there was no where to eat but up the road at a diner
attached to the service station. Eventually 10 of us squeezed into the refuge for the night.
Valdesalor to Cáceres
16 September, 12km walked today - 307kms total A short walk into Cáceres following the
carretera as usual. Confusingly we had to walk on and on through the edge of the city till we came to the old town marked by a section of roman bridge set in a road island. We wound our way through the old streets following our nose as much as the guide book before coming down the other side into the main square. Here the guide book got very obtuse and after several attempts to sort out which way the
camino went and where the
albergue Hel finally shut the book and pointed right… soon we were ensconced in the
albergue with our laundry done and beet chilling in the tub. Later suitably refreshed we ventured back into the old town to track down the pilgrim relief of Santiago on the door above the church and the Arab Cistern (in then basement of the Cáceres museum). Scott was taken by the bronze penitent statutes in the square where we had dinner, Hel
was more impressed with finally seeing a stork actually using one of the many nests we had seen along the route.
Cáceres to Embalse de Alcántara
17 September, 33km walked today - 340kms total After consulting the guide book we decided to by pass the very pleasant
albergue in
Casar de Cáceres (as it was only 11.0 kms down the road) and push on to the Embalse de Alcántara. Given it was open country with no towns on route we were concerned about a repeat of the day to Fuente.
The day was hot, more solar panels attesting to the high level of sunshine, and more
miliario showing the routes roman connections. Eventually we came down off the high plateau and crossed the high bridges over the River Almonte and Lake Tajo looking out at the flooded tower that is all that is left of the village of Floripes. The water level was pretty low and the lake looked pretty scummy. The second bridge was dual carriageway with the train going below and us and the cars above.
As the sun beat down relentlessly we passed a French group taking shelter by a cliff and
wondered just how far it was to the
albergue. The guide book said we should be right on it, we scanned for signs, nothing. Eventually a promising
albergue turistico sign appeared and we veered off the road down a bumpy track to arrive at a bunker like building overlooking the lake. Scott was impressed with the giant metal shutters, while Hel was more impressed that it had cold beer available and that the
hospitalero bunged our smelly dusty gear into the washing machine for us.
In the evening we watched a slow and steady stream of familiar pilgrims join us (and a few newbies). Three of the original walkers we first met way back in Guillena stumbled in and the King of the Hunza went off for a swim in the murky water while Daisy and Gerald wrote up their diaries while we all watched the sun go down. A new group of Spaniards also came in and took over the place (approximately 12 of them) they didn’t appear to be carrying much and this was explained by a taxi eventually turning up with their packs - auto assist!
Embalse de Alcántara to Grimaldo
18 September, 22km walked Band
Carcasboso today - 362kms total
We left early, the route out was hilly and steep before turning into the more usual and passed through more cattle and shrub land. We passed the tiny white washed Chapel St Cristobal, just outside Cañaveral and another roman bridge at San Benito. When the way became more like woodlands we took a diversion off the
camino and cut up the valley under the motorway legs to through vegetable patches to arrive at the small hamlet at Grimaldo.
The
albergue at Grimaldo is handily placed next to the bar, so we pulled up a chair and waited for the bar to open and let us in. Eventually the
hospitalero arrived and unlocked the tiny converted house, it may have been basic but it was clean and tidy and we made ourselves at home knowing that soon we would be joined by about another 10 pilgrims behind us. Thankfully the large group of Spaniards when elsewhere, although they did turn up for lunch and ate the bar out of meat… the poor
hospitalero had only just sorted out our order and before she could deliver it she was being bossed about. Eventually we got
chips and eggs for lunch, and all too late the
hospitalero realised she’d served us without the bread
“oh la pan, la pan” she cried when she noticed the mistake… bread and wine are the basics of hospitality around here and she was mortified. Both the
hospitalero and her husband were tiny, like munchkins and it was interesting watching them work the crowd as they looked after everyone. More meat arrived and Scott managed to get his fix for the day.
Meanwhile Hel murders a giant centipede while doing the washing
Grimaldo to Carcaboso
19 September, 31km walked today - 393kms total It’s Friday, Scott’s birthday, and Hel has arranged thirty kms of stony road and a trip through the walled town of Galisteo (including pork cracklings in the bar in the main square followed by ice-cream) as a peasant for him. We get another great bridge and some shady sections and past signs to a golf course. Irrigation in this area makes it scream green and its hard to believe we are still in Extremadura.
When we arrive in Carcaboso the arrows divert us past the town and along an ugly concrete road
(¿What’s wrong with the old cobbles?), past a church that uses
miliario as corner pillars, and spit us out the other side of the town. Not helpful when we are looking for the
albergue… however we eventually track down some locals who lead us back to the
carretera where there is a guest house next to a bar. Then locals are all preparing for a festival, sadly it turns out to more of a drink fest and we end up trying to sleep while a series of load and very bad bands play Guns and Roses covers through the night.
Carcaboso to Aldanueva del Camino
20 September, 42km walked today - 435kms total We head out as usual at 6am, the locals are still bleary eyed and stumbling around to the bad covers band. However we are soon out in the open again and walk through more lightly wooded farm land towards the Cáparra arch.
We’d studied the guide book carefully as this section means we have to walk 42km because despite Cáparra being half way, you can’t stay there and there is nothing on this route till you get to Aldanueva del Camino. The
Stepping Stones
Road to Aldanueva del Camino Fuente fiasco loams large in our memory but we are confident that we have learnt from this experience and know we can cover 42kms.
The first half of the day goes to plan. We arrive at Cáparra in good shape and stop to enjoy the archaeological site and a tasty lunch. This turn a little sour when we divert over to the flash visitors centre to get water and a stamp. Sorry no stamp and the only water available is in a vending machine and no - the gate keepers won’t make change for you so you can buy any. Hel lets loose with a stream of grumbles loosely based on what a useless visitors centre it is, which shames the lazy keeper into breaking some change for us so we can at least get water.
Filled up we set off for the second part of the day. Despite the heat (and road walking which just makes you fry) we did pretty well - until we reach a section of the route where the guide book says to climb over the locked gate and go towards the power pylon in the middle of the field and then through
the gate in front of it… Well we got part way through the instructions and found some arrows which indicated that there was once a route this way, but no more. We wasted nearly 2 hours in a cow field (at one point Hel attempted a short cut through a bull paddock) before having to give up and go back. At this point Hel had a complete navigational breakdown and threw the guidebook across the field in disgust. Scott rescued the book and refilled the now near empty drink bottles from the infill of the cattle trough.
Back tracking we followed the N-630 towards Aldanueva, at a turn off we had the choice of staying on the road and going to the bar, or following the guidebook off through another series of confusing unmarked side roads. We made the mistake of following the guide book, only later to find that if we’d stayed on the road it would have been 11kms shorter! When we finally reached Aldanueva Hel cried with joy at the sign which claimed it was 200m to the
albergue and then spend the next 2000m muttering about false advertising.
If we had to this section
again we’d probably miss Carcaboso and head over to Plasencia as while not the official route, it includes more roman ruins and the
albergue at Oliva de Plasencia is supposed to be very nice. While longer, this route can be broken into more manageable chunks.
Aldanueva del Camino to Baños de Montemayor
21 September, 10km walked today - 445kms total Having done a long stretch the day before we vow that we are going to do a short trip today, besides at Baños there are more
termas. Despite being Sunday we find that the baths are open and while we wait for the
albergue to open we go down to the spa to have a soak.
Sadly unlike Aljucén which had a fabulous roman bath (and offered a pilgrim discount) the spa at Baños de Montemayor is more set up as an old folks medical treatment and they are not at all used to dealing with tourists. We eventually by top dollar to have a tepid swim with a man in white scrubs letching at Hel. Yes, the roman pool was kind of cool but we would have had to shell out even more euro
(and pre book) to have a hot bath, and the whole experience was overwhelmed by the nasty overtones of the staff.
Still the
albergue was nice and we pretty much had it to ourselves.
Baños de Montemayor to Fuenterroble de Salvatierra
22 September, 33km walked today - 478kms total After a sleepless night which Hel spent throwing up, we got up early. We struggled to get some dry toast and coffee in us before leaving, only to have Scott join Hel throwing up. Bad water - a legacy of getting lost outside of Aldanueva.
We toss up (literally) staying on at Bano or sweating it out on the
camino we opt for the later as it’s only 12kms to the next
albergue at Calzada de Bejar and we can always pull up there if need be.
So it’s off up the hill on a remade section of roman road as we leave Bano de Montemayor. Hel makes it almost up the hill before she simultaneously faints and throws up. Scott manages to save her falling down the hill into the blackberries and turns her head so she doesn’t drown in her own vomit.
Cathedral
Salamanca Once she’s stable we are off again and soon crest the hill and pass the sign showing that we are leaving Extremadura and entering Castilla y León - Provincial de Salamanca.
The road soon dips down past a modern
miliario that are the new way marks as apposed to the Extremadura cubes. The trust arrow is ever present. On the border we pass an old section of roman road and as we go down into the valley we can see an impressive motorway bridge crossing over the valley high above.
We pass through the pretty village of Valverde de Valdelacasa with its wonky pillars and potted geraniums and push on to Fuenterroble. So much for being sick.
The
Albergue Parroquial at Fuenterroble is large and set around an old hall with several bunk houses at the rear. The bar is closed for a funeral so the
hospitalero allows us to use the kitchen. There are around 30 pilgrims as the lot we’ve been walking on and off with has caught up with more French some of which started in Mérida. We all mooch around waiting for the
ultramarinos to open so we can stock up. When it
does eventually open out of now where the auto assist Spanish group arrive out of nowhere and push to the front of the queue and dominate the shopping, to the extent of taking nearly an hour and almost buying everything in the tiny shop. A bit bloody rude.
Having been sick all day we are starving and join the group for a slap up meal of pasta washed down with watermelon - we stay away from the vino and beer.
Fuenterroble de Salvatierra to San Pedro de Rozados
23 September, 31km walked today - 509kms total Still not feeling great, but we continue to move forward. Our start to the day isn’t helped by missing a way mark and ending up walking several kms off route. Hel spends the day dry retching and we make slow progress through the day. The day begins flat but soon we are faced with a steep climb. The way is littered with a series of large wooden crosses (apparently the locals erect one each Easter) and this is apparently the highest point on the route which explains why they have set up their own cross of iron on the
Pico de Duena. Hel’s more impressed with the windmills in the mist then the Santiago-cross.
We make it into
albergue "El miliario" in San Pedro and sleep deeply to shake off the last of the lurgie that has been dogging us.
San Pedro de Rozados to Salamanca
24 September, 26km walked today - 535kms total It’s hard to remember San Pedro and we are so weak from the bout of illness that we don’t even take any photos. Still we raise ourselves and set one foot ahead of each other towards Salamanca. As we pass through Morille the plaque states that it’s another 428kms to Santiago (¿But is it correct?), the guide book states that we pass the half way mark to Santiago around here so I guess it is. Once we pass the pig farm and come out into the open the sun comes out and bathes the fields in golden light and we can see Salamanca in the distance and steadily walk towards the cathedral.
By now we know the routine, over yet another
Puente Romano this one crosses the Río Tormes, of the bridge's 27 arches only the 15 at the
near end are still Roman. Across the bridge there are bronze way signs with an A clearly pointing the way to the
albergue which is a real treat set into a historic garden. We deposit our packs and check out the sights.
Salamanca’s another major city with layers of history, the route from Toledo also joins the
camino here. We visit the Plaza Mayor, and check out the relief to Wellington in recognition of his adding the Spanish defeat Napoleon, and then wonder around checking out the university buildings and other sights including:
Frog spotting on the Patio de las Escuelas
Marvelling at the glass windows in the Museo Art Nouveau
Counting the 300 scallop shells on Rodrigo Arias de Maldonado place - Casa de las Conchas.
The aptly named Universidad Pontificia
We stay an extra day to let ourselves recover fully before moving on.
Salamanca to El Cubo de Tierra del Vino
26 September, 36km walked today - 571kms total We exit Salamanca walking alongside 4 kms of busy main road, past an airplane in scrap yard. As the
arcén (road verge) is under repair it was all a bit tricky but we finally came back onto
camino de tierra. It’s worth noting a change in the milestones style milestones (with shell) in the region around Villanueva de Campeán.
We seamed to walk for a long time under the scrutiny of the Topas high-security prison tower and must have amused them at some point changing out of our thermals and wet weather gear - it’s really cold up here and we need to wrap up warm at the start of each day. The final stretch of the day is supposed to be along a busy
carretera, we chose to take anther route and march up the newly formed motorway - ¡ Nice and flat and empty!
We are rewarded at the end of the day with comfortable beds in the
refugio attached to the church in El Cubo de Tierra del Vino and a welcoming guard dog (but over zealous and obnoxious council worker in charge of the stamp). While Scott naps, Hel watch flock of sheep coming home for the evening to be put into the barns in town for the night… Kind of like us pilgrims in the
albergue as we were also locked up for the night.
El Cubo de Tierra del Vino to Zamora
27 September, 33km walked today - 504kms total It’s another cold day on the high flat plateau and the modern milestones here are an interesting mix of Arab script on a granite
miliario base with a metal pilgrim staff (with gourd and shell) a rather well combined expression of the three cultures on the route.
We reach Zamora and cross the
Puente de Piedra over the Río Douro into the town. Its another well preserved historic town with large sections of defence wall in place and a good mix of buildings and ruins.
We where hoping to stay at the Parador in Zamora but the place is full up due to all the weddings in town, so we nip down to the
albergue which is at the rear, which is also very nice. However we do end up sharing a room with a young German woman who had been walking the
Camino Francés but decided to divert (by bus) to Salamanca and Zamora. She spends most of her time moaning about the
camino and can’t make up her mind if she should go back up to join the
Camino Francés at Astorga, or divert to Santiago de Compostela via Ourense. While we have some sympathy with her, she’s whiney and goes on and on like everything is a hassle or a problem.
Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come.
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john josiah evans
non-member comment
daily distance!!
have been trying for two years now to kick start this route and between finance and health havaent made it yet!! your photos and comments were very helpful but at 72years old am gobsmacked by the distance u do each day. I settled for a leisurely 15 kms on the frances and portuguese routes and it does me nicely. I would prefer to bring my terra nova lite wt tent or bivvy bag than fork out for expensive (to me!) accomodation but it all boils down to water availability more than anything else. as to walking in the temperatures you mentioned that would be a no-no unless very early starts were feasible. i have a kelly kettle and am fairly self-contained so filtering and purifying water not a proble. many thanks.