Be careful what you wish for, is our lesson for today. 2C this morning and there is a cold wind. Such a change from recent weeks when it seemed a good idea to post cold weather clothing to Santiago. But we still have enough to avoid exposure. (Jenny started the day in two pairs of trousers, a shirt, skivvy, puffy jacket and gloves. I had slightly less but sufficient.)
We departed our village seemingly the only ones awake at this hour, certainly none of the three bars were open for our anticipated breakfast. Immediately uphill then two kilometres east into the rising sun, to link up with the alternative (main) camino route to take on a heart starting slope. The track is rocky and has some loose chunky stones so some care was needed ascending.
It was interesting to look at the buildings beside the track, which appeared to have a normal frontage but went back into the hill, underground. It made us think of Coober Pedy. There were chimney and vents showing above the ground where some form of storage or accommodation must exist. The main group of these was like a tenement building with four abutting the other.
On the ridge the land almost instantly transformed into a plain. Again the forest is black from recent fire. All the base is lush with grasses, but the higher growth is dead and blackened. This continued for a couple of kilometres when for no apparent reason the trees were now green and lush, park like. It seems so unlikely to be at this altitude and to trek such steep terrain and at the top to find it is perfectly flat for kilometres. We came to a Camino marker advising us we have 343 km to go to Santiago. You know you're closing the gap once the mileage markers begin. By late tomorrow it will be in the high 200 range. One step at a time.
We began descending through cork forest and some pine plantation. At the bottom were more of the buildings sunk into the hillside and a canal with deep clear water running quite rapidly in its concrete aqueduct. For a land in drought some areas seem to have a plentiful supply. Will find out where it comes from.
We entered a town having completed about 7 km in around two hours. Breakfast here for sure. Well, no! Everyone is on 'sleep in' time it seems, the only life forms were grass cutters and delivery trucks. Although a lady did appear in her gardening attire and pushing a wheel barrow filled with recently dug weeds. She had the broadest smile and seemed excited to talk with us. When she realised we were not native Spanish, she smiled even broader and spoke louder. As if that helped. As we parted ways she wished us a safe journey (Jenny told me).
No concern regarding the lack of breakfast opportunities (or so we thought), another village in just 3 km. A pretty walk along a river with clear and plentiful water and a good flow rate. Across a bridge shaded in tall trees, but sadly with the same outcome as before, everything closed.
We met our first fellow pilgrim of the day, German lady, Ann-Cathrine from Düsseldorf, and in marketing. She is travelling solo and walks quickly aiming for 40km per day. We sat on public bench seats together, shared some interesting conversation and had our 'backpack breakfasts' before we farewelled each other and departed. We saw no other pilgrims all day.
Following a river was a dusty and stoney track that provided occasional glimpses of the river. I wondered if locals could swim in the waters during hot summer days or if the flow would be too great. We walked through forests of oak trees and there was a number of areas being forested, presumably the timber is for lumber. A strange consequence though is the abundance of light fluffy kapok drifting to the ground, completely at the vagaries of the wind. A strange visual effect, akin to snow lightly covering the track and surrounding vegetation. There is also the concern of consequences for inhaling. Surely can't be good for asthmatics.
We again found a canal and once more the water was clear and plentiful, the canal being about 5 metres wide and I imagine two metres deep. A friendly local man suggested we fill our water bottles at a spring water outlet. It was good water.
Above us there was cloud building and the threat of rain, but nothing of consequence other than a few drops. But the temperature dropped suddenly, dramatically and unexpectedly. In a day with a predicted maximum of 17C this was actually coming in lower. It's a difficult balance being clad in sufficient clothing to keep warm but not too much when tracking and when the sun is shining.
Our accommodation is beside a canal and immediately on the camino. No bars open so waited for the shop to open at 5pm so we could buy some provisions for both tonight and tomorrow. Once again, lack of services throughout the day tomorrow mean we need to be adequately stocked.
Our accommodation is lovely, but a shared bathroom with another camino couple. No great hardship.
Found out the canal water comes from a glacial lake we go past shortly.
Yah for the distance markers. The kms are ‘melting’ away. Xx