La Plata Day 5 Fuente de Cantos

Breakfast at 0700 at a hotel on the outskirts of town. Coffee to start is always a preference/luxury and when still in darkness, a brightly lit hub of warmth and activity is a luring sight. The ‘Fab Five’ Spaniards were already there breakfasting when we arrived, and left soon after. Camino took us down an alley and into a good quality single lane dirt road between farm houses and pasture. This area is veined with really good condition stone walls.

We were greeted in the first light of day by a horse that just seemed to be looking for human contact, and beyond was the mother and foal, which appeared albino. A lovely family group. The track wound through a series of hills all the way framed in metre high stone walls. The early sunshine provided wonderful colour and texture and Jenny was feeling elated and playful, so as per yesterday, we expended some time as she proceeded back and forth up and down the hill, setting up the video to capture some of our ‘authentic’ walking. (Which is captured for all to see below.)

We moved along to steeper hills with numerous rock outcrops. I imagine the rock is the reason there is natural bushland, even the trail is rocky and a rough 4WD track. We caught up with the two Dutch ladies we had first seen on Day 1. They were in good spirits but starting to feel the effect from the rising temperature.

Almost magically the area opened to cropping, and near and far the landscape was a brilliant patchwork quilt of various vibrant colours. We walked 13km before stopping but caught up with and sat with Isabelle (the French pilgrim), after having rock hopped across a shallow creek area. Isobelle is suffering from head cold and sore throat, a condition apparently shared by pilgrims sharing a room on Day 1. (A good reason to avoid dormitory style accommodation.)

Our destination was in sight intermittently as our day progressed, guiding our way but always remaining distant. There was no shade and the road wound across long rolling hills of deceptive incline. The uphills just kept coming and with only 5-7 km remaining I needed rest to continue and found shade beside a pig pen and in a narrow area beside a barn. A tired mind makes mistakes at times and mine was to not fit my backpack correctly, which subsequently meant pressure on my back caused unbearable pain. I was in jeopardy of not making the final distance. Miraculously however we completed our trek to town and at the plaza beside the church, I shed my pack and lay on the cool marble surface of the square where I could look up at the many dodo nests on the church steeple. The birds are stringently protected but are also very large and make very large nests. We were surprised to see the ‘Fab Five’ Spaniards arrive later than us, having taken a wrong turn and added considerable distance to their day, but nevertheless looking abundantly cheery.

Jenny went on to arrange our reservation while I slackened off. Our place is really nice, with laundry, bathroom, large bedroom, kitchen, lounge and dining. A bit more upmarket than our usual selection. And the shower is large…. Bonus! I slept while Jenny went out and got groceries, but I managed to join her in our beautiful tranquil garden for wine and chips. Heaven sent!

Need to give my back some recovery time so will ruthlessly decant all weight reasonably possible from the backpack and mail that to the post office in Santiago. Then we will taxi to our next stop that is for a two night stay so I can rest my back from the backpack weight for two days and the lighter weight pack should be fine to continue with. It’s been bugging me that I have carried two cold weather apparels which I have never used as a consequence of this heat wave. My wet weather jacket can double up for cold if necessary. A small hiccup in our camino but still feeling very positive about the whole experience.

David making friends along the way

Iberian pigs

Not so far to go really