Day 12: Villaharta to Puerto del Calatraveno to Villaharta. 21km.
We were both awake at 5:30am but lay on for another half an hour so as not to disturb the others in the flat. I then got up and made a cup of tea and we drank it in bed until our usual breakfast time. As we were returning here for tonight after our walk we didn't have to carry all our gear, I took just one rucksack with the cooker and what was needed for a cup of coffee. We went down to the bar 10 minutes early to wait for the taxi, he arrived on time which was a surprise.
It was down the hill we clambered up yesterday afternoon to the roundabout and out the N432 towards Espiel then he turned up the N502, the road to Alcaracejos. It was only about 7km up this road where he turned off to car park and monument, Puerto del Calatraveno, and dropped us off. He gave us instructions; follow the track, that ran from where he parked, down to where it joined the main Camino route then turn right heading back to Villaharta. We did this and it was about 500 metres and the plaque with the Camino Mozarabe emblem appeared at the junction. We were on our way.
This route was also supposed to be part of the GR40 trail but we didn't see any red and white flashes and were dependent only on the Camino waymarks. We have found it difficult enough following the markers going in the right direction but going the wrong way could be tricky. Our first problem arose shortly after we started when we came to a y-junction and we didn't know which leg of the 'y' the trail had come along; there were no markers on either of the approach roads. We picked the most likely and were lucky, further along our choice track we came across an arrow. That one was the worst problem, at other junctions it was more obvious what route to take and on the first half of the walk, to the Rio Guardalharbo, the waymarks were plentiful but after that they grew scarce. Fortunately the route was more or less straight with very few turns or deviations and where there were any the signs were excellent.
The sky was overcast when we set off but we expected it to clear as the sun got up. It didn't and it ended up raining, our first of the walk. It wasn't heavy just a slight drizzle but it soon got us wet; fortunately Moira had packed our rain jackets in the rucksack. It didn't last very long but we had to keep our rainwear handy as the sky remained cloudy. The track was very good and fast, gravel in places and in others hard packed earth which was smooth and flat. There were some climbs and steep drops as the route made its way through quite hilly country. The vegetation was bushes and small trees, the only cash crop being grown was again olives which seem to thrive well at higher altitudes.
We had two rivers to cross according to the map. The first, a dried up river, the Arroyo Lorito had a bridge over it. The second the Rio Guardalharbo just had steeping stones which I negotiated but Moira preferred to take off her shoes and socks and paddle. Approaching this second river was where we became concerned about a lack of waymarks. There was a long steep drop to the river and we hadn't seen an arrow for some time. The worry was that if we didn't see one soon it would be a long climb up the slope again back to our last sighting. Fortunately when we reached the river there was an arrow on a rock by the bank. It was the same as we climbed the other side, not an arrow until we reached the top of the hill. When we founded we were safely on track again it was celebrated with a stop and a cup of coffee.
Earlier after we had been walking for 90 minutes we met the German guy who stayed at the flat last night. He had left this morning at 7:30am and had been on the go for 2.5 hours, he was trekking the whole way to Alcaracejos today. There were again signs on the route giving distances which like yesterday were strange. When we started the sign gave 18 km to Alceracejos, the book said 21km. Later, another gave 26 km to Alceracejos meaning we had 12 km to Villaharta while I estimated it nearer 8 km to our destination. As we neared the end it was a long long climb and we hoped to see the houses of Villaharta as we crested the top. We didn't see anything but eventually we reached a road and a car stopped and told us that the town was down the hill. But, we were detoured off the road to a grassy track and a sign that said Villaharta 2 km. This one turned out to be correct and GR red and white flashes now appeared. It seemed a long couple of kays but soon the houses came into sight and we were entering the town.
It was after 1pm and we thought the shops would be closed for siesta but a small supermarket was still open and Moira bought a packet of soup and some fresh bread for lunch. We sat in the lounge for an hour reading then showered before going down to the bar to pick up the WiFi. We had a beer and downloaded the newspaper. Theadora and Dirk were there having lunch and we chatted to them. They had spent the morning just wandering about the local area and were planning to take the bus to Cordoba tomorrow then home to the Netherlands. When we went upstairs again we had the newspaper to read and I had a crossword to tackle. The weather had improved, the clouds cleared away and the sun was out again. Thea and Dirk were out on the balcony of the flat in swimwear sunbathing, we sat on the chairs there but found it cold and decided to come inside.
Moira cooked dinner in the kitchen tonight and it was a change from 'menu del dia'. We had chicken and pasta with tomato sauce, very nice. I did the washing up then spent a couple of hours reading before getting to bed. I slept well after making sure I didn't have a siesta today after our walk.
No comments:
Post a Comment