Day 4

Via de la Plata

Saturday 31 March 2012

Day 4

Almadén de la Plata to El Real de la Jara 16 km.

Last night as we were in the privacy of our own room so rather than one of us having to take the top bunk I moved the top mattress from the bunk to the floor. There was plenty of room and we were able to store our rucksacks etc where the mattress had been. I took the floor bed and we slept very well. We were wakened in the morning by the early risers, but it was a reasonable time,6:00. I don't understand why they wanted to get away then as the rain, that I predicted last night was lashing down, we waited until it got lighter to determine the weather prospects.

The rain did go off while we were having breakfast and we set off just before 8:00. The sky was starting to lighten and the clouds appeared to be breaking up, at least it was now dry and a fine day for walking with no wind at all. It wasn't long until we were clear of the town and on to a good gravel track which was well way-marked, not only did we have the arrows and the granite 'parquet natural -Sierra Norte' plaques, but also the red and white flashes indicating it was a GR trail. Soon the track led us to the gates of a cortijo, Dehesa Arroya Mateos, previously you had to make arrangements by phone to have the gates opened for you but now they are unlocked first thing in the morning. There was also doubt in some accounts that Moira had researched on the web about whether you could still cross this estate or have to use the tarred road. We just followed the arrows and it took us through the open gates for a very enjoyable and extremely pleasant walk.

It was undulating and a steep climb to get over a medium sized hill about 6km from the finish but it was on the whole easy going. The scenery was outstanding with the surrounding hills of the Sierra Morena sparkling as the sun rose above the horizon. The cortijo was mainly planted with oak and an information board gave a story about these paddocks:

''The oaks are generally grown in paddocks, where advantage is taken of their acorns to feed livestock and make excellent wood for charcoal. In nature, the oaks are large, in very dense forests, along with other species typical of Mediterranean woodland: rock rose, strawberry trees, heather, broom, cornicabras, and so on depending on the area.''

There was a large pig farm on the route with small outside A-frame shelters for the animals. One section had a few little piglets routing about and when stopped to photograph them they began squealing, this attracted the attention of about a hundred more that came running to the fence, all under the impression it was feeding time. Further on we had to make our way through a herd of cattle, some looked like bulls but they just stared at us and carried on grazing. Another field had a flock of goats but they were some distance away.

We stopped as usual after two hours for a break and an apple, on some convenient flat rocks. No sooner had we settled but it started to rain. We donned our ponchos and decide to carry on walking, it didn't look like it would last long and we would have our postponed break later. The later turned out to be another hour, by which time we were over the steep hill and out the estate gate at the other end when it dried up and the sun came out. From this point we had only 4km to go and it was easy flat or downhill to,our destination. One last highlight with 1km to go was a memorial to Jose Luis Salvador Salvador, who had revived the Via de la Plata as a viable pilgrim's route. some of his ashes were buried here the rest are in the outside wall of the albergue in Salamanca.

The local albergue was just as we reached the outskirts of El Real, but it was closed and nobody was about. One of the guides said to collect the key at the tourist office in town, but we had decided to go elsewhere anyway. There were lots of places advertised on posters along the route and we settled on one for E15 each including breakfast and it had Internet. We found it at the far end of town and got a double room en suite. It turned out to be a bit of a con as after a lot of pigeon English and Spanish we found there wasn't breakfast included and no Internet after we had paid.

Moira went to the shops before they closed for siesta and got supplies for breakfast in the morning and tomorrows lunch. when she got back we had something to eat and made coffee from the flask of water we took with us this morning. While she was out she met Silvia who was staying in the same place as us but in some sort of communal room, but it also had a cooker. We will see her later and maybe make a hot drink there. After lunch we both showered and washed our clothes at the same time, the sun was out now and it was good for drying as there was a line in the yard below.

About 2:00 we went out for a stroll, there was an old castle on a hill overlooking the town and we followed the signs for there. It was a short climb to the top of the hill and the castle was just the perimeter walls with the watch towers. We were able to go round the walkway on top of the walls and get to the top of the central hexagonal tower. We had outstanding views of all the surrounding countryside, where we had come from today and the direction we would take tomorrow. Down below was another castle, just the ruins, which sits on the Camino and we pass it in the morning as we leave the town,

From the castle we walked round the town but it was very quiet during the siesta period. We checked out places to eat tonight mad there was a bar doing a 'Perigrino menu' near our flat, that will do us. W weren't there at 6:00 after checking out where Silvia was situated. She was in a large apartment below where we were, it had a huge sitting room with a cooker and microwave and a big TV. The bedroom had about eight double beds in a row and Silvia was sharing this with a Danish coule she had met today. We would probably preferred being there, a lot more room to move about.

Our meal was good but the people seemed to object to serving the cheap pilgrim's meal. We had a big tuna salad followed by fish and chips for Moira while I had calamari we finished with chocolate ice cream. Very good for only E17. When we got back I got our small TV working and watched some Spanish football. I soon lost interest and we played a game of cards, Moira beat me easily. I'm not playing cards with her again, she's too good now.