Tag Archives: Alcuéscar

Alcuéscar to Aldea del Cano to Valdesalor 

Backpacking, Camino Via de la Plata, Flashpacking, Hiking, Spain, Travel, , , ,

Apr 29 – Another gray morning, but much warmer than yesterday.  Ten miles planned for today.  It is drizzling, but no wind.  A good day to walk.  The rain made the purple flowers bloom.

Sheep in the rain:
Cows in the rain:

Here’s Jim and an old Roman stanchion.  Jim is the one on the right.

At mid morning we came upon a little town where we got a cup of coffee. It had an old Roman bridge, still in working order!

We were passed by another young German, and spoke with him for a while.  He met his wife walking the Camino Frances – how romantic! Now they take turns hiking while the other stays home with their son. He’s very concerned with the world political situation.  So are we.  We reached Aldea del Cano by 1pm, purchased our groceries before the shop closed at 2 (remember, no shopping Saturday evening or Sunday!).  Would you like to have some Special U for breakfast, or some Arroz Inflado? The latter sounds like it might explode in your stomach!

We found our lovely hostal, the Casa Rural.  After a shower and a rest, we went out in search of our midday meal and found that the sun had come out like gangbusters. Hope that’s the end of the rain for a while!

451 miles to go.

Apr 30 – Yesterday we wrestled with the decision of whether to walk a 14 mile day into the city of Cácares, or break the walk into two 7 mile days by stopping in a teeny village with only one alburgue.  The loveliness of this Casa Rural and the possibility of sleeping late, coupled with the forecast of more rain, helped us decide to break the long walk into two.  So seven miles today.

We slept in, and Jim brought me coffee and toast in bed (breakfast in this country is always just toast).  

Our hostess provided marmalade- a real treat!  A wonderful Sunday morning.  We started walking around 9am – another chilly and windy day, with dark clouds threatening more rain.

The land was flat and filled with cat tails and scrub pine, reminiscent of the Outer Banks or Fire Island.

It rained on and off, and we got to Valdesalor around noon.  The alburgue was locked, with a note on the door to pick up the key at the bar down the street.  Now the rain was pouring down.  We reached the bar, which was locked and dark, with no sign telling us what to do now.  Jim asked a woman passing by if she knew where we could pick up the key.  She asked us to wait five minutes, then she came back and opened the bar.  She signed us into the alburgue and gave us the key.

When we got back to the alburgue, the door was open and it was full of dripping wet people arguing in Spanish.  We claimed two bunks quickly, and left them to sort out the rest.  All the 14 beds were filled, and more people kept coming in to get out of the rain.  There is only one bathroom, and the door has been locked since we got here.  It’s going to be a 😩 😭 miserable night.

444 miles to go.

Mérida to Aljucén to Alcuéscar

Backpacking, Camino Via de la Plata, Flashpacking, Hiking, Spain, Travel, , ,

Apr 27 – Back on the road for an easy 12 mile day of flat terrain.  Got to pass by the aqueducts one more time as the sun came up.  So long, Mérida!

A reminder of how far we have yet to travel.

The nice folks of Mérida built a bike path alongside the highway, which gave us a way to walk safely out of the city.

Several miles out, we walked around the Proserpina dam, built by the Romans to provide water for the aqueducts of Mérida. Quiet and so pretty in the morning light.

We met a couple from Montreal who are walking their fifth Camino, and were passed by two bikers. We walked through a little town with an open church (a woman was cleaning inside) and we stopped for a quiet moment.

Walking into Aljucén, we saw some Camino-themed graffiti at the highway underpass.

Aljucén is a town of 247 souls, according to Wikipedia, but it has three alburgues and two restaurants that cater to pilgrims.  There is no hostal near this town where it is possible to get a room with a private bath, so this will be the first of our Alburgue Days.

At an alburgue, you get a bunk bed, access to a shared hot shower and a toilet, an outdoor washtub and line for laundry, and access to a shared refrigerator and stove.  What you don’t get is sheets, towels, shampoo or, usually, privacy. A diehard pilgrim spends every night of his/her Camino in an alburgue, at a nightly rate of $11-13 per person.  We have been carrying shampoo, a lightweight travel towel, and silky traveler’s sheets / pillowcase on the chance that we would need them (the traveler’s sheets are really a miracle – they fold into a sack the size of a little packet of tissue, and only weigh a few ounces).  We picked the Alburgue Annalena because the pictures online showed that the bunks were in four bedrooms instead of in one big dormitory.  As it turned out, no one else chose this alburgue, so we had the whole house to ourselves.  Annalena came by at dusk to check our passports and wish us Buen Camino.

472 miles to go.

Apr 28 – Woke up to a cold, windy morning with rain in the forecast.  Even though the rain had not started when we left the alburgue, we opted to put on our raincoats because it was so cold.  Within an hour, a cold rain started to fall.  Not many pictures today.  We were passed by a woman from Holland and a man named Christian from northern Germany.

Although we only walked 11 miles today, I was beat by the time we got to Alcuéscar, from walking into the wind.  We passed the alburgue and decided we deserved a night in a hostal.  Unfortunately, the Hostal Olivo was overpriced, with very mediocre food, and no wifi.  When it rains, it pours.  461 miles to go.