Fuenterroble de Salvatierra to Morille - (electric wheelchair style)

I finally found other pilgrims at the albergue, meeting a woman from Taiwan and a Welsh man, both in their 60’s. I was to meet with them that evening as well. 

A lovely start to the day. Red sky in the morning resulted in some thunder and rain at about 15:00.

More Roman distance markers aside the route that ran mainly straight for the initial 12km. I avoided an option to climb a high point with views, instead sticking to farm tracks and “C” roads.

No coffee or breakfast stops today. I did not run stages together as I wanted to continue with the other pilgrims now I’ve finally met. 

Finally some art in Morille, today’s destination. Several murals and sculptures around the village. 

It must be hard go these small villages to support local services. This one has a library a gallery and a municipal albergue although its single bar is often closed and the one tiny shop has restricted opening hours.

Tomorrow is destination Salamanca. The guide tells us it is the 1/2 way point between Seville and Santiago de Compostela. I hope to stop for 2 nights in Salamanca as it a big beautiful city. I need to decide to either continue the Camino or take advantage of the direct rail line to Madrid, for an easy return flight.

Aldeanueva del Camino to Fuenterroble de Salvatierra - (electric wheelchair style)

Today’s journey started with a long uphill section through a valley to over 1000m. 

The “B” road was a maze of zigzags. Hoping to cut corners I took a paved section of the old Roman road. Unfortunately it was steep enough to require getting off and push. This lasted for a good 500m with intermittent large steps every 50m. Notice the Roman mile marker on the right. 

Shortly after, the route leaves Extremadura and enters Castilian Y León which I class as Northern Spain. 

Worried about the state of my batteries I take an extended breakfast break in a town called Béjar and plugged in my wheels. This is the first time I have ever broken a journey to charge my wheels and I managed to get 90 minutes for a plate of toast and 2 coffees. 

Onwards and suddenly I was over the hill and had descended into a lush green plateaux. Everything seemed different. It was colder, the grass was green, trees were deciduous and butterflies were flying everywhere. I was actually quite far from the Camino running parallel but delighted with my own path. 

The albergue Parroquail Santa María in the small village of 

Fuenterroble de Salvatierra was a delight.

It could have been a set for Lord of the Rings full of treasures and curiosities.

It’s a donativo albergue, so accepts donations and includes a communal dinner and breakfast. Basic but a memorial stop.

It

David Tipping

Carcaboso to Aldeanueva del Camino - (electric wheelchair style)

Big route today. Up early to visit the Arco de Cáparra.

My day is long and a mixed bag of routes, so I start early an hour before sunrise. 

I have chosen this plan as there is a hazard warning with threats of thunder storms and rain. I need plans ‘B & C’, just in case. 

In the dark I take a tiny winding “C” road for 15km till the sun is up. I encounter 1 car. 

Jumping to the main Camino I do 6km through “Dehesa” woodland on manageable tracks. Dehesa is a habitat of mature holm oak trees. When Dehesa is grazed, there is an artificial line where the cattle are able to stretch to eat.

In places there are stepping stones but the weather has been sufficiently dry for me to pass, avoiding both stones and water. 

The Arco de Cáparra is iconic to the Vía de la Plata. The arch itself is huge and 4 sided. It is adjoined to the south by ruins including a forum, an amphitheater, baths, gates walls and cobblestoned areas. This is currently under archeological investigation and  some sort of interpretation centre is being built. Everything apart from the arch itself was fenced off.  

From the arch onwards I tied a number of alternative routes together to my final destination Aldeanueva del Camino. This village is so pretty. Ancient whitewashed houses line the tiny winding streets. Overhanging balconies give shade below with lots of vines and martins nest everywhere. 

The village has 2 sides, made by this tiny bridge. Everything seems closed. 

Cañaveral to Carcaboso - (electric wheelchair style)

Very early start today as I was sharing a dormitory with an Italian who left early. The previous day she had walked over 30km in the hot sun carrying 4lts of water, not finishing till 3pm in 36° heat. 

My first 5km were up hill in the dark on very quiet roads. 

The sun rose to a mixed agricultural landscape. Initially of mature holm oaks with a grazed understory creating an almost country estate type landscape. I’ve not seen holm oak look like that before. 

Later travelling through a mainly flat plane of rich agricultural crops. Mostly vegetables, maize but also some olives and a few cows and sheep. I wish I had photos of this as the lush irrigated fields were so green after days of barren savana. I came across several older gents just sitting, admiring the morning. I make up stories about them to pass the time. 

Dramatic skies with occasional lightning and rumbles of thunder threatening from the west. Forecast says it will rain tonight with slightly cooler weather to follow 34°

Breakfast in the lovely small town of Galisteo where I understand you can still walk atop the old city walls made from big pebbles taken from the river below. I gave that a miss. 

A cluster of martins nest in arches in the wall.

On to Carcaboso that is not actually on the old Roman Vía de la Plata route but they pinched some Roman route markers to display next to the small church anyway.

The albergue looks lovely and I’m in, just not registered yet. Very clean and accessible. I needed to have a Spanish WhatsApp conversation to get the door code to enter. 

Cáceres to Cañaveral - (electric wheelchair style)

Started the morning with a very quiet 10km stretch into a small unremarkable town called Cesar de Cáceras. I was almost through the town when I clocked a busy early morning cafeteria. It was buzzing and efficient, good food, good coffee.

The terrain shifted to mainly dry grassland with a few cattle however, look who I found hiding in the bushes 😊 

2/3 of today’s route was downhill to a huge reservoir, think its the 2nd largest in Spain. I was hoping for a swim but the water didn't look inviting. There is part of a Roman bridge that was actually moved to this location when the reservoir was flooded.

Today’s route was 43km on small “C & B” roads. I was told there were locked gates that needed climbing. The Camino wandered and came back to the route I took.

Here is an example of the terrain I could manage, but may choose to avoid:

This is where it becomes impossible for me.

Not shown in the second photo is a roadside barrier at about 75cm high as well as the steps shown.

The remaining 1/3 of the journey was uphill. The countryside around Cañaveral is big hills and I think I start tomorrow with a long uphill run.

The albergue here is great, old stone building with a shaded terrace underneath. Simple with enough facilities and I can access and charge my wheels. The fig tree in the garden has ripe fruit but it’s a race with the birds for them though. Happy to share.

Cáceres photos 2 - (electric wheelchair style)

Photos of Cáceres I will build into my blog:

These last two images were taken in the Cáceres museum that features a medieval stone water cistern. The spooky dudes with the pointy hats are featured on a sheet of glass over an enormous deep dark well. 

Cáceres photos 1 - (electric wheelchair style)

Photos of Cáceres I will build into my blog:

Alcuécar to Cáceres- (electric wheelchair style)

The albergue in Alcuécar was one of those big old catholic convents or monasteries that is just hanging on. It is now also an old people’s home. 

Huge high ceilings on the lower levels, and everything still in place from the 1950’s and deserted. Definitely a hint of Adam’s family about it. I had a small 2nd story cell that had lovely views over the next days route.

Today’s route was through similar landscapes as the last couple of days, olives, vines and dry grasslands. I followed a mix of farm tracks, single file paths and hard shoulder on “B” roads. Threading my way through a path made for walkers is just hard work. I know it’s a pilgrimage and not a holiday but the stress of keeping going  through such difficult terrain isn’t worth it.

I research the following days route using a variety of aerial imagery, guidebooks and even YouTube videos. Where I consider the route unnecessarily difficult I plan alternatives. By choice I use farm tracks but hard shoulders on small roads work too. 

Cáceres is an ancient city and a UNESCO world heritage site. I understand scenes from The Game of Thrones were filmed there. I have decided to stay a second night giving me plenty of time to explore.

The steep winding streets in the old town are a maze of historic delights. I love a big gothic church but the smaller everyday architecture is also charming.

On route I met up with los Amigos - my cycling friends Migel and Ramon. We shared breakfast and coffee and agreed to meet in Cáceres and decided on an albergue. On arrival and after showers, we lunched under huge parasols in a street cafe.

I love this dish called “Migas Extremeñas”. It’s described as a rustic rural dish made from leftover bread, so breadcrumbs chickpeas chorizo corn served with a fried egg on top. It featured as part of  a Menú del día.
but is so filling you can take the rest of the meal as a take away for later. Lovely with Tinto de verano - summer wine (red wine with ice and lemonade).

Exploring Cáceres was extremely difficult on my wheels. The old citadel is on a steep hill and full of stairs. Because I kept having to backtrack and detour, I never actual go a grasp of the layout so was trying to navigate with Google maps. You choose different transport options in Google maps and walking takes me to steps, same with cycling. If I choose by car, the one way system takes me every which way and takes hours.

There are two additional posts containing additional images from Cáceres I will incorporate when I have better editing capability than my iPhone.