El Real de la Jara to Monasterio

We woke up early and packed our packs before going to the local bar for breakfast with Karl and Inger-Marie. I had a lousy night's sleep. The room we were staying was a small windowless room. When we first looked at our new, I already had my reservations about it but decided to stay as it seemed better than the Albergue. We pain a little extra for this room but the bed was by far the worst, I have slept in so far. The springs in the mattress was hellbent on poking me in my back or whatever other body part was in direct contact with the mattress. I was glad when I finally could get up. Anyway after another breakfast of toast with jam, orange juice and coffee we set off to Monasterio. The walk was pleasant in the beginning but after 10 kilometres we found ourselves walking along the road or very close to it. Walking like this is my pet hate. I love being surrounded by nature and listen to the sounds of birds and other animals or even waves crashing on the beach. Nothing works better to help me relax and walking on roads is the complete opposite of this. Anyway we had our first break after two and a half hours of walking with Uschi at a bar. We had another cup of coffee and a Spanish Shandy. In Spain they make shandy with lemon squash instead of lemonade and it is not bad but I still prefer it with lemonade. Once we finished our drinks we decided to have our lunch there as well. Lunch looked rather uninviting, but tasted better than a pilgrim's meal. After lunch we set off again and found ourselves walking along the highway and starting to climb. The climb was so bad that we needed to
have another break after only one hour. After this rest Karl and Inger-Marie caught up with us and we

After this rest Karl and Inge-Marie caught up with us and we walked the rest of the way with them. We all decided to book ourselves into a hostel again as here we would be able to connect to the WiFi system and get in touch with family and friends. We exchanged e-mail addresses with Uschi today as she offered us a place to stay in Berlin. We are planning to go to Berlin during this holiday but were not sure if this would be possible as the prices in Berlin are very steep. With Uschi offering us a place to stay we believe Berlin will be very possible. The hostel where we are staying tonight is wonderful. It has extremely comfortable beds with our own en-suite. There is even a bath and a bidet and the free access to the Wifi system. We payed a considerable sum to stay at this place but it is so worth it. For 50 euros we even get dinner and breakfast thrown in. I had a relaxing soak in the bath whilst Gary had a nap. Dinner will be served at 2030 hours. This is normal for the Spanish but it has taken some time for us to get used to this. We both got on the internet and checked our e-mails and Facebook and Hyves. We had dinner with Karl and Inge-Marie and checked what time breakfast would be served the following morning. After a really great sleep we were all back at the bar at 0730 hours for breakfast. Here we also exchanged e-mail addresses with Karl and Inge-Marie as Inger-Marie had a migraine and decided that they needed to stay another night in Monasterio to recover. Today we will walk to Fuente de Cantos and will be staying in an Albergue. We are hoping that we will meet up with Uschi again sometime today.

Castilblanco de Los Arroyos to Almaden de la Plata

We woke up early and packed our packs. After some breakfast in the dark, we set off with Karl the German. After sorting out my pack I am glad that it is now several kilos lighter but it also has become clear that we will need to carry the maximum amount of water with this heat. My water bladder hold 3 litres and it has been filled to capacity this morning. The walk to Almaden de la Plata started with a 16 kilometres walk on an quiet road before turning off into a National Park. In this National Park we can potentially spot a deer or two and  some Spanish pigs. Well we did not see any deer but we did see some Spanish pigs. These pigs have a bluish colour and are on a strict diet. The town where we are going serves a local speciality using these pigs. I believe it is spare ribs and was hoping to try some as spare ribs is one of my favourite meals. Unfortunately this did not happen. The walk through this National Park was very pleasant.

Karl was taking some photos of a Cork tree and explained how the cork was harvested, I also made a photo to remember this particular tree. We rested several times as this walk was

very tiring and with 10 kilometres to go, I was not at all confident that I was going to make it. The last 3 kilometres were the toughest with a 100
metre steep climb, followed by a descend on slippery rocks but we all made it safely to the bottom. Almaden de la Plata is one of the better towns in Spain and we stayed at the only albergue in town. This was a clean albergue with hot water again. However there was one thing missing, toilet paper. Both Gary and I had an upset stomach from the previous night's meal and were thankful we brought a roll of toilet paper from home. In this albergue we met some other people who were doing the Camino on their bikes , most of them were from Spain but we also met a couple from Doetinchem and they went to the local bar with us for dinner. So now we had Karl, Inge-Marie, Arie and Letty in our group. Somehow, I really don't know how, we got talked into another pilgrim's meal. I was really worried but was delighted as this one was absolutely fantastic. The  bar's owner was the loveliest and most generous guys. He
gave us a sweet wine after dinner and some Madeira cake for the following day.  All this for nothing. I was more than happy to give this guy a tip. Letty gave me her e-mail address as she will also be walking the 4 day walk of the world in Nijmegen and we thought it would be nice to catch up after the walks for a drink of beer. We also exchanged e-mail addresses with Karl from Germany as he was
planning to walk to Monasterio the following day (a 38 kilometres hike). Initially we were thinking about doing this as well for training purposes but decided against this after today's walk and finding out that the way to Monasterio was mostly uphill once again. I just did not think I had it in me to do that hike in 1 day. We decided to do the 16 kilometres walk to El Real de la Jarra instead and take it easy for a day. Another good night in the albergue and we even managed to sleep in until sunrise, we said our goodbyes to Karl, before heading off to our next destination.

Guilena to Castilblanco de Los Arroyos

 Today is going to be a leisurely 20 kilometre walk. We decided that we need to leave the Albergue earlier to try to stay out of the heat as much as is possible. We walked most of the way with Karl from Germany and chatted along the way. At one stage we passed a plum farm and Karl asked the farmer if we could pick a few ripe plums to eat? The farmer was most agreeable and helped him out by giving us  each a handful of plums he had already picked. We thanked the farmer and found ourselves a shady place for a 10 minute break to enjoy the very juicy plums before we continued on our way.
Eventually we lost Karl as my pack was starting to feel like hell and I was getting slower and slower. I have decided today that my pack is way too heavy for this Camino and I need to get rid of as many things as I can. We had another rest before we turned onto the road for a 4 kilometre hike to the Albergue. After a while we spotted a bar and being as thirsty as we were we downed 2 large beers each and had some lunch. I had a mixed salad and Gary had a potato omelet. After finishing lunch we continued on our way to the Albergue.

Today's albergue is a dirty and run down one but the showers had hot water and at the end of the day it did not really matter. We had a little Nannie nap before setting off to a bar for a pilgrim's meal. The pilgrim's meal was still as revolting as ever, so I am not doing this anymore. We had dinner with the 2 Karls and Uschi. Inger-Marie was too sore to join us and decided together with Uschi to catch the bus tomorrow to the next village. Tomorrow is going to be a long walk (29 kilometres) and Uschi decided she was not physically capable to walk that distance. after the meal we returned to the Albergue for a hot shower and when everyone was ready we all went to the local supermarket to buy food for the next day. On our return to the Albergue we all went to bed early as tomorrow we needed to get up as early as possible for that 29 kilometres hike to Almaden de la Plata.

In the morning I went through my pack and disposed of as many things as possible. Here I said goodbye to my sandals that were hurting my feet just too much after a long walk, a book, given to me by Dora and some toiletries that I now felt weren't as important as they had seemed before starting the this Camino. Now my pack is quite a bit lighter and much easier to carry on the long distances that we will be covering on the Camino de Santiago via de la Plata.

 

Sevilla to Guillena

After another night in Sevilla to watch a very disappointing show of Flamenco dancing and picking up our credenciales from hotel Simon, we leave Sevilla at 0930 to make our way to Guillena. Finding our way out of Sevilla was difficult as the directions were rather misleading. We were unable to find the first marker and when we finally asked, we were shown the way by a woman who was heading in that direction anyway. Once the first marker was found it became much easier. I think we have come at a bad time of the year as it is stifling hot. I had a bright idea and started using my umbrella for more shade. I don't like wearing a hat under the best of circumstances but the perspiration was dripping off me. The umbrella worked a treat and soon Gary started doing it as well and he too agreed that it was much better that way.

Unfortunately I lost my balance at one stage and fell face first flat on the ground. There was blood everywhere and after some first aid provided by Gary and some patching up I was ready to continue on my way little way. The only thing That I seriously hurt was my pride as everyone commented on my facial wounds. We have met a few others on thisCamino. Karl, Inger-Marie from Norway, Uschi who we found resting as she was feeling rather thirsty after running out of water some time ago asked if we still had some. After sharing our water withUschi and learning that she was from Germany. We continued and found ourselves without water soon after that as well. When we reached our hostel we were pleasantly surprised as the rooms were very clean and there was plenty of hot water and even an air-conditioner. It felt like we arrived in heaven after a the long hot day. Once showered we had dinner with Karl and Inger-Marie at the local bar. We ordered Tapas but the language barrier caused a bit of trouble. We ended up with a fishy meal twice and than were given garlic prawns. We had full stomachs but did not really enjoy this meal as we aren't particularly fond of seafood in general. We all drank loads and loads as everyone was so dehydrated from the lack of fluids. After we were all satisfied we returned to the hostel for a good night sleep. At the hostel we met yet another Karl who also came from Germany and we all chatted for a while longer before saying our goodnight. We all slept like logs and when we woke up the next day we left as early as possible to beat the heat. 

The long road to Sevilla.

We got up early this morning and packed our gear for our trip to Sevilla Spain. We had breakfast and after tidying up the room we left at 0830 to got to Zurich. Dora was able to take us as she is doing a night shift tonight. Once at the bus station we said goodbye to Dora and found a seat with a lot of leg room near the exit door. We departed and everything went well until we crossed the border into France. Here border control checked our passports and after this a sniffer dog was taken into the bus and the dog started scratching the floor furiously at one particular particular seat very close to ours. Customs removed the person sitting in this particular seat and all of his belongings as well. Customs also requested his other baggage to be removed from the main luggage compartment and 6 customs personnel commenced to search each bit of luggage. The sniffer dog was again taken onto the bus and again started to scratch the ground at this particular seat. The officer did a thorough search and removed something. Needless to say this caused a delay in the schedule and the drivers got a bit impatient and wanted to know how much longer they needed to hang around? Anyway eventually the person concerned was allowed back onto the bus. We will never really know what this dog found as the people from customs and in the bus itself were speaking in French and Spanish.
This did bring back some memories of the Swiss bomb squad and Gary but this time Gary was not the suspected terrorist but someone else was. We continued on our way and stopped somewhere for dinner. We asked someone how it could be possible to arrive at Sevilla at 2015 if we were still in France now and were informed that we were not arriving in Sevilla until tomorrow at 2015.. I could See the funny side of this but was horrified to realise we would be stuck on this bus for 36 hours and I had booked a hostel for tonight and read in the conditions that I would be charged 1 nights accommodation if we did not cancel 24 hours before. Well since we learned about this mistake with approximately 3 hours to go and no way of contacting the hostel, I knew I was going to be charged for a night without ever getting to use it. Worse still we would have to book another night as well. Expensive little mistake. We slept on and off during the night and again we again had the opportunity to watch a movie but now only at set times. It was a long way to Burgos where we had to transfer to another bus that would take us to Sevilla. Gary announced that he would not mind living in Spain as he really feels he has been reunited with an old friend. The language has not entirely been forgotten but our Spanish is still very basic and if Gary wanted to make this dream come true he better start soon with Spanish lessons. Anyway I am looking forward to a hot shower, some toothpaste and toothbrush, clean clothing and a comfortable place to sleep. I can also tell everyone safely that we are not intending to catch another bus anytime soon.

Kunkel pass continued

After breakfast we pay our bill and set off for yet another walk. It has been decided that we will continue to ascent another 200 meters to the next mountain hut.  The weather is most agreeable to everyone's delight as the weather forecast had predicted rain. During our ascent we see a lot of wildlife and I have managed to take a once in a lifetime shot of a very curious marmot. He kept on looking at me and I continued to close in on him. Really pushing my luck. The photo of this marmot was taken from a distance of approximately 1 meter and it  will be turned into a poster sized canvas and get a special place in our living room. I have been using Barbara's nordic walking sticks again and I am no absolutely certain that I am going to get my own pair. On our descent back to the mountain hut where we stayed last night. I need to go to the bathroom and want to ask if I can use their facilities. Here Barbara tells us another bit of important bit of Swiss information. This time about how to tell if a mountain hut is open for business. If the Swiss flag flies at the mountain hut it is open for business and if it has been removed it is closed for business. Well right at that time there was no
flag flying so I just had to find myself a bush to go
to the toilet. Afterwards we continue our descent only to have the weather take a turn for the worse. It starts to pour down and we are left scrambling in search for shelter, which we find soon enough at yet another mountain hut. We notice a car parked over there and soon some people return to the car and offer us a lift to a nearby restaurant. We accept gladly and Gary and I are first. We wait at the restaurant over a cup of coffee and when everyone has arrived the weather has fined

up and Barbara decides to continue our descent. When we finally return to the cars, we are informed that we will be going to the river Rhine for a barbecue. This turned into quite another experience as well as the barbecue was over an open fire and we used sticks to do the cooking. After a marvellous meal we do some sun baking on the pebbled beach before returning to Dora's place very happy, contented, exhausted and dirty.


The mountain hut we were staying at had no shower facilities or hot water. The water came straight from the mountain and was freezing cold. Needles to say no one braved the icy water and only attended to the bare minimum. We all splashed some water over our faces and brushed our teeth. after a good soak we finished the weekend over a beer on Dora's little balcony.

The Kunkel Pass

Dora and her friend Barbara have arranged an overnight stay in one of the many mountain huts in the Alps. Apparently Barbara is a very good guide and Dora has explored many a trail with her. Today we are meeting Barbara and her boyfriend Vernie at a local petrol station. Once there we follow Vernie to a carpark, where we leave the cars behind. We continue on foot and initially the walk is rather un impressive.

We find ourselves walking on an ordinary path with no views. The only thing we are doing is zigzagging our way up the mountain. I am starting to wonder if it will be worth our while but soon the scenery improves dramatically. I find myself once again completely captivated by my surroundings. Switserland is a truly awe inspiring country.

We see our fair share of wildlife and some rare flora as well. However I miss out on seeing an Edelweiss as it is not the right time for Edelweiss. We have seen some Murmels and a type of deer. Barbara gave me a lend of her Nordic sticks as she felt it would be beneficial for me. I am rather slow whilst going uphill and the Nordic sticks will make going uphill easier. Once I got comfortable using the Nordic sticks I had to admit that they do take the strain of your joints. I decided here that I might just have to buy a pair of Nordic sticks for our walk in Spain and Australia as well. I was feeling the uphill especially today as we did not do many walks in australia this year.

The Kunkel Pass is 1300 meters and I was getting totally exhausted with 200 metres to go. Those last 200 meters were so difficult. Not technically but every time I get that tired it is always like that. When we finally reach the peak, Vernie took out a bottle of Swiss liquor and explained that in Switzerland when you reach the peak you drink this particular liquor to celebrate it. Celebrate we did. That bottle did a few rounds and we all took a good long drink out of it. I had to be careful as I am not used to drinking liquor and did not want to end up getting tipsy on a mountain. Vernie also explained that if you reached the peak with a beloved, you also shared a kiss. Gary and I were more than willing to oblige. After the traditions taken care of we continued to make our way to the mountain hut. It was quite cold on the peak and when we walked into the dining room, we were pleased to see the place had a welcoming fire burning in the fire place.

We were shown around before sitting down at the dining room table for a four course meal. The meal was scrumptious. There was soup, salad,meatloaf with a potato and egg type of pasta dish and of course a dessert to finish of the meal. We remained at the table and chatted the night away with plenty of wine and beer. Well around 2100 hours I was getting pretty tired and decided to go to sleep. The people who were working at the mountain hut had warned us that some people have trouble sleeping at high altitudes and soon it became apparent that I might be one of them. Even though I was exhausted, I only slept fitfully on and off throughout the night. I finally decided to give up and got up at 0600 hours the next morning. Gary soon joint me and we both sat in the dining room waiting for breakfast time. We waited for quite some time as I soon discovered that Europeans still like to sleep in.

The Alps

Our second walk in the Alps was more difficult and also more spectacular. Dora decided to take on to Murgtal and do a 5 hours and 45 minutes walk in stunning surrounds. The walk was mostly on a marked route and here we came face to face with the Swiss grading system which Dora explained to us. A yellow sign with black writing says " I am an easy walk all the way and I am suitable for beginners. Our walk was white/red/white . These walks still follow walking trails but a moderate amount of fitness is required.


The next level is white/blue/white and this walk indicates a heavy walk with some scrambling required. On these walks you may also come across signs that instruct the walker to tie on, which means that you must use ropes. In Switzerland if you disobey this rule and something happens to you during your free climb, you will be given a hefty fine to pay. We usually do the heavy walks with some scrambling required in Australia but unfortunately we will not be able to this in Switzerland as the peaks are still covered in a layer of snow, making it to dangerous to attempt.

We were a little disappointed but our walk was an incredible experience. We decided to walk to one of the many mountain huts and have lunch there. Dora translated the menu to the best of her ability and I decided to settle for the local dish, Alpen makaronen. Gary and Dora both ordered the Rosti hit Spiegelei. Dora and I ordered a beer and waited for our order to arrive. Well when lunch was finally served I decided that my lunch looked an awful lot like Macaroni Cheese.


After the first bite I could positively say that Macaroni Cheese is a Swiss dish. The one served here was delicious. After lunch we decided to climb higher and soon we found ourselves in a layer of snow. Dora and I started foot skiing and sliding down the hills on our bottoms. Both of us was wearing a pair of shorts and soon our legs were freezing. We did not care but Gary informed us that he would never take us on a serious hike as he could not predict what would happen.

We looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders because we did not really care and started to throw snowballs to Gary. Gary absolutely hates the cold and snow but that afternoon he suggested that we return to Europe for a 12 month period so we could experience this wonderland fully covered in a good layer of snow. I have always wanted to go skiing and who knows, I might just take him up on that one day.