I awoke feeling awful. Something I ate the day before disagreed violently with me. Nonetheless we decided to go. Set off at 7:00am. After leaving Alicante behind we started to climb the mountainous region. Stunning countryside reminiscent of the old cowboy movies! Soon we had to traverse a valley with numerous small ravines connected by narrow bridges. To our horror we found the bridges had been closed off. We then had to climb from up the mountain towards the base of same and then back up the mountain to the other side of the respective ravines. We had to repeat this several times leaving us totally exhausted! What should have been 23km turned into more than 30km. To make matters worse the delay meant we were stuck up the mountain when the sun was at its highest. Spain is currently having a heat wave. 35 degrees when you're exhausted and still feeling nauseous from the food poisoning is definitely not good! Eventually after 11 hours (we had to rest periodically) we made it to our first destination, Orito. We had phoned ahead and were made very welcome at the local Franciscan Monastery. Here we enjoyed the run of an albergue run by the fathers. We were the only ones there and enjoyed a hot shower and a lovely bed. This days trek has been the mist arduous we have ever done over very hostile terrain. Now we understand why only some 30 people a year travel this particular route. Oh well, we were looking for a challenge and we have definitely found it.
Day 2 - 13 May - we have decided to rest today in the peaceful setting of the Monastery at Orito. We will continue our journey tomorrow. We will try and set off very early as the temperature is set to reach 39 degrees max!
Well that is not an auspicious start to your Camino, but oh my, you guys are hard core!! Bridges out, mountains to climb, intestinal distress, pah......the Gomez's laugh at adversity and soldier on.....for 11hours!! Enjoy your much deserved rest day, and good luck!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your support. We came close yesterday to not making it out of that mountain! The last climb over practically a goat track, was the steepest we have ever encountered and totally zapped the last of our strength. Feeling much refreshed after a relaxing day today.
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