Sunday, February 13, 2011

DAY 15: OCT 20 CARCABOSO TO ALDEANUEVA DEL CAMINO (38 KM) 52,896 STEPS

I have never been as tired and sore as I was when I finally arrived at the albergue in Aldeanueva del Camino after nine hours of walking. The guide book gave the distance as 38 km.  It lied.  My pedometer said almost 41 and I know it was right.

The first 20 km were fine with lovely vistas and a good trail. But in the heat of the day the last half was agony while mostly walking along the shoulder of highway N630 with little or no shade from the relentless sun. It was hard to believe that it was in the low 30ies in the middle of October.

One of the most astonishing sights on the Via de la Plata is to suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, come upon the abandoned Roman city of Caprera. It is named after the  magnificently preserved  four-sided arch, Arco de Caparra through which the trail passes.



This view is perpendicular to the previous photo

The city is believed to have been built in the second century. There are extensive archaeological excavations taking place of the surrounding area, including the forum, the baths and the main street.




I think this is a modern reproduction of a miliario.

On arrival at 5:30 I was surprised to see Petra, who was still in her bunk at the albergue when I left in the morning. Turns out she had hitched a ride rather than walk along the highway. Even more surprising was the arrival of Franck at 7:30. He had walked the 49 kilometers from Galisteo. He is unbelievable!

The tiny albergue had four beds downstairs and five upstairs. Every bed was awful. It was as if the villagers had decided to open an albergue and then asked for donations of the worst bed that could be spared. But I was so tired that I didn't care.

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