Camino de Levante - La Marcha de la Muerte

After walking and surviving through numerous blisters, a sore knee and sore ankle over the last two weeks, let alone a bout of really bad weather, I, Vic, have finally been forced to pause my walking due to a very sore lower left shin/upper ankle including swelling and sharp pains. I was only able to make the first leg of walking yesterday before I recognized I couldn’t go on and decided to also not walk all day today given the swelling and pain were still there.  Frank has continued walking and I’m taking a combination of buses and taxis to reach the daily destinations. Tomorrow is a short day for us, only about 9 miles or about 3 hours of walking, so I hope I feel better tomorrow to try that.  But I’m also prepared to continue resting for a few more days, if needed, recognizing this is a long Camino (we are still only about 33% done) and if I have to sacrifice a few days to be able to finish, that’s what I have to do.  It’s quite disappointing that my body has let me do...

It’s Election Day today. As far as I can make out there are two socialist parties ( PSOE - Spanish Socialist Working Party and Podemos- “We Can”) and two right of centre parties, the Citizens party (leader Antonio Rivera) and the PP ( People’s Party leader Pablo Casado). There is an extreme right party called the Vox party (leader Santiago Abascal)  who support bullfighting, building a wall and a bunch of other stuff. There is a concern that they might get between 10-15% of the seats on offer which might make them kingmakers in any future coalition. The current PM, Pedro Sanchez, is PSOE and, unusually,  is an aetheist so he wasn’t sworn in using a bible. Pablo Inglesias founded Podemos as a left wing anti-corruption party and doesn’t wear suits on TV debates. He is under a bit of pressure for buying a 600k house.  At the time of writing it seems the socialists should be able to cobble together a coalition. The Vox party has got 12% of the vote. Spain was the last bastion...

After two weeks of hard walking we are approximately 30% of the way there. I wanted to mention some of the cities, towns and villages we have now passed through. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as it were:  Starting with the Good : Valencia:  our starting point and my first time in the third largest city of Spain.  I thought it was a perfectly fine city.  It had an attractive old part and was very walkable, but it’s no Barcelona, my favorite Spanish city.  Perfectly pleasant but not overly memorable. Alzira:  we only walked through here and stopped for coffee, but this small town was a real looker.  Pity we didn’t get to stay there. Albacete:  the largest city encountered so far after leaving Valencia, we didn’t actually stay there, just passed through it.  Still, it had a nice, attractive core and will always be memorable for me as I was able to buy a few things that I failed to pack and, most importantly, Frank spotted a shop where a local t...

Using the camera function on Google Translate in my accommodation threw up the attached. 

It would be remiss not to allude to the very misunderstood Don Quoixte (of La Mancha) while walking in Castilla y La Mancha.  Despite the public perception of him fighting windmills and Sancho Panza clowning around there was a much darker side to the man. While it is true that he saved many a damsel, what is not widely known is that he completely misunderstood the #metoo movement and generally tended to have his way with the comely maidens after saving them. Indeed such was his reputation among women back then that even today many use the following as code for a man who can’t be trusted: “Hay un poco Don aqui” translated as “there is a small Don here’ continuing the Spanish love for medieval double entendres. 

Today, we had a merciful break from the rain, although it was really windy.   Tomorrow morning , it looks like one last spell of rain as we start the day followed by more wind - but it’s possible that will be the end of this bad weather for a while, ( Frank - it certainly is possible).  The forecast thereafter looks good.  It can’t come soon enough.   (Frank - As it happens it did actually rain which wasn’t much fun while walking three to four hours in the open plains and high wins.  I wonder if Vic made it through ok? Naw, only joking, he did as he continues to confound the critics and soldiers on, for a first Camino I have to doff the cap to him, 40 Kms today, another marathon!) 

Cows have a lot of power around these parts. They are apparently allowed roam onto roads and depending on the place it’s either a speed limit of 60kmh or 90kmh if there are cows around. Restaurants prefer the 60kmh zones, less mess. And there there are the cows going on holidays overseas.....

You gotta love the Spanish

No matter what I try, no joy. Sent Vic via a precarious motorway drop yesterday (plus across railway lines), he survived - see pic below. Then he chose the road today (Hurrah I thought, amateur mistake, he’ll take for ever after yesterday’s 43km march) and I meet him at the junction into town. The man is indestructible!  Sure, his knee is shot and his left foot is in ribbons but he keeps coming back. However, we have to negotiate a few roundabouts tomorrow and they are always good spots for a mishap or two; there is at least some hope.....

Well, week 1 (of 6) is behind us and today we also completed the first day of the second week.  Make no mistake, this is hard.  Really hard. Feet and legs are sore all the time.  We’ve both had to deal with blisters and my left knee has been acting up a bit.  The weather has certainly not helped matters.  We are going through a multiple day spell of unsettled weather:  cold, windy and rainy.  Having said that, we’ve been lucky the last two days in missing the worst of the rain while walking and today, I finally saw some blue sky peaking through - a very welcome sight. Today we also split up and took different ways to reach our destination.  Frank took the proper path, but I opted for the alternate way by roads.  I just couldn’t deal with the mud.  I needed to try and have a mud-free day, which I was successful in.  Amazingly, after walking separately for about six miles, as we approached the destination, our separate paths converged...

Spot the yellow arrows? 

You may recall  Gene Kelly  singing, dancing and having a grand, old time while “Singing in the Rain” - well, that was the opposite of our rain experience today.  We had to walk around 17 miles today as it literally rained non-stop.  Today also happened to be one of those stretches with no town or village along the way to make a pit stop (for coffee or lunch or just a small break from the rain), so it was a grueling, non-stop 5.5 hour slog.  As Frank mentioned, a driver took pity on us the last mile or so as we finally approached the town and dropped us off at our hotel for the night.  Thank heavens for small mercies. ( Frank - I was fine myself)  I was also reminded (from prior hiking trips) of how much I truly hate an unfortunate byproduct of rain:  mud.  Hiking through slippery, squishy mud is seriously not pleasant.  Nor is walking in wet shoes and socks. ( Frank - I don’t recall any mud)  With several more days of full rain in ...

Drowned rats,  so we were. So much for Good Friday.  Still, as pilgrims, we are waking to save the souls of others. And a bit of good karma came out way just as we were approaching the town (Almansa) in a deluge. A man and his dog in a Jeep picked us up and brought us the last mile and a half. We couldn’t thank him enough. 5 hours in that weather was penance enough methinks. 

Separate from the very wet weather forecast, which looks very ominous, this trip has been mostly dry.  Let me explain. Frank and I are doing this Camino for very similar reasons, revolving around health.  To aid in this goal, we have both agreed to mostly abstain from alcohol for at least the first half or so of this Camino (mostly being the key word).  However, an exception was made yesterday as it happened to be my birthday.  I allowed myself a birthday beer at lunch and a little vino in the evening.  It was enjoyable.  And thanks to everyone for the birthday greetings! ( Frank - No idea what he’s on about) 

As I write this, we have completed day 4 of what will be a 40+ day Camino experience.  We’ve covered approximately 80 miles so far, averaging about 20 miles a day but certain days are tougher than others.  The first day was about 26 miles - a tough first day.  The first three days were like walking three marathons in a row.  I now have a few blisters and some feet swelling.  And Frank has his own issues.  But we are both committed and you recover just enough overnight to keep going.  At least the weather was good the first three days - mostly mild, blue-sky or overcast weather like San Francisco, great for walking. And then came the rain...

The last chap who did forty days and forty nights didn’t fare well, just sayin’..... 

So I’m sitting in my seat on the plane  to Alicante and this guy with tattoos sits down beside me! Stop the lights!  I didn’t really know what to do. It was quite confusing cos the tat on his left arm was actually that of an arm itself!  Then he sprawled his arms out over both arm rests and I had to make a decision. Do I reason with the chap about sharing personal space or do I cower like a pathetic shrimp? Did I mention he also had an earring? Anyway, I cowered obviously and knew I had made the right decision after he crushed his Heineken cans with his little finger. Neanderthal I think is the word I’m looking for. I waited until his ham and cheese panini arrived and then asked could I go to the bathroom, told him I had a condition and very sorry etc etc. An old one I know and I took a slight but what the heck. I knew he wouldn’t risk spilling the beer on me. 

Our first day. We met at 7 in the lobby, shook hands, wished each other a good trip and off we headed into the early morning in downtown Valencia. At 7.01 we had a blazing row over navigation and I was forced to apologize over some dodgy references to Vic’s Russian ancestry. He had also just remarked that every long journey starts with a small step. Sure, I couldn’t be listening to that guff so I had to give him a bit of a slap to putmanners on him.  The good thing about traveling in twos is that should one get hit by a train the trawl through dental records for ID purposes would not be necessary. 

Vic and myself are heading off to do the Camino De Levante, starting in Valencia. It's 1250 Kms (circa 760 Miles) and we both know one of us isn't going to make it. Of course, we'll pretend we are going to support each other come what may, but we both know that when the chips are down, it's every man for themselves. They say it's not a competition and that it's all about the journey but please, who are they kidding. Maybe that's why's 'They' is anonymous.