This is a photogaphic blog with a particular focus on walking the Spanish Caminos. Also included are walks in The New Forest, Wales and Southern England.




Almendralejo to Merida, 22nd October


Something to aim for leaving Torremegia.


Olive picker, Torremegia.


Very distant view of Merida.


Crossing the 0.7km Roman bridge into Merida with
Ellamiel, Werner and Alfonso.

I don't know why I went to Almendralejo.

Someone said it would gain me an extra day? Why did I listen. I'm not short of days anyway! I should have gone the extra 9kms to Torremegia. It might be a 'one horse town' but Almendralejo is a 10 truck town. However, I was lucky in that I quickly found a decent pension to stay in and a library to blog from. Ate, drank and had an interesting conversation with the old lady (artist) who owns the pension and has her paintings hanging on the walls.

In the morning I left in the dark and promptly got lost. I took the wrong road out of town and walked shoulder to shoulder on an unlit road with big trucks. As dangerous as it was I knew I was heading in the right direction and an hour later intersected the Camino at sunrise with great relief!
It was so good to be on the Camino again. I made up a song but can't remember it now - lucky you.
As one of the lowest points of the whole trip it really wasn't that bad!
Got to Torremegia and had a cafe con leche in my favourite (Torremegia) cafe from 2008.


10 minutes after leaving Torremegia I came to a stream surrounded by reeds and couldn't see a way round it so I climbed up a steep embankment, through brambles, up to the road. Behind me I could see 3 other pilgrims and shouted to them to climb up to the road because of the 'agua' (water). They then disappeared into the reeds. A while later they reappeared and we got into conversation. They thought I was saying that I had run out of water and was in trouble! How funny, only 10 minutes out of the last town and they thought I was dying of thirst and were ready to give me their water. We found a place in the shade, had a picnic, and were instant friends. Such is the Camino.

We walked and talked for the next few hours and entered Merida together.






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