11. San Clemente - the road less travelled!

This morning was fresh, crisp and wonderous. A perfect morning for walking across the vast, currently green, plains of La Mancha.

I am currently sitting on a bench in the sun in a small village drinking in my surrounds. It is Sunday, and Spain is at rest. I have hardly seen another person. I don’t know if there is anyone behind the doors of this village, if there is no sign. All I can hear is the cheeping and chattering of birds, including the cooing of doves, and the occasional dog bark in the distance. The breeze is getting up again, but the direction is different to yesterday, as if a front has passed through and I am on the other side of it. It is considerably cooler but still clear and sunny, much like an autumn morning in Canberra.

Writing some hours later.

After that little set, things became more perplexing. I continued to follow the arrows, but the further I went the more things didn’t seem quite right (and not just because of this space age experimental solar power farm).

At around the time I should have been arriving in San Clemente, I entered a very run down old village. 

At which point I stumbled across a sign that said San Clemente 19 kms. Ugh! What is going on? I started walking in the direction of this sign (which seemed almost to be backtracking) and came across a guy on a bike. I asked him, and he confirmed that I was now heading towards San Clemente, at which point I realised I was way off the path I should have been walking. I’m still trying to work out exactly what happened. There are a few different routes criss crossing this region and I think I must have picked up the arrows for a different camino. The end result was another 15kms of walking (I managed a few short cuts) to get to my destation. Alas, a slight divergence of path can take you a long way from where you think you are going (there’s got to be a life lesson in that!)

So much for my efforts to take a few shorter stages and give the legs time to recoup!!

Here’s a few of San Clemente by day and by night.

And one of dinner. 

I know it’s a worry when we pilgrims start showing shots of our dinner but hey, ordering is such a lottery for me that I celebrate when something good comes back. And besides, it’s a break from shots of endless winding paths. Buenas noches, Neils