Elevation gain 600 m

Elevation loss 759 m

Total distance 140 km

There’s a strong cool breeze on leaving town this morning. The views on the way out are absolutely spectacular – huge cliffs rising from green pastureland

The wind is so strong that I have to put my visor on, not to keep the sun out of my eyes and mop my brow as usual, but to keep my hair from flying in my face.

Just over a kilometre from leaving our apartment, we are on a gravel path and very soon after that a nice rocky track on the very very edge of a huge plunge down into the valley.

After 3.5 km we find ourselves on a minor road. All our walking so far this morning has been downhill and we just know what’s coming next.

And sure as eggs is eggs we walk through a tunnel under the train line and the incline commences.

Long gone are the avocado plantations of the first few stages and we are now surrounded by olive trees and the occasional vineyard .

We are on a long and winding road, luckily not too busy but with severe switchbacks that make it dodgy to walk with no shoulder.   The views over the gorge stunning.

Finally we get off that main road 9.5 km and are now on a quiet road going steeply downhill and then a track through olive groves, crop fields and vineyards.

It’s still very windy with strong gusts and it’s lovely to see the wheat fields rippling in the breeze almost like waves.

Bright red poppies have been more abundant the last few days and are always a joy to see.

We’re now on a lovely gravel track with crops to either side olive groves in front and big rock outcrops in between. Poppies are lining the track and waving wildly in the wind.

By midday we’ve walked almost 17 km and arrive at the tiny village of Venta de Leche. Alas there is no bar but there is a bench in the shade of a gnarly old fig tree

When we leave the village, we are soon onto a dirt track with some incline, but not too much. 

This countryside is what I consider to be true camino – vast rolling hills in all directions covered in olives and wheat – a patchwork of deliciousness. 

There are two villages ahead and I think the furthest and highest one is where we are headed,  but maybe if we go through the first one, we can get that cold drink we missed earlier.  Fngers crossed.

At 22 km we come across an unexpected water feature which requires a boots off paddle. The mission is accomplished without too much fuss and bother. I suspect that the stream which was very fast flowing and reasonably wide would not normally be in such full flow as I have not read about this feature in anyone else’s reports. 

At 26 km we bypass the first village – Torre Alháquime and soon come across a goat farm. I’ve seen a lot of goats on my various caminos but never this many in one go. Hundreds pass us on their way to the milking parlour. Whilst many more nannies and kids are scrambling over the steep hillsides. The track takes us to bench where we can sit and watch their antics for ten minutes. 

Then it’s back on an extremely rough and rustic steeply uphill path with wooden bridges to help us over small ravines. It’s hard work but magical. 

At a point near the top of our climb we can hear music blaring and soon enough we are amongst what seems like the whole population of this large town partying at their Romería. There are lots of people with bbq’s, ice cream van (that we take advantage of), drinks tables, mules pulling a cart and lots of ladies and their daughters in Flamenco dresses. It’s a fabulous occasion to see. After this we are on a paved path into town. 

But when I stop to find the address of our accommodation I find I have no phone signal and nor does Nina so can’t check on booking.com.  This is very strange and we have no idea where we are staying (although I realise much later that I have all addresses of places I’ve booked on a spreadsheet in my bumbag 🙄)

I then think to check my emails and find the address but Google doesn’t work without signal. I try maps.me and it comes up trumps. Luckily the host is waiting at the property and a young couple arrive at the same time. The host tells us there is no electricity, not only in the house, not only in the town but in the whole of Spain, and Portugal, and part of France. This is the same information that the other guests have heard. Therefore there are no shops or bars and restaurants open. This is really weird and rather alarming – what on earth is going on?  How can such a vast area be affected by the same massive issue? Someone we see later tells us that it has been a cyber attack. Luckily our lovely host walks us to a fruit shop that he has seen open as they have a battery operated till. So we stock up on fruit and salad and our host finds us some bread in his freezer. He really is such a kind man.   

We walked up to the church at the top of town. The place is earily quiet from a mixture of the outage situation and half the townsfolks being at the romería without a care in the world (until they get home!).

It’s now gone 21:00 and still no power or mobile signal so there’s no way of confirming what’s going on. It’s so strange to look out of the window and the only lights that can be seen are from passing cars. Luckily my charging pack is fairly fully charged but I have no idea if it will see me through to the end of this situation.

We ruminate the possible purposes and consequences of this disastrous event, with absolutely no means of access to any news. For someone who listens to news programmes several times a day it’s a very unnerving experience

Let’s hope that it’s resolved by morning. Fingers double crossed!

We are staying at Cama Doble Cristina, €23 for two. But due to a mix up (mine probably) our host expects us to share a double bed. Luckily there is a single room available which he lets us use, so we leave him an extra €10. It’s far from the best accommodation we’ve stayed in but Cristobal’s kindness is worth a fortune.