Cadiar

Day 4: Wednesday 10th April 2013

This was a day of mistakes. The biggest blunder was by me, misreading 50 mtrs in our notes as 50 mins, so we missed our track completely, and ended up walking by road all the way to Juvilles. Thank god for the gps on Rob’s phone which got us out of our difficulty when we realized my mistake. At least the countryside we walked through was interesting and pretty, including an intriguing artisan cheese making setup with kilometers of white pipes.  Weird. Also saw a booted eagle and lots of other birds, and Rob didn't even get mad at me. Such a dumb mistake.

We arrived in Juvilles a bit later than planned, about 11. Not quite such an attractive town, and we had an inferior coffee and bocadillo. The next section back on track we were very glad not to miss, as it took us through an incredible gorge. There was a helofa drop off the side and I did get that horrible sweaty palm thing. Rob had to take care not to feel dizzy looking through his binoculars. Fantastic example of geological layering on the other side of the gorge.

We dropped down to a tiny village, Timar, and then went past an abandoned mercury mine and a roman stone circle or era. Down through fields and then a very arid landscape to a river valley. There we made the second mistake of the day, and missed our marker. We ended up scrambling with difficulty up a steep gravelly slope before getting back on the track. Minutes later, though, we were in the pretty town of Lobras. 

Straight through, then down on to mule track where we met a lovely friendly old man leading his pony with a load of firewood. We had a strange conversation, him speaking Spanish, and us English, but we seemed to understand each other.

Down at the river I had to rush to the bushes, but luckily was okay after that!! Lunch at the river side, then a pleasant climb on which we met a couple of German folk out for a walk. From the ridge de san Agustin we dropped gently down through scrubby terrain to the Rio Guadalfeo, which we followed along through huertas of almonds, olives and grapes all the way into Cadiar. We could see Berchules much higher up, and that convinced us to stay in Cadiar! An early stop for us, we got to Hostal Nuevo Cadi not long after 3. We needed to wash some clothes and the fronts of my ankles had bothered me all day, so, it was good to stop.

We were lucky to get directions from an English lady to Joes bar for Wi-Fi, never would have found it ourselves. Had a couple of beers and did emails and looked up buses etc. Headed back to our hotel for dinner, a huge plate of black pudding for Rob and a huge platter of grilled pork for me. No veges except chips and a bit of coleslaw.

Have I mentioned church bells? The damn things rang all night, hard to believe Rob didn't hear them, whereas I heard every single one except midnight. Grrrrrr.

Also forgot to mention that Rob saw a snake yesterday! And he nobly stepped between me and an overeager Dalmatian I was sure was going to rip my leg open.