22nd September, Via de la Plata, Day 4

To Arco de Caparra and Jarilla

The rather rushed start to the day left my head in a bit of a whirl. The previous evening’s apparently fruitless attempt at arranging for a taxi had in fact worked. In my very best Spanish, Flemish, German and French (along with a smattering of English) I had phoned the local taxi man to try to order a taxi to avoid the first 10km of busy tarmac. I was quite convinced this very nice man thought that I was some kind of lunatic who was hell bent on making nuisance phone calls and irritating the hell out of him and his wife.

I crawled out of my bed at 6.50am to make a coffee and do the other things a chap needs to do first thing in the morning, when I heard a car pull up outside the albergue….and then a rattling on the front door. It was Señor Taxi Driver – my nuisance phone call had worked! Fortunately I had most of my kit packed so I managed to dress (T-shirt inside out!), pack my sleeping bag and snatch something to eat from the breakfast table, all in less than 10 minutes.

15 minutes later Señor Taxi Driver delivered me to a bar in Carcaboso (pronounced ‘Karackabouso’) where I was able to enjoyed a couple of cups of cafe con leche for that oh-so-very important dose of caffeine.

I was absolutely delighted to catch up with Ully once again, he had pushed on to Carcaboso the previous afternoon and had secured lodgings in the town. We spent 10 minutes comparing notes before he set off towards Arco de Caparra.

A freshly laundered Ully ready to hit the trail

Ully was walking at around 4-5kph, a similar pace to me so I didn’t expect to see him again that day – my two coffees were going to delay me by a good 20 – 25 minutes.

At 8am I left the bar and looked for the tell-tale yellow arrows to direct me out of the town onto the Camino. Pop music was blasting away somewhere, I couldn’t tell where it was coming from – well not for a few minutes anyway. Then I came a cross this:

Carcaboso was having some sort of all-night bash designed to keep the residents awake all the previous night, Beer and wine were flowing, there was dancing and folks were really enjoying themselves. Now I like my beer, I’ll even stay up late at night in the interests of beer consumption – but not ALL night. I’ve since discovered that this hoolie last NINE DAYS, that’s one hell of a bash!

Inebriated revellers directed me out of the town, they must have thought this foreigner was a bloody idiot because I seemed to be going round in circles. Eventually I made my escape by three roadside crucifixes:

Definitely back on the Camino….T shirt now correctly aligned

Today’s route went through a large private estate. High fences, CCTV and floodlights kept any would-be trespassers at bay. The local bird life took advantage of some of the CCTV placements:

Judging from the airgun pellet damage on this sign I would say that peregrinos may not be overly welcome in these parts:

By now the sun was high and so was the temperature. My new Tilley hat paid for itself on this walk, even with decent sunglasses the days were very bright.

I was soon back on farm tracks….walking through farms. Spanish farmers like to get every last ounce of use from their machinery:

The modern Via de la Plata follows the original Roman (and later Christian pilgrimage) route. Milarios old and new were either on the modern route or very close to it:

There wasn’t any chance of refreshment on this section of the walk, what appeared to be a bar from a distance was actually a farm house:

 Venta Quemada

I managed to find a little shade for a sit down and a breather – and another of Aldi’s best washed down with a few glugs of corporation pop.

The next few miles were really quite beautiful, following a walled lane for the last few miles to one of the highlights of this trip:

Arco de Caparra

Caparra, according to the tourist info, is no mere museum piece – the Camino actually passes underneath the four-square ‘triumphal arch’, Arco de Caparra. The arch is part of a Roman city which is slowly but surely being excavated and is now quite a tourist attraction.

Excavations of the Roman city of Caparra

Accommodation wasn’t easily available from Caparra but the enterprising owners of Hostal Asturia in nearby Jarilla offer transport from Arco de Caparra to their hostal 8km away. I made a quick phone call (thank heavens for mobile phones) to the hostal and 20 minutes later a minibus arrived to collect 4 peregrinos and whisk us off to cold beer, nice showers, real beds, good food…….need I go on?

Total distance for the day: around 24km….excluding the minibus ride!