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I start this thread just to add a few notes to the plenty of informations i collected before leaving.
This blog was one of the major sources i used to write down my "self made guide" and some of the users who walked the Camino de Levante already provided a lot of informations very up to date.
Therefore i'll add just some informations i didn't find in my personal guide or some other note coming from my personal experience.
I was sorry not to visit the Asociación de los Amigos del Camino en Valencia before starting; knowing they read this Forum, i want to thank them here: for what i could see till now (i'm writing this post in Xátiva), the waymarking was excellent!
Gracias a todos los Amigos por vuestro trabajo.
La señalización del recorrido es perfecta!
Day 1: Valencia - Algemesí
1) the albergue in Algemesí is well maintained, with 2 single beds and 3 bunkbeds, for a total of 8 places.
Full equipped kitchen and two toilets ( with WC, a washbasin and a shower each), one for men and one for women.
Plenty of hot water.
Enough electrical plugs to recharge the pilgrim's apparels.
Two options to collect the keys & have the credencial stamped: at the police office or into the Museu de les Falles, just in front of the Albergue.
Apparently, the police doesn't know if there are pilgrims already let inside the albergue by the Museu.
The Museu is recognized as a part of the World Human Heritage by the UNESCO and it's very interesting and free to visit.
They welcomed me very warmly and offered me a small guided tour.
I had no word to thank them as they deserved.
2) We were 5 (!) pilgrims sleeping in the Albergue of Algemesí tonight: besides me there were two french women walking together, one dutch woman and a german man.
The german told me there was also a swiss woman on the same stage but we didn't see her: she certainly chose to stop before Algemesí.
During the day i was also overtaken by 3 pilgrims on bike: one german, who stopped by me for a fast chat, and two Spaniards.
Not so much people, if compared with other Caminos in Spain but definitely much more than expected!
:-D
Day 2: Algemesí - Xátiva
It took me 3 days to pronounce Xátiva in the correct valencian way, and now i'm proud of it!
I'm staying in the Albergue Juveníl (Youth Hostel) "El Cigronér", rather close to the cathedral.
I called them yesterday to book a place in a bunkbed (for 19 €) but they were sold; they offered me a twin bedded room all for myself, with private bathroom, for just 20 € (it's a special treatment they reserve to pilgrims) and of course i accepted.
Breakfast included, even for those who leaves early in the morning.
The Albergue is wondeful: recently renovated, modern, full furnished and very, very clean.
It's a real treat for me (and i really needed it today, being exhausted as i am) at a very low price in a touristic place as Xátiva and, besides, at the beginning of a weekeend!
Yes, we all slept in Xátiva: i was the only one to stay in El Cigroner, that for the remaining places was already full of groups of youngsters.I didn't even see 5 pilgrims all together on the Levante. Are they staying at the albergue in Xátiva as well?
Yes, we all slept in Xátiva: i was the only one to stay in El Cigroner, that for the remaining places was already full of groups of youngsters.
The other four pilgrims i slept with in Algemesí went all to El Palau.
I even dived into a river, today, in order to escape!Aaah!! Groups of youngsters! Run for your life. :OP
I even dived into a river, today, in order to escape!
;-)
The restaurant in the pension is good
About 7 kms. before La Roda there is another Y-shaped split: along the right branch there is a ruined building with controversial waymarks painted on its walls (both a yellow arrow and a yellow X); us pilgrims have to take the LEFT branch, anyway.
i was thinking of someone who should walk the "classical" stage Albacete - La Roda (>40 kms.) in a hot day: such a long distance with so few opportunities to find some shadow...
Isn't that the split that... actually doesn't matter? The two roads reunite a few hundred meters furhter on (but that can't be seen at the point where they split). I stayed there to wonder for a long while only to learn later that it's the same route. Well I wonder if we're talking about the same spot - it should be some 7 kms before La Roda according to me.
I actually noticed another split like that and it corresponds to your description; there is a yellow arrow painted over a stone, pointing leftwards toward a building (not a ruined one, though: a little farm, perhaps) and after half km. or so the two ways join again.
At the split i described in my previous post, instead, the ruined building is along the right branch of the split.
The "Albergue de Transeuntes" in Villacanas is actually meant for displaced people. And in such a small place/town more often for bums, beggars etc. It opens late at 18:00 and I have waited in a park down by the supermercado and RR. Only one bench unoccupied, all the rest with drunken men. I decided not to wait for Albergue and head for Hotel Europa (on the main street) and got a room for 30€ en-suite. Price is 38€, for pilgrims 36€, but if you pay in cash could be negotiable down to 30€.Just one more information about the stage of tomorrow: according to what the owner of Casa El Rincon del Infante told me, the albergue of Villacañas use to shelter also tramps, drunk people and so on: it seems that many cases of theft occurred there towards the pilgrims: therefore he strongly advices not to sleep there.
Just one more information about the stage of tomorrow: according to what the owner of Casa El Rincon del Infante told me, the albergue of Villacañas use to shelter also tramps, drunk people and so on: it seems that many cases of theft occurred there towards the pilgrims: therefore he strongly advices not to sleep there.
Great news @moromauro . It seems like a steady little stream of pilgrims walking Levante/Sureste this year.Day 13: La Villa de Don Fadrique - Tembleque
………..I met a new french pilgrim in the Casa Rural and i know there are at least also one italian man and a spanish woman walking together and the other spaniard who was yesterday in El Rincon del Infante (the only one pilgrim i met till now walking the Sureste); i wouldn't be surprised if there were here at least another french man and a german couple: all of them slept yesterday in La Villa de Don Fadrique.
If it's not a coincidence, it appears that the number of pilgrims/hikers on the Levante/Sureste is really considerably increasing.
…….
Great news @moromauro . It seems like a steady little stream of pilgrims walking Levante/Sureste this year.
the Camino de Levante and the Camino del Sureste split a few kms. after Tembleque, but then join again in Mora at the end of the day
the pilgrim has a much more comfortable way to walk (according to what the other pilgrims told me at night) and can also pass through a town (Villanueva de Bogas) at about half stage, with bars and shops for drinks and foods.
I strongly advice to opt for the Sureste, in this stage.
I got hailed AND snowed on during the same stretch, the only time on the LevanteDay 15: Mora - Toledo
Long but nice stage: i was extremely lucky to avoid the rain and even the hailstorm in the morning: in the stretch between Almonacid and Nambroca along the way there was a lot of hail on the ground, fallen not so much time before: some of the grains of the hail had the size of a big blueberry, or of a little olive.
The last kms. walking along a road facing Toledo on the other side of the river Tajo make you forget the length of the stage!!!
Here in Toledo i'll have my first rest day, as it's the first time i come here and i want to visit this interesting city as it deserves!
Just one advice for those who can't cook here in Toledo and/or want to eat a complete meal without spending a lot: i've found the Restaurante Palacios, in the historical centre of the town (at the corner between Calle Alfonso X El Sabio and Calle Navarro Ledesma/Calle Nuncio Viejo); it offers various levels of Menú del Dia, at different prices, both for lunch and for dinner: the cheapest one costs €.7,50 and includes a first and a second course and a dessert (mostly homemade); the bread and the first drink are included. The quality and the quantity of food are fair; for dessert and any of the two courses we can choose among 4 to 6 different options each.
Less than the price of the typical "menú del Peregrino" in the very centre of a touristic city...
I got hailed AND snowed on during the same stretch, the only time on the Levante
Ooh sorry, I didn't see that. You know of Villanueva de Bogas. Yes there are a couple of bars there and some small shops. I think accomodation is better in Mora though. To stay for the night, I definitely prefer Mora to Villanueva de Bogas.
@moromauro, your notes have been added to my ‘guide'. Thanks so much
i was so sorry not to be able to visit the "Toros de Guisando" because they are in a secluded area (the entrance costs 2 €.) but the area is open for visits only from friday to sunday!!!
Whaaat,
Secluded area? Pay 2 euros? Things have changed since a few years. You could just go see them. No obstacles. Strange!!!
Whaaat,
Secluded area? Pay 2 euros? Things have changed since a few years. You could just go see them. No obstacles. Strange!!!
Among the four pilgrims who slept in the convent in Almansa i was the only one to opt for the long stage directly to Higuerela while the others chose to stop in Alpera, dividing the stage in2 days.
Just 1 kms before Chinchilla i met a group of big mammals, maybe ibexes or something like that
During my way i was overtaken by 2 pilgrims on bike: by their accent when we quickly greeted each other i guess they were anglo-saxon-ish...
All I can do is a deep deep bow to you for this post!!!Day 22: resting in Ávila:
just two more considerations
1) while yesterday we were just two pilgrims sleeping here in the albergue of Ávila, tonight we are 8!
Besides me there are the 4 french pilgrims and the italian i slept with in Torrijos, one spanish cyclist and another pilgrim from Albacete who is going to stop here his Camino.
2) when asked about a good place where to ear, the hospitalero advice togo to a nearby bar/restaurant on the opposite bank of the stream Adaja.
It's called bar Eladio.
I went there for a coffe and i was curious because since the outside the bar sports a lot of spanish flags and national symbols and a writing telling "espacio nacional" (national space).
I naively thought it was a place for typical products and actual spanish cuisine so i entered place and told as a joke to the waitress if, despite being a national space, they also attended foreigners; the waitress laughed nodding "yes" so i asked a coffee.
Then i looked around, and i saw the walls were completely covered with pics of Francisco Franco and images about his dictatorship ended in 1976: a period that can at least considered as controversial; but there was something more: one of the pic, just on the wall behind the bar, showed Franco shaking hands with Adolf Hitler.
Adolf Hitler, and an apparent pride the ownership of the restaurant takes in showing suc criminal against the humanity.
It's not a matter of right- or left-wing politics, to me: It's a matter of humanity.
Hitler, just as Stalin on the opposite side, was someone who committed immeasurable crimes against the human being itself, plannin and acting the extermination of millions of lives.
There is no politic belief that can justify such crimes;
there can be no excuse to celebrate such criminal in a spanish bar.
Please, don't spend your money in bar Eladio, Ávila.
while passing by the polideportivo, i saw a big big crowd of teenagers there and decided to go to a more quiet accomodation:
Starting early means that all the bars of the places i passed by during the stage were still closed, as they open usually at 11 A.M.
Run for your life, pilgrim :Oo
...
In Medina del Campo i stay in the youth hostel (albergue juveníl); they use to be open just from friday to sunday morning but, when weekend guests ask to sleep here also for sunday night, they stay open for one more night: and luckily tonight it was that case, so i can sleep here for €.13,92, breakfast included.
The albergue is located at the entrance of the town, not far from the Camino, and it's a really good one, with a lot of space for everything and very well maintained.
As there are very few guests here tonight, i was given a twin bedded room with private bathroom just for myself....
I'm completely in awe how many pilgrims stay at this albergue juvenil. I mean I can understand that it is kind of the first option when you walk into Medina del Campo but it's almost kilometer away from the city center. And then there is a 10€ private rooms (shared bathroom but with was basin though) at the monastery just 50 meters from the Plaza Mayor without the curfew on the other hand. Just don't get it
Congratulations, @moromauro !!!Day 30: Villalazán - Zamora
My last day walking Caminos, this year, and it was two days ago (i'm late in writing this post).
After my first Camino in 2009 my goal has not been anymore to get to Santiago: i prefer enjoying my way, either it gets to Santiago or not.
Though when i have to stop walking, like this hear in Zamora, and i see all the other pilgrims/hikers/mates keep on going, i feel a bit unconfortable.
And sad.
This year was no exception.
The last stage was very short and easy, along a flat and well waymarked itinerary.
I left Villalazán very early in the morning and then, just after 10 A.M., i got to the albergue in Zamora, where the hospitaleros allowed me to leave my backpack and walking sticks, so i could arrange several little things in the morning, in order to go to Madrid the day after.
The albergue actually opens to pilgrims at 2 P.M. and they are rather strict about this;
i think they could anticipate the opening at least at 1 P.M. in order to avoid the peak of pilgrims getting in alltogether.
I must also say that there was no one waiting outside before 1 P.M.: in fact the "recommended" stages ending in Zamora are rather long, either coming from the Via de la Plata or from the Camino de Levante, so most pilgrims can't arrive in the morning.
The albergue in Zamora is a very nice one, as it was in my memory about the two previous times i slept in here, and the hospitaleros were efficient, smiling and very kind.
The "fee" is "donativo" and i think guests should also value the welcoming (with water and lemon, oranges, biscuits) and the big breakfast we can have in the morning.
That day the albergue got complete and a (very) few pilgrims arriving (very) late had to find another accomodation: as just six from 30 were coming from the "Levante" it seems that the Via de la Plata is getting more and more busy nowadays and, remembering my experience in 2011, i can see why!
In Zamora there were other 5 pilgrims i met along my Camino de Levante and we had our "Ultima cena" (i like to quote Leonardo, as i live not so far from Vinci, his birthplace!) together, before going to our different destinations.
~.~.~
I have a lot of people to thank for my experience on the "Levante" then in the following days i'll add anotber post just to thank them.
Anyone else's experience and help were of a great importance for me to make this Camino as nice as it was!
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