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Two very helpful ladies visited after I'd been in an hour or so. I think one of them was the mayor. They let the albergues further up know when people are starting - I'm three days behind a Slovenian and, as my knees are in a bad way, won't be catching her up.
Alan, thanks so much for posting these details. We are thinking of walking or cycling the Camino Mozárabe from Almeria next spring or fall, and are very interested in the insights you are posting. I hope you keep us updated every day! We'll be watching for your news.Day 1: Almería to Rioja
Luckily, there was nobody about to stare at me emerging from the sea just before sunrise on Friday...
I should perhaps add that the camino out of Almería was better signed than from any other major city I can think of. It may have been busy, ugly and stinking of diesel, but it was clearly marked, so one spent no longer there than strictly necessary.Nice to see you are under way Alan. Quite right about the dreary suburbs. Also good to see that the ref. at La Rioja is open. It's a long day to Mondujar.
Hi Alan.
Sounds as if you are having a great camino, I'm making a note of all the info ready for my trip in April next year. I have a few questions if you don't mind, the "dry river bed" is it permanently dry? what is the waymarking like, would gps help? and what footwear are you using? do you think Hokas would do?
e
I was there in April
Carel
In the highest part of the walk, between Hueneja and Granada, it was very cold in the nights. In all the albergues on the way however there were plenty of blankets. I walked without sleeping bag, also because after Granada I used a mix of hostals and albergues.We (5 Antipodeans) are planning to walk from Almeria to Granada in April 2017. Do you recommend carrying a sleeping bag in early April?
It's interesting how we people notice things differently. For example our forum member (Val) in her blog https://valjrob.com/2016/10/18/guadix-to-la-peza/ doesn't mention it at all. But the blog is very interesting and with beautiful photos though.Half way between Guadix and La Peza is the pleasant little partly troglodyte village of Los Baños, which has been a spa since possibly Roman times. Well worth a pause for a tapas or more. The next few km are through spectacular gorges and bad lands, and then suddenly you are high above the village of La Peza, with its Arab ruined castle, and church with mudéjar and baroque towers. The (donativo) albergue there is excellent - four rooms with two (bunk) beds in each, and a full kitchen downstairs. The sello is of the carbonero alcalde, a giant cannon which helped briefly beat off the French invaders.
We - two Antipodeans from Perth - might catch you there and then!We (5 Antipodeans) are planning to walk from Almeria to Granada in April 2017. Do you recommend carrying a sleeping bag in early April?
We are planning to leave Almeria on March 31.We - two Antipodeans from Perth - might catch you there and then!
HI Alan,There is a very brutal climb from the riverbed up to a road, about an hour in. Possibly the most strenuous 40 minutes I can remember of any camino, scrambling and climbing out of the valley floor, mostly on not especially firm scree, sometimes with a several 100 ft drop on one side. A real goat track, and lots of droppings, although sadly I didn't see any.
We (my husband Peter and I) will leave Almeria on 10 April - we may catch up with you somewhere along this long, long routeWe are planning to leave Almeria on March 31.
Hi, We are leaving from Almeria (10 April) and we are currently tossing up whether or not to take our sleeping bags - reading previous posts (e.g., Carel5) we should be fine without the sleeping bags??? Is this the general consensus? Just thinking of the additional weight that we might have to lug around with us all the way to Santiago ;-(In the highest part of the walk, between Hueneja and Granada, it was very cold in the nights. In all the albergues on the way however there were plenty of blankets. I walked without sleeping bag, also because after Granada I used a mix of hostals and albergues.
Thanks for your helpful response - sleeping bag it is!Hi Pemalily,
You will find that while there are blankets at a lot of albergues, it's not universal, and it's likely that there will be no heat on in the albergues. Spain in April can be very cold. Maggie and I on our Camino de Mozarabe de Malaga, experienced a number of frosty mornings. The VdlP last year in April/May was also cold and wet.
I would definitely take a lightweight synthetic bag. (Cost basis) or a lightweight down bag(money no object) or be prepared to perhaps sleep in your clothes.
Remember just because there were blankets, doesn't mean there will be blankets!
Regards
George
PS, I am starting from Almeria in April.
PPS, I've hesitated before adding this, I didn't want to be seen as ungrateful to our Spainish hosts, but, many of us who walk avoid albergue blankets, because you can never be sure how clean and bug free they are.
Thanks - very helpful! Really helps with preparations!Hi Pemalily
The albergues I visited were clean and had blankets. But maybe I was lucky to avoid bugs. And in some cases I opted for a hostal.
I remember heaters in the albergues of Hueneja and La Peza, both on 1000 meter level.
Despite the heater it was very damp and cold in Hueneja, and I decided to add a merino and slept under two blankets.
Be prepared for cold in the morning, and also for heat in the day. When I walked last year in April, the temperature never rose above 25 degrees, but I have seen reports on temperatures well above 30 degrees, already in April.
Bon camino.
Carel
Hi, Pemalily,One more question (without wanting to sound overly alarmed): I have just read about bed bugs in some albergues along the Northern routes.
Has anybody who has walked the Camino Mozarabe from Almeria followed by VdP had nasty surprises in this regard?
I know Carel found the albergues he was staying in clean. Any other experiences?
If yes, should we treat our sleeping bags before leaving home?
AGree with you completely, George, but I do think it's important that pilgrims realize that the level of cleanliness of a place has nothing to do with whether there are likely to be bedbugs or not. If they can show up in the Ritz in New York City, they can show up anywhere!I hesitated to refer to bedbugs, because I know they have the potential to become a emotive issue (much like an isolated incident of mugging years ago has resulted in the idea the outskirts of Seville were knee deep in robbers)
Almost without exception I have found Albergues to be clean and well ordered, and where they are not its usually perigrinos that are to blame.
Re bugs, the best tactic in my opinion is avoidance, so in my case no blankets.
Regards
George
Day 1: Almería to Rioja
Luckily, there was nobody about to stare at me emerging from the sea just before sunrise on Friday. Lovely warm calm sea. Once out of the city centre, next few km were pretty horrible, beside a busy road, then through endless dreary suburbs and satellites. If I ever come this way again, I'll probably get a bus or train to Huércal de Almería, skipping 5-6 really bad km. From there you mostly follow the dried course of the Andarax river, taking about 17km from central town to Rioja, a pleasant sleepy village. Its brand new albergue is by the municipal pool, has 6 (bunk) beds, loo and shower, donativo. It also has a nice sitting room with a "biblioalbergue", with pilgrims encouraged to borrow books and return to albergues further up the camino. Two very helpful ladies visited after I'd been in an hour or so. I think one of them was the mayor. They let the albergues further up know when people are starting - I'm three days behind a Slovenian and, as my knees are in a bad way, won't be catching her up.
Thanks, this helps a lot!I hesitated to refer to bedbugs, because I know they have the potential to become a emotive issue (much like an isolated incident of mugging years ago has resulted in the idea the outskirts of Seville are knee deep in robbers)
Almost without exception I have found Albergues to be clean and well ordered, and where they are not its usually perigrinos that are to blame.
Re bugs, the best tactic in my opinion is avoidance, so in my case no blankets.
Regards
George
When you said 'hot' - how hot is hot?Walked Almeria to Rioja yesterday. Can only agree with the above. Only the walk in the Andarax riverbed was even worse than the rest of the walk. It was only a little stream and stinking like the worst in the heat!
Hi, Pemalily,
I was bitten by bedbugs once in an albergue on the Vdlp years ago. And last year, I may have been bitten in a pensión along the Ruta del Ebro. I never got confirmation, but I acted on the assumption that they were bed bugs. They may have been flea bites or some other creature. You can find them anywhere. And it has nothing to do with cleanliness or lack thereof -- one of the cleanest albergues I have ever stayed in was in Sangüesa on the Aragonés, and we learned that a day or two after we had been there, the place closed for fumigation because of bed bugs.
I have never been proactive about it, but this year I plan to spray the outside of my sleeping bag and the outside of the pack before leaving home. I always intend to follow the great instructions provided on many threads here about what to do upon return home... but as my mother always used to say, the path to hell is paved with good intentions.
When you said 'hot' - how hot is hot?
I looked Almeria's weather yesterday and it said 21C. Is that not correct?
We will be walking the same route starting on 10 April . We are considering to take a bus/taxi for the first few kilometres out of Almeria - given that the route to Rioja does not seem to be not that great in the beginning at least. How far do you think we should go before it gets better?
Thanks so much! Lily
Hi Pemalily,
Just seen that "we" are departing Almeria on the 10th April, may I ask how many in your party? as I am planning to start roundabout then.
Regards
George
Walked Rioja to Alhabia today 18 km, intended to go to Alboloduy but much to hot today, a street thermometer showed 27 Celsius!
I would say start in Rioja it's easy to take the buss from the combined buss and railway station in Almeria.
I looked Almeria's weather yesterday and it said 21C. Is that not correct?
We will be walking the same route starting on 10 April . We are considering to take a bus/taxi for the first few kilometres out of Almeria - given that the route to Rioja does not seem to be not that great in the beginning at least. How far do you think we should go before it gets better?
Thanks so much! Lily
in Almeria to Rioja!
Hi Carel5
The Almeria airport website suggests that there is a tourist information office and they must have some sort of stamp, but if not I'll go to the office in town and get a stamp there, as to walking out of Almeria as I said I have already walked it "virtually" via wikiloc and it looks ok, I'm not the sort of perigrino that busses the "boring" bits, like you I recognise that, good and bad, its all part of the camino experience.
As to credentials I've had a couple sent by post from Ivar so a stamp is all I need to get going.
Regards
George
Hi George,
Almeria is a small airport and I really wonder if there is a tourist office there. I arrived in the evening when the few shops were closed.
I would advice you to take up contact with Mercedes from the Amigos of Almeria-Granada. She will arrange that you can get your credencial on the location where it suits you. When I arrived in Almeria, Mercdes had left my credential at the hotel reception with a note to call her. Maybe she can drop your credencial at some place at the airport.
About the first leg. Walking some kilometers through urban areas is part of the Camino. My experience is that leaving Almeria it is not so bad as some contributions here suggest. The first kilometers after Granada were much worse. I suppose leaving Almeria is more pleasant than following the Camino in the suburbs of Burgos or Leon.
The part out of Almeria is not bad. It's like out of every larger city. What was very unpleasant was walking the nearly dried out riverbed of Rio Andarax. The little stream left was stinking awful in the heat! Can still taste the smell now, many days after walking.
Hi Pemalily,
I arrive at Almeria airport at 1130 on the 10th, and if I can get some sort of stamp from the tourist office there, then I will probably get a bus/taxi to the edge of town and start walking from there, probably to Santa Fe.
If you google... wikiloc Camino Mozarabe etapa 1 ......you can "walk" the route, it's not so bad, certainly no worse than the exit of many other cities.
Have you looked at Maggie's blogg, for info about the days after Córdoba ?
Regards
George
PS. You may find the high temperatures are confined to the coastal region, last year there were a lot of cold wet days in April and May on the VdlP/Sanabrese, current walkers are talking of SNOW on the Levante.
PPS. Have you prebooked tickets for the Alambra, I have, some time slots seem to be sold out!
Hi Carel5
The Almeria airport website suggests that there is a tourist information office and they must have some sort of stamp, but if not I'll go to the office in town and get a stamp there, as to walking out of Almeria as I said I have already walked it "virtually" via wikiloc and it looks ok, I'm not the sort of perigrino that busses the "boring" bits, like you I recognise that, good and bad, its all part of the camino experience.
As to credentials I've had a couple sent by post from Ivar so a stamp is all I need to get going.
Regards
George
I have not yet walked the Mozarabe, but when I start out next April, Santiago willing, I will definitely have my cup, my beloved electric coil, and my instant coffee!Just a quick question - how easy is it to get breakfast organised and buy daily supplies on the Camino Mozarabe? Anything to look out for? Do some albergues provide breakfast? Any experiences will be appreciatedThanks
Not needed- beautiful coffee served by local bars in every villageI have not yet walked the Mozarabe, but when I start out next April, Santiago willing, I will definitely have my cup, my beloved electric coil, and my instant coffee!
Not needed- beautiful coffee served by local bars in every village
So I take it you are on the Mozarabe now? Lucky you, would love to hear how it's going.
I'm sure the coffee is great, but what time do those bars open?
Just a quick question - how easy is it to get breakfast organised and buy daily supplies on the Camino Mozarabe? Anything to look out for? Do some albergues provide breakfast? Any experiences will be appreciatedThanks
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