Pego to L'Orxa
After all the road work of the previous day, this stage was a great relief. A serious climb (almost 300m up in under 2km) up from the pretty village of Fonda takes you over a high pass with wonderful views down onto the coast and inland over the sierras. From Villalonga, the camino follows a vía verde along the Serpis river. It is just beautiful, with high hills on both sides and only the swift flowing river for company.
Just outside the village of L'Orxa is the albergue del Serpis. On Thursday there were only three of us in the 28 (bunk) beds (in 6 rooms), but it was apparently fully booked for the weekend. Maeba, the excellent manager, rustled up a decent meal and was pleased to learn that she shares her name with a semi-mythical warrior queen of Connaught.
L'Orxa to Otos
A very beautiful day, but quite a strenuous one. Maeba kindly got me breakfast at 8am, and then the first couple of hours continued on the vía verde, reaching the picturesque hill village of Beniarrés. Along the way were many cherry trees, some almonds, a few olives and a few jacarandas, covered in their almost decadent purple blossom. From Beniarrés the trail goes steeply up round the side of the imposing 1100m high peak of Benicadell. It's quite a slog up to the pass from Beniarrés, rising 400m in about 5km. At some point I crossed the provincial boundary and made my first ever camino footsteps in Valencia province. The views forward and back from Benicadell were utterly spectacular, especially on a clear cool spring day, with water refilled in Beniarrés. Probably not fun in the wet or in high summer. The Alba people suggest walking from L'Orxa to Albaida, but I saw there was a casa rural in Otos, and booked to stay there. I'm very glad I did as it was 8km less on an already strenuous days, and Otos was lovely, with a surprising number of artistic sundials on the facades of the south facing houses. The casa rural, Ca Les Senyoretes, was excellent, in a handsome 18th century house, and with a bathroom bigger than my bedroom in Pego. A very reasonable 45€ b&b, much more if booked online.