La Roda to Minaya; 17 + 6 km

La Roda happens to be the place where they invented the puf cake called Miguelito. Very delicate phyllo pastries, the top layer filled with light vanilla pudding and coated with icing sugar. I was born in a bakery so at breakfast this could not go past me. It was lovely.

We started relative late, around nine as today’s walk was short. Soon we left the village and walked past some industrial buildings and then we were out, in the desolate plains. How can you picture desolateness, space? I tried to do my best. My favorite is a peregrino on the path, left and right nothing, not even a tree. It must be very hot to walk here in the summer.

We walked along a kind of storage chamber, the roof half collapsed. The remarkable thing about it though, was that it seemed to have been made from loose stones and perfectly round. No mortar. Even the roof were loose stones. This had to have been a job that took many weeks to build. Stones enough in the environment but you have to find the right one everytime.

Halfway we ran into an ugly carbage dump. That stuff has been there for years and i wonder how the Spanish garbage industrie works. In the Netherlands there is an industry that tries to take everything out that is worthwhile before burning it and delivering the heat to houses. But then Spain is a big country, places enough to dump it.

We walked on and then “the man with the hammer” appeared to me (hitting the wall). I felt a bit groggy this morning and blamed the sangria we had yesterday, all my energy slowly drained from me. I had a hard time walking straight, i had to really concentrate. I got cold shivering, thirsty, i wanted to lay down, sleep. We arrived in Montaya at the medieval door and i felt really sick. I managed to get out of town without puking. We still had another 5 km to go. I hardly managed and felt like a zombie. And then it dawned on me. Dehydration sickness, not my first time.

It is a remarkable phenomena i think. It was warm but not too too warm. I felt very strong yesterday and the sangria tasted wonderful. No symptom/signal what so ever that something was building up. And today it hit me. I will be ok, it is my third time and it (always) takes me by surprise.
Within an hour it turns you from a marathon runner into a beginner doing 500 meters for the first time. Also you are feeling nauseated and it looks like the water does not want to leave your stomach (you get bloated).

The place we will sleep was close to a local airfield and the most luxurious up till now (50euro, in Minaya we could not find anything for tonight). What a treat, i fell on the bed, slept for two hours and then showered. I am starting to get back in my body.

“Don’t worry, about a thing, everything will be alright”
~GRead more