Almansa to Alpera

24 Km, 400 m elevation.
Though there is still a lot of scrub land and barren rocky mountain escarpment, today’s short walk offered a much more pleasant landscape. There was more undulation, more bright green vineyards, a Civil War bunker, some flocks, and occasional small bursts of red poppies. I have been told that the shortage of wildflowers has to do with the drought, which certainly makes sense.

We’re in a town of a few thousand, Alpera. The last time I was here, I slept in the albergue on its first day of operation. Tonight I’m sleeping in the Hostsl Cazador, a roadside place with a decent restaurant attached. The last time I was here, the mayor had the local guide drive us up to a cave about 7 Km away with paintings that are between 10,000 and 20,000 years old. The supreme disappointment was that the paintings, in pristine condition when they were found in 1910, have deteriorated so much that the only way to “see” the figures was to look at the drawing and then squint over at the wall where the guide was pointing. The deterioration was caused by the fact that the villagers threw water on the paintings to make them more brilliant. After 50 or 60 years, they were virtually impossible to see. So I did not try to get up there this time.

Having so much time in a village of about 2,000 can be relaxing or boring. Today it’s relaxing. My lower back has been acting up, so I am spending more time stretching. There’s a good fruit store in town, and the square livens up when the kids get home from school, so those will be the afternoon attractions.

And as frequently happens, a little diversion popped up. We saw a sign for a pozo de nieve, a snow well, where snow was stored and turned into ice. I learned that, even though these structures tend to have a fair amount of construction above ground, the inside goes down about 20 m into the ground, which is where the snow was stored. The above ground structure was there to provide insulation, and to give access to the snow/ice. This one was built in the 16th century.Leia mais