Aldea del Cano - Cáceres 25.5km

The two Italian guys were up at 0530 and were not quiet, (they were going to Casar de Cáceres (37 km), but it was a good thing because it meant that we were all up and on the road early before it got hot. Having said that, at 0530 it was 18°. Still, I had a room to myself and I had slept really well.

I set off at 0550 whilst it was still dark, and even without the GPS I had no problem following the camino as it was one of those paths where there was only one way to go. I had done 8km before it began to get hot. I stopped in Valdesalor for a coffee, a road worker had assumed correctly that was my goal and directed me towards the café, on the camino people are generally friendly and helpful. As I was leaving the café Colombe, Odile and the American all arrived for their breakfast.

The walk to Cáceres was good, but I had one bizarre encounter, halfway between Valdesalor and Cáceres, which is to say in the middle of nowhere, I met a man who was probably in his late 60's jogging, wearing nothing but a pair of bright red trainers and matching speedo pants. It was unexpected.

15 minutes past the halfway point you can see Cáceres and it doesn't take too long to reach the city limits, however, you still have 3-4 km to walk through the city to get to the Plaza Mayor. The albergue I was hoping to get into was just 5 minutes walk from the Plaza. Although they were not yet open, they let me leave my mochilla. So I went to the Decathlon store and bought a neck buff and a better hat, one that had an all round brim and that I could attach to my mochilla.

I still had to make a decision about how to get to Cañaveral, so I went to the Tourist Information office, in the Plaza Mayor, and was helped by a really nice and super efficient guy who spoke impeccable English. Within 30 seconds he had printed a bus timetable for me. It turned out there was no bus from Casar de Cáceres so I would have to go from Cáceres, there was a bus the next morning at 0930. I decided that I was not up for walking 40+ km in the extreme heat so I would go by bus.

Dinner at one of the cafés in the Plaza Mayor was excellent, when I got back to the albergue I found I had a roommate, Sebastian from Chile who lived in Barcelona and was cycling around Spain. I packed my bag and spent some time listening to music and reading, so, a normal evening in the albergue.Read more