If memory serves, yesterday started out stunningly, and I was all excited for a frustration free day. "Ah, this is what it is all about!" And for several hours it was just glorious.
There was a scenery change. John, you all know him by know, says that these stones are reminiscent of France. He is probably correct:
Cow of the day:
Some time in the afternoon, things got tricky. Half of what went wrong, I don't remember, but the worst was this: Instructions say to fork left. GPS shows a left fork and so does View Ranger. There is a mark on a tree, unclear to be sure, but seems to support other instructions. I walk back and forth and back and forth for some time because not only do I not see a fork, I see not so much as a tine, but surging on ahead was not correct either. So, after quite some long time, I push through at "the spot" and it is awful. I am scratched and cut and cursing while I am, apparently, on an invisible path. Eventually, I come out the other end just incredulous and push on to Salazar.
I get to Salazar, a tiny town, and cannot find accommodation, and, of course, Google Maps does not work. I sit a spell hoping someone will turn up, but it is about 3:30 and there is neither a peep nor a person anywhere. I cannot call because phone is not working (see Google Maps, just above) and this seemed a dumb situation in which to haul out the Go, so I tap on the door of an elegant large house and ask if this is the Casa Rural Ondina. It is not, but lady shows me where it is. At last, after 18 miles, I am "here."
Other people have been frustrated, too:
Salazar is the first place I have an official rest day, which I switch and decide to walk the next day since I had already lounged around in that luxurious balneario in Corconte.
Long but easy, says the book. I am OK with that. Scenery may not be dramatic but it is pleasant and I am so into easy that I do not notice my first error. But that was after the pretty field:
I forget if the error was before or after I was not beheaded navigating one of those barbed wire fences:
I definitely did go off the route. I looked at the GPSand did not see the magenta track. Is this device not working? Yes, it was working, only I was so not where I should have been. I turn back.
Sometimes there is signage, and if there was also a warning, which, doubtless would not have been heeded, I will never know.
That path reminds me of the "muddy cow track which "you will likely want to avoid by taking the field on the side." (There were two sides.) Anyway, I felt kind of guilty opting for the field—and chose the left side— because a poor woman was herding a whole lot of skinny cows through the most yucky muck and cow shit deep as you can't imagine. It's a living.
On to a different aspect of nature:
Later on during this long but easy day I made a huge awful mistake that cost me about an hour, and it was hot in full sun on a highway. A taxi was scheduled to pick me up at 3:00 at end point but had to call to have him come at 4:00. I could make the call because el dueño de la Casa Rural put €10 on my phone last night. After walking 22.8 miles from 6:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., taxi pulled up just as I was hauling myself around looking for the church, our meeting point. But I did not die:
I have not yet mentioned Cristina, the daughter of Angeles, with whom I study Spanish. She is a bilingual, just-about-graduate of the U of Madrid and has been helping me by, among other things, making a slew of phone calls to taxistas and B and B's, and really in every situation of difficulty. Without her I couldn't even be bumbling along as I am. She is amazingly smart, competent, efficient and reliable. Anyway, yesterday, after my umpteenth complaint about the damn phone, she told me that there is a Movistar (that is movi as in mobil not movie) store in a town a 15 minute taxi ride away. Yes, Cristina, that is where I will be spending part of my día de descanso.
Get taxi to go to Movistar store, a tiny little one person operation, wait in line a good while, but it was worth it. El chico there was really nice. He told me that I did not want Movistar—and he works for them!!—and he escorted me, would you believe, to a shop down the street and around the corner where his compañero set me up with DIGI, which cannot be worse than Movistar—one hopes— AND I paid for 3 months at once! Oy, now I realize that I only needed two months. Oh well. My first attempt at using Google Maps worked, so I am quite hopeful that now I have a functioning phone. It will depend on the network coverage about which I am dubious. BTW, everyone and I mean everyone here uses WhatsApp. And now, so do I!
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