Alicante to Orito, Jan 19, 24 km

This was a long day, one which began before it even started.  We went to bed early so we'd be ready for an early start; I even set an alarm (something I seldom do).  From prior experience in Spain we've learned to avoid hotels located near or over nightlife.  But shortly after midnight the partying started on the otherwise empty street outside our hotel room, and it continued (loudly) until close to 5.  I didn't get to sleep until about 6:30, and slept right through the alarm that went off soon after; we didn't start walking until after 10 am.

Note to fellow pilgrims: In the route descriptions to follow, I'll refer to the extensive (over 200 pages) Camino de la Lana guide published by the local association as the "big guide" and the more recent brief guide from Kevin O'Brien as the "little guide."  Both are available for download on Ivar's forum, and I have both loaded on my phone for ready reference.

The way through Alicante was generally adequately marked, and many of the signs supplemented the usual directional arrows with words (continue on this street until __).  Still, we referred several times to the big guide to clarify things.  Unlike on the busier Caminos, people we passed on the street  seemed to not recognize us as pilgrims.  But one elderly man stopped us to chat, which we did at some length about a variety of topics.  He was quite insistent on giving me a two Euro coin to carry as a good luck piece; it's in my pack.  Once outside of the downtown area we passed through a fairly ugly industrial area, then the city cemetery, and were soon on more rural roads.  We continued on a succession of rural roads, mostly paved, for several hours.



Toward the end of the day our path became dirt, and we ascended for a distance on excellent mountain biking singletrack, much of which was quite steep and rough (think Spence Mountain trails, but limestone rather than lava).





It was after 4 pm by the time we walked into the small town of Orito, where we were reminded that yes, it is important to call ahead for albergues on this lightly traveled Camino.  We asked in the bar, and they suggested we try the church.  The priest there told us to ask Raul (who lives nearby) for the key, but when we went to his house we learned he was away in Alicante for the day.  We spoke with him on the phone, and after some back and forth he arranged for someone in the village to meet us at the bar with the key.  The woman who came was very helpful in setting us up in the albergue, which is quite modern and nice.



It is also unheated in the winter (nightime temps were in the 30s) and there was no hot water turned on.  Fortunately there was a very small space heater to use in the bedroom, we are carrying good sleeping bags, and there were extra blankets in the albergue..  Other than missing showers we did ok.  After missing sleep the night before, I barely made it to 9 pm before dropping off.