Almansa to Alpera, 24 km, Jan 24

We experienced the usual confusion getting out of town (why are the Camino markers largely absent there?) but before long we were walking through the countryside.

walking out of Almansa

After a few km of road walking were on dirt and headed into the hills.  This is a rolling stage through mostly empty country.  The first half of the stage we were walking mainly west and shielded from the north winds by high bluffs.

The path took us past some old bunkers from the Spanish Civil War.



After about 12 km we passed the sheltering bluffs, descended from the hills, and turned north toward Alpera.  Even though we were walking mostly into the wind, it was lighter than the previous day and we were frequently sheltered by small trees.

We passed the junction where the Camino de Levante splits off to head more westward.



As we walked this day, Ellen was experiencing intermittent, then more constant, pains in her left foot.  She tried various lace adjustments, but nothing seemed to help.  About 5 km before Alpera, we stopped for a short break and when we resumed walking the pain increased dramatically.  Ibuprofen helped, and things moderated somewhat as we progressed, but by the time we walked into town she was clearly in a lot of discomfort.

After our recent experiences with unheated albergues we'd called ahead to reserve a room at the Hostal El Cazador.  When we walked up to the door about 4 pm, a man just driving up asked if we were pilgrims, and we got into a pleasant conversation with him.  It turned out that Pedro Antonio is very active in the local Camino association and lives in the town at the end of the next stage.  He brought us Camino pins (the ubiquitous yellow arrows) and little Camino charms.  Although the Hostal's restaurant was about to close, they stuck around to serve us a meal.  When we finished and asked for the check, we were told that Pedro had already paid our bill.