Moixent to La Font de La Figuera: Solo and supported

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Travelling alone has its moments. Sometimes you just go for it. Sometimes you need help. 

Last night in Moixent, I went up to the Plaza Major to find dinner. Both bars were filling fast - bar staff flying in all directions. I sat at an outside table for a while - no one came near me. I felt out of place amidst all the laughing and conversation. So I decided to go inside and sit at the bar and try out some Spanish. It turned out well. I ordered this without speaking any English or using much sign language.

Some of the locals came over and asked questions and gave advice (I think?) about the Camino de Levante. The busy bar staff smiled too. And to think I could have gone back to the police station via the supermarket and had a dinner for one. 

A relatively early start for a walk that would be the shortest and the steepest so far.

As the road climbed, the vista got better. Then I went real hill climbing for a while, and met an Italian couple (not peregrinos) on their Saturday morning walk.

The path plateaued and the view was magical.

Different things grow up here. Grape vines glowed.
Olive trees, old and new, dotted the landscape.

I stopped at an apricot tree for breakfast. The taste ‘stone(fruit)ed me to my soul’ 
I continued my solo morning walk, past almond orchards

and high speed railway construction, 

and walked into La Font de La Figuera around midday. It had been great morning in the countryside. Then my train started to leave the track . . .

My plan to drop by the police station and get the keys to the hostel, went awry. It was closed - so was local museum (i.e. the other place to check in) which according to Friends of the Camino website WAS SUPPOSED TO BE OPEN!!! Damn it. I could feel my wistful Camino vibe beginning to disappear.

At just that moment two Camino pilgrims walked by. Yes real Spanish ones, a young couple from Valencia - first time in four days! We introduced each other and they called the Police for me - no answer. Then I thought- walk on? No - too hot. 

They called the Hostal Amable for me - and I checked in. The sign has a Fawlty Towers sort of look - don’t you think? I could feel my happiness slowly creeping back.

It’s not the Municipal Hostal but it will do. 

If the Camino couple had not supported me, my experience would have been quite different. 

Solo and supported - you can’t do the Camino alone.


 




Comments

  1. Anonymous26 May 2024 at 06:19

    It’s great Mike, I love how the Camino pops people up just when you need them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tim Mooney26 May 2024 at 08:37

    Excellent reporting

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous26 May 2024 at 23:54

    The little albergue I 'slept' in at La Font de la Figuera (just down from the fount) had the hardest beds of the Levante, it was a tough night, a battle with bedspring demons. I'm glad you found somewhere else to rest your weary head. Onwards amigo, Neils

    ReplyDelete

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