“Cap’n Dick where be we?”

“Arrh! Bay o Biscay, ye sodden bilge rat.”

“Awwk! Pieces ‘o’ pate.”

Early morning start for the first day of the Death March.Packs loaded with drinkable yogurt, tons of water. No rain so no rain gear.

13 mile trek to Hostel Bar Frances. Last several hours in extreme heat. The heat was really the main problem. Mid 90s in the sun and there was no shade for almost the entire walk.

Leaving Camas terrible road with smelly gasoline and trucks and ugly industrial area. Then we got on a road that ran parallel to the autostrada. Basically 11 miles is nothing but exactly the same road with the exact same surface heading north.

Fortunately in the town of SantiPonce before the long track on the boring Road. Visited a 1301 Cistercian monastery being renovated (slowly). Alphonse Guzmán was the original founder.

Then an absolutely fabulous ball of string. Might be worth two balls of string. The Roman city of Italica. Birthplace of two emperors Scopio and Trajan. The ruins of the amphitheater alone well worth the side trip of almost 5 m. We probably could’ve spent half a day there but had to MoveOn. The ruins are from the city of 206 BC

So far we’ve noticed only five other fellow travelers.

Along the long boring 11 mile path we did see some cotton growing and a machine that was picking the cotton. I’ve never seen that before.

Also saw a farmer seeding his field with dozens of white birds following right behind the tractor. Every time the tractor moved, the birds followed to pick up the new fresh seeds, some even trying to anticipate where he was going next.

Simple two star bar for tonight. Outstanding Wi-Fi. We immediately had a beer and an ice cream each.

On further reflection a marginal one star. Toilet does not work. Old weather heater that heat tub grout shower but not sink. No cold water. Overhead light stopped working.

Decent standard Camino food.

They do early dinner at 8pm