I went down to the dining room in the Hostal Asturias dutifully at 9pm but found suite a few people already eating . It was surreally like a school room . Each table had one guy sitting at it, probably all truck drivers at they were all facing the same way – towards the TV!
I had a nice white bean and chorizo soup
Chicken cooked to perfection on the charcoal grill
and desert ??!!
Early on in today’s walk I came to an unmarked fork in the road and blithely kept going straight ahead.
Two kilometres later I hit a tall barbed wire fence ! I backtracked and took the turn to the right marked ‘ via pecuaria’ ie for migrating sheep herds, and kept going without any idea if I was on the right road. Finally I came across one of the Via cubes.! Back on track!
In the middle of nowhere I found an information board and a water fountain, and it worked , well sort of .
I arrived at a small town around lunch time and a lovely toothless lady fed me a nice bread roll and beer so cold from the tap that it had ice in it! Wonderful!
I decided to take a detour involving about an extra 4km of walking to visit the town of Hervás. This was probably a mistake because with getting lost and the diversion, tonight my leg is swollen up again and quite painful.
Hervás is a lively town with a wonderfully intact old quarter . The town was founded by the Knights Templar. It had a large Jewish population and the intact Judería or Jewish quarter dating back to the 15th century is one of the town’s attractions.
Ferdinand and Isabella issued an Edict of Expulsion against the Jews of Spain in 1492.
I got lost trying to find the road from Hervás to my destination this evening so I tried using google maps on my phone. Surprisingly rather than direct me along major roads, it sent me down little back lanes and footpaths that even had Via de la Plata yellow arrows even though the town is off the path .
The hostel is a beautiful and comfortable new one and downstairs there’s a Via de la Plata in Extremadure interpretation centre. Baños is the northernmost town on the Vus in Extremadura and tomorrow I cross into Castilla- Leon. I have a room with 4 beds to myself and the washing is drying next to a fig tree with some nice tasting fruit.
Baños has a style of architecture with wooden verandahs I haven’t seen further south. Here’s an opportunity for you to buy your own place right in the middle of town !
There are two Australian women in the Albergue – it’s the first time I’ve met another Australian in three weeks.
Paul's Walks Through Europe 