Day 20 Órgiva to Juviles

22.02.2016 21:30 

When I left Las Semillas around 9:30 after I had enjoyed my cereals with some of the cactus fruits from yesterday, the first main task was to find Juan and Ruud's walking sticks. I was absolutely sure that I would find him, just because I had been fantasizing about him so much that I felt like I knew him already.

The plan was to find Juan, maybe have a cup of tea with him after sorting out the stick-issue, then hitchhike until Pitres, hike up to Trevélez, and then down again to Juviles, where my airbnb-bed was waiting for me. I already knew that I probably wouldn't make the whole thing as planned, but as long as I'd arrive everything would be fine.

Hitchhiking out of Ólgivar took a bit longer than expected, there was only few cars, and their drivers probably thought I'm a drug addict from Beneficio. Still a man with endlessly long eyelashes gave me a lift after a while, up to his place which lay isolated next to the road halfway to where Juan had dropped us off to drive away into the unknown. 

I walked along the road for a bit and came to a good spot, the first car that came stopped. The three men inside were from Granada and on some kind of business trip, although I didn't understand what they do exactly. They dropped me off at the Ermita del Padre Eterno, where two men were just trashing their cans and glasses. In my finest Spanish I asked them if they were from the area and if they knew a guy with a very very big dog that lived somewhere down that street. They laughed at me, indicating that more or less everyone had a big dog. I showed them the pictures I took, but the older one said that he knew every dog in the left side of the settlement, and this one was definitely not one of them. The other one said that the road would continue all the way back to Órgiva and that there were people living all the way down as well, and Juan was probably one of them. They even stopped a car on the way down the street and I showed the pictures to the two men inside, but they didn't know Nanouk either.

Finally I gave up, thanked the two men still busy with their trash, and continued hitchhiking. No one stopped, but when the older man was finished with his trash, he gave me a lift to Pampaneira. He was really sorry he couldn't help me finding the dog and his owner, promising me again and again that he knew every dog in the area, as he was a dog breeder himself - if I understood him correctly. (This means Juan is not a dog breeder, otherwise they would sure know each other haha.)

In Pampaneira I remembered that we had met Juan in front of a delicacy shop and that he had told me to ask the girl inside about a supermarket. This must mean they knew each other, right? I went inside, hoping the same girl would be there. She was, but only knew Juan as a costumer and didn't have any contacts of him. I explained the situation (in Spanish, indeed), and gave her Ruud's number, which she would give Juan whenever he shows up again. 

Still hoping that he would walk around the corner with Nanouk at any moment, I walked out of the village and uphill to continue hitchhiking. This was the view:

No one stopped, so after some time I walked for another kilometer along the narrow serpentine road to reach a junction, where I hoped to find more cars. Just before I reached it, a car pulled over. A man on the way to his job took me into Pitres. 

There I was a bit planless for a minute, not sure wether I should have my cafe con leche already or wait for the next village, and if I should continue hitchhiking or start walking. 

In the end the latter question answered itself - there was no cars, so I walked te short path to Atalbeitar. There I wanted to finally have my coffee, but didn't find a café. So I continued to Búsquistar directly, skipping the detour to Pórtugas and it's famous spring that has water tasting like rusty nails. I'm quite sure I passed a river with the same water though:

Once arrived in Busquistar I saw the GR7-sign to Trevélez, but knew I wouldn't be able to make it. The desert dust was still around, and together with the lack of wind I had already started sweating and breathing heavily on the short steep passages between Atalbeitar and Busquistar. So instead of going into town to have my coffee or starting to climb uphill towards Trevélez, I took off my backpack under the curious gazes of some elderly people sitting and chatting on the other side of the street.

There was very few cars, but the second or third one stopped. The Maroccan guy who took my all the way to Trevélez has been living in Spain for ten years and talked dialect as deeply as everyone else, but was still listening to Maroccan music. He lived and worked in Trevélez, famous for it's ham, which he says he has never even tried. Funny world..

The restaurants next to the main street were full with people, but as I wandered through the streets and uphill I found a bar with a nice terrace and no people at all and thought it's a good place to relax. I ordered coca cola with morcilla (blood sausage) as tapa, and had a flan and finally a cafe con leche afterwards, because I felt fancy. The price of 7,50€ surprised me a bit in the end, but I guess it's just Trevélez.

Expecting to walk downhill from the highest village of Spain into another, I was even less motivated to move my body on a path that kept climbing steeply uphill. I had to stop to catch my breath after every 20 steps and am still not sure why, but I guess it was mainly because of the strange dusty air and the absence of the usual cooling breeze. At least I had enough opportunities to look back over Trevélez this way.

When the climbing finally stopped, the vegetation changed and there was these yellow bushes all over. I kind of missed Siv, who could've told me something about them for sure.

Then I passed a man-made stone platfo which looked just too inviting, so I stretched out on the brink of it and enjoyed the views. I cracked some almonds I had picked up earlier and felt really relaxed. Then I even laid down for a while, closed my eyes, felt the sun on my face, and listened to the sounds around me.

Wish I could say I was full of energy after this break but somehow I really couldn't get myself going today. I did enjoy the landscape nevertheless, and finally I hit a dirt road that didn't look like it would become steep any time soon.

Once it seemed like I would have to go uphill again, and I'm not sure if I had just turned around if it had been the case, but it was the marking for another route. Lucky me!

The last part of the route went through an open countryside, which probably always looks a bit strange, but the desert dust definitely gave the whole atmosphere a very surreal touch. If it hadn't been for the temperature and finally a cool breeze, I would've thought I'm in Oman or something.

At arund 5 I arrived in Juviles and after some waiting I was brought to my hostel room, which I have all for myself. 

The water boiler didn't work right away wheni tried to shower, so I went for a walk in the village and hoped it might work when I came back. It was completely empty, but I kind of liked the atmosphere anyways.

When I came back the heating still want working so I called the owner of the place. We had communicated in English on airbnb, but in the end I had to explain the problem in Spanish. 20 minutes later a friend of hers, who had also given me the keys, came and gave me the key for the other dorm, so I could use the showers there. The boiler did work there, but didn't really live up to its name - the water was rather luke warm.

I'm laying in bed now, next to a heater that died a few minutes ago for no reason, but luckily I have a warm sleeping bag, so I'll hopefully survive the night. My accommodation for tomorrow is booked already, I'll be heading to Yegen and stay in a place run by an Irish woman. Probably again won't cover the whole distance by walking, but I feel like hitchhiking in this region is a very different experience for me, as I get to practice my Spanish and usually learn a lot from the people I'm getting a lift from.