It was another early start into another sleeping town. But it was to be a more rewarding day than yesterday. For two hours I followed a rutted track through the darkness and towards breakfast in the village of Lebrija, the only place I would pass through before Las Cabezas. It could have been incredibly peaceful save for the dogs.
Dotted along the road were fenced enclosures, whether smallholdings or houses was hard to tell in the dark, but most had two or three dogs, dogs that barked noisily as I approached, that ran up and down in their compound and barked as I passed, and in doing so set off dogs in more distant compounds along the track and across the fields. It was a chain reaction of barking and I was pleased to be rid of it by the time I stopped to eat in a crowded bar on the edge of Lebrija.
After a breakfast of sandwich and coffee - I seemed to be the only person in the bar not enjoying an early morning aperitif - I watched the sun rise from Lebrija's high vantage point before following the route through the not quite rural countryside: a quiet road, a gravel path through crop fields, and by a long canal - concrete lined and more brutal than those back home that blend into the landscape rather than impose themselves upon it. A smear of cloud kept the worst of the sun away and overall the route was better than yesterday’s, more so still when I headed away from the canal and into the higher ground leading across the hills to my destination.
I am now sitting with a drink in a bustling square in the attractive hilltop town of Las Cabezas de San Juan with its white painted buildings, narrow streets and an imposing pink and white stone church dominating the highest point. The sunshine and crowds are enticing but as my hotel room has turned out to be a fully equipped two bedroom flat that too has its attractions; I will be washing clothes and loafing on the sofa with TV before dinner and then having an early night amid its well appointed luxury in readiness for tomorrow's 20 mile leg
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