Mar-May 2022, Hiking in Spain

Mon, 28 Feb 2022

Morning bus from Sparks to downtown San Francisco on FlixBus. BART to airport. Evening flight from Reno to Madrid, transit through Munich, arriving in Madrid around midnight Tuesday. Return part of flight from Kyiv to San Francisco on 30 Oct 2021.

Visited Citibank on way to airport, but unable to open account without physical lease agreement (and bank will then call leasing office to confirm my residency) or utility bill of apartment, and also might need physical social security card.

Tue, 01 Mar 2022

Arrived in Madrid at 23:35, picked up luggage by 00:00, taxi to Estación de Autobuses del Sur (€30 fixed tariff 4), Alsa bus to Granada at 01:30 (€24, eticket purchased while in USA).

Wed, 02 Mar 2022

Arrived in Granada 06:30. Withdrew €500 from ATM, bought groceries for breakfast, then several hours trying to buy prepaid SIM, which Movistar no longer sells, probably because not enough profit. Finally found small store which sold me Llamaya service (Yoigo network I think), 20GB data and unlimited national calls for 10€/28 days. Too late for bus to Nigüelas, so decided to buy food for tomorrow, take bus to Dúrcal (departure from south side of Paseo de Violón), walk to Nigüelas, then camp in mountains tonight. Beautiful weather.

Feeling some sort of chest congestion, maybe another strain of covid-19, or maybe caused by repressing coughs from ordinary cold so as not to alarm people, though most people past panicking about covid-19.

Thu, 03 Mar 2022

Chest congestion worse in morning, plus sore throat. Decided to hibernate while body heals. Muscles also need time to recover after first time carrying backpack since 20 months ago. Rain in evening, continuing all night into morning.

All equipment working well. GPS on new smartphone much better than on old. Hopefully, can discard dedicated GPS receiver next year.

camp in pines near almond orchard

Fri, 04 Mar 2022

Chest congestion improved, but not recovered. Muscles mostly recovered, other than right shin (dorsiflexors). Sun came out towards noon. €30 at Hotel Manolete. Nice room with balcony, useful to dry wet gear.

Sat, 05 Mar 2022

Decided to stay another day in hotel, because still feeling ill. Cough now dry, with congestion in nose and headache.

Filed taxes with HRBlock, since Turbotax unable to compute correctly.

Used Wise to send money to former Russian teacher in Ukraine, who had to flee war zone. Worked very quickly, though transfer won't complete until Wednesday because Monday and Tuesday are bank holidays in Ukraine. About 4% overhead, combination of fixed fee plus currency conversion costs. Overhead percentage would be smaller on larger transfers. Initially tried Western Union, but it rejected attempt to pay with debit cards and directed me to pay in person at store. OFX has very low overhead but doesn't support Nevada residents, though it does support most other USA states, doesn't support UAH, minimum transfer of $1000. Xoom also doesn't support UAH.

Sun, 06 Mar 2022

Cannot setup ssa.gov or id.me accounts using Google Voice number, but ATT prepaid does not support roaming.

Mon, 07 Mar 2022

Rained while hiking. Followed road rather than trail to avoid possible thorn infested sections. €27 at Hostal Atalaya in Capileira.

Tue, 08 Mar 2022

€29 at Hostal Casa Fermina in Trevélez.

capileira

Wed, 09 Mar 2022

€25 at Bar Cadí in Cádiar.

view from timar

Thu, 10 Mar 2022

€30 at Bar El Tinao in Yegen.

looking back at golco

Fri, 11 Mar 2022

Lungs almost clear and should be fully recovered in another few days. I was worried for a while that congestion might be desert valley fever fungus (coccidioidomycosis).

Bought 5 days supply peanuts and dark chocolate in Válor, in case limited supply at store in La Calahorra. So only need bread and cheese to get to Baza. Camped at usual site two km after Bayárcal. Rain in evening, then cold north wind.

Sat, 12 Mar 2022

Trail more overgrown than ever. Bushwhacked to forest road and then ascended back to highway. Lots of potential campsites along this forest road. Henceforth, stay on highway after Bayárcal until past Puerto de Ragua. Fuente at Puerto de Ragua not running and refuge not open, though lots of day trip families playing in snow. Hurried down to Ferreira. Trail on north side of Puerto de Ragua acceptably clear. €30 at Hostal LaBella. Bought 2 days of cheese, since store closed tomorrow. Will buy bread tomorrow at panadería. Store had plenty of chocolate and oil roasted peanuts, but not dry roasted peanuts, so glad I carried from Válor.

Sun, 13 Mar 2022

Fuente in Charches dry, so obtained water from men at house. Asked them and various other men if Fuente Fragua and other fuentes running. All agreed yes. They also agreed that this winter was very dry. Picked up 4L at Fuente Fragua for tomorrow. Fuente running several liters per minute. Camped at usual spot about 11km after Charches.

Mon, 14 Mar 2022

Rain and wind last night, continuing into morning. Rain stopped towards noon, but still windy and much cooler than yesterday. Picked up 1L at Fuente Canaleja Alta for tomorrow. This and other fuentes along route all running several liters per minute.

near puerto palomas

Tue, 15 Mar 2022

Fine brown dust over everything in morning. Wind from southeast, so probably dust from Sahara desert. Breathing normal during yoga shoulderstand pose, so lung congestion finally gone about 2 weeks after it started. €55 for 2 nights at Hostal Casa Grande in Baza, where I spent 95 nights in 2020 during covid-19 lockdown.

Wed, 16 Mar 2022

Zero day, drizzling much of day.

Shirt fabric worn and starting to tear. Same shirt I've been wearing since Jan 2019. Should have replaced while in Reno winter instead of trying to get yet another year of usage. Swapped with spare.

Drained €500 from Piraeus Bank in Ukraine, in case banking system there collapses once war over. Still have ₴11040 in account, which is enough to pay another year of phone service and storage locker. According to XECurrency, I lost about 3% on combined exchange rate and ATM fees, which is not much worse than with typical USA banks. Successfully tested ATM withdrawal from spare Schwab account, first time using this card outside USA.

Stocked up on store-brand dental floss from Mercadona, best dental floss of those I've tested past few years in USA, Spain, Ukraine, Bulgaria. Maybe 20 years ago, I found similar quality dental floss in small-town store in France. Secret might be thicker nylon-66 filaments versus thin nylon-6 filaments, though I'm not expert enough to know for sure. What is I do know is that modern corporate managers have hard time resisting temptation to substitute crap for quality in exchange for a few pennies savings. Gradual loss of customers, offsetting these savings, will be responsibility of future managers.

Thu, 17 Mar 2022

Rain while hiking. New poncho from Jan 2019, however little rain in 2019 and little hiking in 2020 and 2021 because of covid-19, so 2022 first significant use of poncho in field conditions. Sil-poly fabric appears to fix wetting-through problem of previous silnylon poncho. Camped at usual spot on way to Benamaurel. Cough has returned, with a vengeance.

Fri, 18 Mar 2022

Occasional drizzle while hiking. Boots picking up huge amounts of mud. €25 at Hostal Montecarlo in Cúllar.

Sat, 19 Mar 2022

Slipped on wet clay and face hit sharp end of dead tree branch, nearly poking out left eye. Not much pain and vision unaffected, at least for now. Cut away strip of free hanging flesh, rinsed wound with water from bottle, applied some saliva as disinfectant, left wound uncovered and exposed to oxygen to reduce chance of infection. Never, ever again step on wet clay that is even slightly sloping. Wet clay almost as slippery as ice.

Camped before Orce.

closeup of cut near eye

Sun, 20 Mar 2022

Cut healing quickly. Decided to take zero day, including fasting (no food or water) to further speed healing.

cut eye, next day, dark spot is where hanging strip of flesh was cut

Mon, 21 Mar 2022

Heavy rain last night, then drizzle off and on during day. Used paved road between Orce and Galera, to avoid mud. €28 at Hostal Ruta del Sur. Trimmed remaining flap of loose skin (black spot in yesterday's photo) from eye cut using scissors, then soaked scab until soft and pulled away, so as to expose wound to air again, just to be on safe side, though no signs of infection.

cut eye, 2 days later, after cleaning at hostal

Tue, 22 Mar 2022

Rained off and on all day, continuing into evening. Camped at usual spot in forest on way to Puebla de Don Fadrique.

cut eye, 3 days later

Wed, 23 Mar 2022

Rained all last night, continuing until late afternoon, resuming in evening. Decided to take zero day.

Thu, 24 Mar 2022

Drizzled off and on during day. Stayed on paved road to avoid mud. €25 at Hostal Andalucía in Puebla de Don Fadrique.

between huéscar and puebla de don fadrique

Fri, 25 Mar 2022

Rained steadily all day. Decided to stay another night in hostal.

Sat, 26 Mar 2022

Overcast and dry on morning, occasional drizzle in afternoon. Stayed on paved roads until Cañada de la Cruz, to avoid mud.

camped in pines

Sun, 27 Mar 2022

Drizzle off and on most of day. Again stayed on paved roads whenever possible, to avoid mud. €25 at Pension El Nevazo in El Sabinar.

Mon, 28 Mar 2022

Remained on paved road again where possible. No rain, but wore poncho anyway as wind breaker. Had to remove boots and pants 4 times while fording Río Alharabe or tributary streams. Camped at usual location before but near camping resort.

Locus Map Pro is acting up, not showing my GPX tracks. However, LoMap Spain includes GR7, so I use that.

cut eye, 9 days later

Tue, 29 Mar 2022

Guardia Civil in Moratalla politely asked to see passport. Used headnet to protect from tiny flies trying to get into eyes. Camped at usual spot about 7km from Calaspara. Light rain in evening.

Wed, 30 Mar 2022

Spotted adult tick crawling on ground while shitting in morning. Crushed between rocks. €40 at Hotel Primavera in Calasparra.

Thu, 31 Mar 2022

Partly cloudy and mild temps. Gulley marked Lobos Murta on map had running water, so camped on shelf nearby under pines. Tick senses on high alert at campsite for some reason, but didn't encounter any. Rain with thunder shortly after setting up camp.

Fri, 01 Apr 2022

Mild temps and partly cloudy, so perfect hiking weather. Road dried enough that mud no longer a problem. Continued west on Camino del Madronal instead of turning north towards Cieza, thus passing through Abarán and past Mercadona supermarket. €44 at Mesón del Moro on highway. Would be €38 if I hadn't used booking.com.

Sat, 02 Apr 2022

Blue sky and cool, another day of perfect hiking weather. Followed various roads past Hoya del Campo and Casablanca to return to GR7. Camped after Torre del Rico. Long day.

Sun, 03 Apr 2022

Some ice in bottles, so near freezing last night. €36 at Hostal La Cañada in Pinoso.

campsite in morning

Mon, 04 Apr 2022

Decided to stay another night in Pinoso. Cold and overcast, rain forecast, but most importantly, want to avoid arriving in Alcoy on Saturday. Will need to slow down again after Alcoy because next week is Semana Santa. Plan is to arrive in Cortes de Pallás on Monday, 18 April, rather than Sunday, since stores might be closed Monday but should be open Tuesday.

Tue, 05 Apr 2022

Cold and rainy all last night and all of today, with rain continuing into evening. Legs and boots got soaking wet while hiking, but poncho kept pack and upper body dry. Roads either paved or gravel, so no problems with mud. Camped at usual spot amid pines.

Wed, 06 Apr 2022

Rain stopped sometime during night. Mostly cloudy, cool and dry air in morning. €48 at Hostal Carrizo in Elda.

Thu, 07 Apr 2022

Blue sky, mild temperature. Camped on way to Castalla.

Fri, 08 Apr 2022

€40 at Caseta Nova outside Castalla. Interesting automated check-in system. Receive numeric reservation code (via telephone reservation or booking.com). Upon arriving at hotel, enter code on touchscreen of machine outside front door, provide passport for scanning by machine, insert cash or credit card for payment, receive front door code as printout, receive room keys in machine tray. Leave keys in mailbox next morning. Machine thus eliminates need for fulltime staffing. Room would be €32 if I had used booking.com. Might also be able to prepay via booking.com, thus avoiding potential payment problems with machine.

Sat, 09 Apr 2022

Partly cloudy and mild temperatures. Short day.

camped on abandoned terrace amid pines

Sun, 10 Apr 2022

Spotted adult tick while eating breakfast: crushed between rocks. Self inspection in evening, but found no ticks on body. €41 for single occupancy at Hostal Savoy in Alcoy, through booking.com.

Mon, 11 Apr 2022

Slept poorly and woke up with headache. Font Mariola running very strong, however I had carried 2.5L from Alcoy, just to be safe, so didn't need more water. Camped along trail. Foggy much of day, light rain in evening.

Tue, 12 Apr 2022

Drizzling in morning, continued drizzling off and on until late afternoon, when sun emerged and made for super humid heat under tarp. Left Bocairente with 4L but drank 1.3L while hiking, so only 2.7L for tomorrow. Enough if cool, otherwise will be short. Should have drunk more at Bocairente but was rushed due to rain.

Just before sunset, spotted one nymph tick on gear and another inside bugbivy: crushed both ticks between rocks. Felt another nymph tick crawling on skin at night: turned on smartphone flashlight to see, crushed this tick between fingernails. Then adult tick crawling on netting outside bugbivy: crushed between rocks. Definitely avoid this campsite in future. Clearing of the sort that is usually tick free, but maybe some animal used it for sleeping.

Wed, 13 Apr 2022

Heavy rain last night, more rain in morning. Inspected myself for ticks during break in rain, but found nothing. Rain stopped around noon. Hurried to eat breakfast and pack up before more rain. Rain resumed just before reaching campsite, about 1 hour from Vallada, paused just long enough for me to set up tarp, then resumed again and continued all evening.

barranc gorgo-róbio

Thu, 14 Apr 2022

Rained all last night. Finally stopped about mid morning. Sun came out later in day. Bought 4 days food and 8L water in Vallada. Ate 1 day food and drank 4L in town. Tried calling hostal in Cortes de Pallás, but no answer. Will go slow to ensure arrival on Monday. Because Monday is holiday, Easter visitors will likely leave Monday morning, while traveling workers will likely arrive Tuesday, so Monday most likely night to have vacancy.

Camped about 1.5 hours from Vallada, usual spot along stream. Lots of signs of wild boar near campsite, meaning tick territory. Sure enough, spotted adult and nymph crawling on gear soon after unpacking. Crushed both between rocks. My worst year ever for encounters with ticks in Spain, probably because of recent rains, though no bites yet.

Fri, 15 Apr 2022

Another tick inspection in morning, but found none on my body. Barranco flooded, so decided to bushwhack up to road on plateau, following some sort of game trail. Not too difficult, but only because lucky not to get tangled in heavy brush. Next time, backtrack about 600m to where trail leaves road, then follow that road to plateau. Lots of wild mountain goats on bushwhack route. Camped in pines near Casa los Calderones. Short day. Drank 3L, so 1L for tomorrow.

Sat, 16 Apr 2022

Another tick inspection in morning: found nothing. Foolishly ate bread and cheese with remaining 1L water, though I knew today wound be warm and sunny (28°C according to forecast). Should have waited on eating, so as to force burning of glycogen stores and thus releasing 2L water stored inside body, then replaced that glycogen and 2L at Benalí while eating/drinking. Luckily, able to get 1L from people at Casa de Garañonera animal refuge. Drank 4L at Benalí, carried 4L to campsite about 5km away. Tomorrow will be cooler than today, so 4L probably more than needed to get to Collado Carroche. Had to drag remains of wild goat from near campsite, since it stunk horribly. Otherwise, good campsite in barranco just off forest road: not visible from road, protected from both afternoon and morning sun, smooth sand surface to sleep on. Used big rocks to hold stakes down in sand, same rocks as from when I last used this campsite 3 years ago.

Sun, 17 Apr 2022

Easter Sunday. Warm and sunny. Walked shirtless all day. 4L from yesterday enough to get to Collado Carroche, where I drank 2L and picked up another 4L. Had to cross stream 9 times. Removed boots each time. Rinsed pants, socks and body during one crossing. Arrived at usual campsite at 21:30, which was after sundown. But still enough light to setup camp. Some weeds grown up since last visit 3 years ago, easily removed, but otherwise site same as ever. Should have waded through streams and saved about 30 minutes, especially since boots would have dried quickly from sun. Or maybe earlier start in morning rather than waiting for sun to dry off tarp.

Mon, 18 Apr 2022

Felt soreness in left stomach area yesterday evening. Evidently pulled some muscle. Feels better this morning. Sunny and warm again. 4L enough to get to Cortes de Pallás. €30 at Hostal Chema.

Tue, 19 Apr 2022

Decided to stay another night at hostal. Thinking soreness in side might be kidney problem caused by dehydration past few days. [Later] Based on morning yoga, problem is strained muscle. Will cure itself over few days and doesn't prevent hiking with backpack. Rained heavily at night. Made hotel reservation for Requena via booking.com.

Wed, 20 Apr 2022

Indoor mask rule finally over in Spain, other than public transport. Soreness in side much improved. Ate breakfast in town, including 2L water, left town with lunch plus 2 days more food plus 2L. Overcast in morning, drizzling later, then light rain. Camped before Venta Gaeta, same spot as 2019. Trail continues to be fairly clean, definitely much cleaner than prior to 2018.

Thu, 21 Apr 2022

Drizzling in morning, then partly cloudy and cool rest of day: excellent hiking weather. Drank 1L with breakfast at camp, drank another 1.5L in Venta Gaeta, carried 3.5L out of Venta Gaeta, drank .5L, picked up 1L from fuente that is usually dry but running this year due to rains, arrived in camp with 4L. Camped before Río Mijares. Will backtrack to nearby road tomorrow to avoid fording, since swollen from recent rain.

venta gaeta

Fri, 22 Apr 2022

Partly cloudy and mild temps. Camped amid pines, on north side of autovía, about an hour from Requena. Store at El Rebollar rest stop was closed. Bar/cafe open but busy and I didn't want to wait. Rain in evening.

Sat, 23 Apr 2022

Windy with occasional brief rain showers. €70 for 2 nights single occupancy at Hotel Avenida in Requena.

Downloaded and started Assimil Romanian e-course and conversation guide (both only available in French), in preparation for travel in Romania and Moldova. As with Bulgarian and Ukrainian, goal is modest: A1 speaking/listening, A2/B1 reading. For anything beyond essential tourist tasks, use English, French, Spanish, Russian. So 1 language at native level, 3 at intermediate level, 3 at basic level.

Mon, 25 Apr 2022

Local holiday in Requena, so stay another night at hotel. Decided to go to Bucharest after Spain, and spend summer there, followed by Bulgaria from late August through October. In the future, assuming war in Ukraine ends and I spend spring in Spain, summer in Kyiv, fall in Bulgaria, then might need to spend time outside both Ukraine and Schengen to satisfy 90/180 rules. Moldova should work for this, since unlikely to join Schengen anytime soon. Chisinau about 8 hour by bus from Kyiv. Layover in Turkey another possibility, but less convenient than Moldova. Romania will not work, since, like Bulgaria, it too will eventually join Schengen. However, Romania will work this year and be preparation for Moldova because of same language. Moldova currently crowded with Ukrainian refugees and war might spread there, so Romania probably better this summer.

Bought RyanAir flight, $71, Madrid to Bucharest, leaving Saturday, 28 May, at 16:30, arriving 21:05. Supposedly, there is Saturday morning bus from Teruel to Madrid, arriving 12:00. If no such bus, take Friday bus and stay overnight in Madrid. Later in May, use booking.com to arrange hotel reservations in Bucharest. Upon arrival, withdraw local currency from ATM (remember to set travel notices and unlock debit cards before leaving Spain) or convert Euros. Buy local SIM at airport if possible (Vodafone or Orange), otherwise buy later. Spain SIM might possibly work in roaming mode. Taxi to hotel. Airport taxis use meters, but also get Bolt taxi app.

Tue, 26 Apr 2022

Late departure from Requena, so short day. Camped at usual spot about an hour before Las Nogueras.

campsite just off trail

Wed, 27 Apr 2022

Drizzling off and on all day. Camped in field. Wild boar noises nearby during night. Rain heavy, then diminished towards morning.

Thu, 28 Apr 2022

Light rain continued until mid-afternoon. Decided to take zero day to allow muddy sections of trail to dry.

Fri, 29 Apr 2022

Picked up liter of water at Barchel, then 2.5L at Fuente Bercuta on way to Chelva. Posada in Chelva closed, according to person who answered phone, so camped along trail several km before town. Will buy 3 days food tomorrow, then stay in hotel Monday, either Bejís (though fonda didn't answer phone when I called) or nearby Torás (listing on booking.com), buy more food on Tuesday.

Everything more difficult before smartphones and mobile internet. In the past, assuming I even knew about hostal in Chelva, would have had to walk into town to discover it was closed, then walk back to find campsite. No way to learn about hotel in Torás. Result was sometimes two weeks between hotel stops, so filthy and stinking most of the time, unless able to bathe in rivers. No need to charge electronics then, so two weeks camping no problem in that respect. And much more difficult navigating using maps and guidebooks versus GPS. Plus my Spanish wasn't as good as now. Plus worse equipment. Plus less knowledge of trail (water sources, good campsites, hotels not listed in booking.com, locations of stores in towns, etc). One thing better in past was more stores and rooms for rent in small mountain villages: many of these closed over past twenty years due to rural population aging, rural population decline, growth of food delivery services, etc.

barchel waterfall

Sat, 30 Apr 2022

Thunderstorm in afternoon, then rain. Camped before Alcotas, in pine forest.

Sun, 01 May 2022

Dried gear in morning. Sunny and warm most of day. Picked up water at Fuente Alcotas and town of Andilla. Camped after Collado de la Salada. Fiesta del Trabajo today and perhaps puente tomorrow: last holiday of spring hiking season.

near collado de la salada

Mon, 02 May 2022

Overcast and mild: perfect hiking weather. While using hiking stick to knock down thorns blocking trail, lower piece flew off. Spent an hour unsuccessfully searching for missing piece amid dense brush. Remainder of stick long enough to support tarp, especially with rock underneath, though not very good as balance aid on slippery rocks because tip now smooth nylon rather than carbide.

Fonda in Bejís no longer rents rooms, so proceeded to Torás. €50 at Hotel Antonio Ponz.

Tue, 03 May 2022

Light rain much of day. Camped near old Bejís/Torás rail station, so short day.

Wed, 04 May 2022

Rained all night. Cool, dry air and cloudy in morning. Rain in evening.

Thu, 05 May 2022

Partly cloudy. €40 at Hostal Casa Ovidio in Montanejos.

Fri, 06 May 2022

Partly cloudy. Spotted adult tick on my sock after pushing through brush: crushed it between rocks. Camped beside trail on way to San Vicente.

camped beside trail (note rock under hiking stick, to compensate for missing bottom piece)

Sat, 07 May 2022

Beautiful weather. Bought some more food in San Vicente. Camped in open hardwood grove half kilometer north of Ermita San Bartolomé.

Sun, 08 May 2022

Another beautiful day. Hostal Ruta de Aragón in Villahermosa del Río closed because owners left town temporarily. Backtracked and camped on abandoned terraces just south of town.

Mon, 09 May 2022

Hostal open in morning, so owners evidently returned. Beautiful weather continues. Camped in forest about an hour before Vistabella.

Tue, 10 May 2022

Beautiful weather continues. Drank 2.5L in Vistabella, carried 4L from fuente. Camped on terraces, in location shaded by scrub oaks from both evening and morning sun and with dried cow patties nearby: resting spot during summer heat for cows, thus possible tick territory. Before setting up tarp, tucked pants into socks and shirt into pants, then sat on ground and waited. Sure enough, adult tick showed up after about ten minutes. Crushed between rocks. Spotted no more ticks after this, so decided to take risk and use location fur calorie, since perfect other than possibility of ticks.

Wed, 11 May 2022

Vehicle stopped nearby in morning, then sounds of someone working, so packed up and left earlier than usual. €38 for single occupancy at Hotel Los Arcos in Villafranca del Cid. Did full tick inspection after shower, but found nothing.

Thu, 12 May 2022

Decided to stay another night in hotel.

Fri, 13 May 2022

Beautiful weather during day, with brief thunderstorm in early evening. Decided to proceed to Chisinau as soon as possible after arriving in Bucharest. Long-term goal is use Moldova to extend time out of Schengen zone to 90+ days, so take advantage of this summer to get familiar with that country, rather than Romania, which I don't plan to visit in the future. Also might want to visit Ukraine, and good connections from Chisinau (8 hour bus to Vinnytsia, then continue on bus to Kyiv or Uman). If Chisinau too hot in late July and early August, maybe go to Brasov in Romania.

near villafranca del cid

Sat, 14 May 2022

Pack liner stuff sack tore. Another piece of gear that should have been replaced instead of trying to get yet another year of usage. Liner not really necessary, though does help keep quilt clean. Need to be much more scrupulous about replacing gear made from lightweight fabrics, which simply don't last very long.

Bought food and picked up water in La Iglesuela del Cid. Camped on way to Fortanete. Light rain in evening, thunder in distance.

Sun, 15 May 2022

Beautiful weather continues, so took short day and camped on way to Fortanete. Light rain in evening, thunder in distance.

Mon, 16 May 2022

Beautiful weather again. Hostal closed in Valdelinares, so continued another hour towards Alcalá de la Selva and camped. Listless feeling, tired of hiking, maybe sad that journey is coming to end, maybe worries about Ukraine, maybe worries about hassles in Romania/Moldova.

Tue, 17 May 2022

More beautiful weather. Bought food in Alcalá de la Selva, camped on way to Mora de Rubielos.

Wed, 18 May 2022

More beautiful weather, though increasingly warm. 40€ at Hotel Jaime I in Mora de Rubielos.

Thu, 19 May 2022

Another night at hotel.

Fri, 20 May 2022

Camped on way to Alcalá de la Selva.

Sat, 21 May 2022

Camped on way to Cedrillas. Nose and sinuses stuffy and started sneezing in evening. Some sort of rave music audible in distance.

Sun, 22 May 2022

Nose clear in morning, but some pain in sinuses, which disappeared later in day. Camped after Cedrillas. Sneezing again in evening.

Mon, 23 May 2022

Itchy eyes and other cold symptoms continue. Checked into Fonda del Tozal in Teruel, €32/night. Put chlorine-dioxide tablet into each water bottle: first such cleaning of trip.

Tue, 24 May 2022

Cold symptoms mostly gone.

Changed plans to take Alsa bus from Madrid to Lisbon and fly from there to Chisinau via AirMoldova, arriving 05:30 Saturday morning, so plenty of time to buy local SIM and arrange accommodation. (Flight price and schedule from Lisbon better than from Madrid or Barcelona.) Better than arriving in Bucharest late Saturday evening, as with previous plan. Other advantages of new plan: no need for Romanian currency; no need to figure out bus system from Bucharest to Chisinau; no need to stay in Bucharest if buses to Chisinau sold out for several days; one less border crossing. Saturday flight from Madrid is backup in case flight from Lisbon cancelled, assuming possible to get back to Madrid in time. New plan adds about $200 transportation cost, but saves about $100 hotel costs because several nights sleeping on bus/plane, so about $100 net added cost, which is worth it for reduced stress. Uneasy feeling for weeks about Romania, maybe because I want to make brief trip into Ukraine, and easier to do this from Moldova (regular buses from Chisinau to Vinnytsia), so going initially to Romania complicates things beyond how they are already complicated by Russia-Ukraine war.

Wed, 25 May 2022

Finished Assimil Romanian e-course, though didn't study too thoroughly. Epub version of conversation guide is what I will actually use. In fact, "Vorbiți engleză, rusă, franceză, spaniolă?" might be only phrase I need, or maybe just open in Russian, in which case I don't need any Romanian. However, completing e-course gives me general grasp of Romanian language, including correct pronunciation, which helps utilize conversation guide properly and more or less understand simple Romanian text (such as Moldova mobile service provider websites, though these also have Russian version), plus useful cultural notes in e-course, so not complete waste of effort.

Thu, 26 May 2022

Loaded up on €50 euro notes from ATMs today and previous days in preparation for possible problems with ATMs in Moldova or Ukraine. Unlocked debit cards, to allow immediate use in Chisinau. Made reservation via booking.com for Zarea hotel in Chisinau for Saturday and Sunday, $48. Afternoon bus to Madrid. Late night bus to Lisbon airport. Didn't sleep much.

Fri, 27 May 2022

Waited around in airport all day. Late night flight to Chisinau.

Statistics

Total of 87 nights in Spain: initial and final nights on bus, 49 nights wild camping, 36 nights in hotels. €1206 total hotel expenses, or average of €34/night.

Comments

Very enjoyable trip. Traveled slower than in past, which is good: goal is to spend time enjoyably, not rack up mileage. Need to be more careful about replacing gear regularly. Didn't use dedicated GPS receiver even once, so probably can dump from packing list next year.