From Almaden de la Plata (70km north of Seville) to Santiago de Compostela

Hundreds of kilometres from Santiago a faded yellow arrow provides reassurance that you are on the right track

Having walked the Camino Francés (from St Jean) in 2010, the Camino Portugues (from Porto) in 2012, and parts (another story) of the Primitivo in 2013, the itch returned in the spring of 2014. We had heard that the Del Norte involved climbing most days and that it was difficult. The Via de la Plata looked more appealing but was longer and we were worried about the temperatures in the first half of the journey. We were also a bit concerned that, for a couple who had been collecting their pensions for a number of years, we may be coming a little too ambitious.

In the end we decided to give it a go on the basis that if it became too much for either of us we would call a halt. The next problem was to decide on dates. The spring was out for family reasons although I am of the view that starting in the spring before it gets too hot in Andalucia is probably the ideal. It also improves the chances of good weather in Galicia. Even for the autumn we were restricted. We wanted to be in Ireland for the weekend of August 23/24 and to be back again by October 21, a date we would later abandon.

We decided to fly Ryanair to Seville on August 26 and to worry about the return journey at a later stage. Even before we left we were concerned about the 36C to 40C temperatures being reported from Seville. In particular we were worried about the 29km third stage. We knew that some people travelled the first 14km or so by taxi so that they would avoid the heat of the day on the long uphill stretch towards the end. Also the final 15km is through a national park and once started the only option is to finish it.

It is our policy to walk all the way to Santiago from wherever we start. We therefore took a 70km bus ride to Almaden de la Plata, generally considered the start of stage 4. The albergue hospitalera sent us to El Chorlo for the peregrino menu. While we had to wait until 9:00pm to be served, the food was excellent - I ordered fish for my main course and was served four different types. We were back on the Camino!

We had a couple of days sightseeing in Seville before catching the bus to Almaden. Photographs below are of the Cathedral, the Plaza de Espana, Real Alcazar and the bull ring.