Travel Reference
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touchme?” ItwasthefirsttimeIsawCanadathroughaforeigner'seyes.DoweCanadians
realize the beauty in our backyard? So many of us race off to Europe or other parts of the
world (I included) for we think the grass is greener. In my journal, I made a note to myself
that when I finished this tour, God-willing, I would focus on travelling Canada.
It was time to say good-bye to Sevilla and the mix of people that I met. The next
morning, I went to mass and after a light breakfast of bread, I was off to a gas station to fill
up my tires. The heat arrived early and I was afraid that with newly tarred road, my tires
would explode. It didn't happen. On the contrary, I spent the day without any mechanical
difficulties at all. I made my way south to Cadiz along the coast and stopped for lunch in a
small village. I continued to Jerez de la Frontera and then to El Puerto de Santa Maria. In
this town I checked out the Yacht Club Hotel for a laugh (just to see exactly how much I
couldn't afford) and smiled as they told me it was 12,000 pesetas ($170). I found a cheap-
er hotel for 3000 pesetas ($40) and a great dinner for 500 pesetas. In the hotel, I sat and
watched the Barcelona Olympics on TV and prepared for my final days in Europe.
The next day, I left the hotel rather late. Even though I only did 80 kilometres that
day,itwasratherdifficult.Beingnearthecoast,Ihadverytoughwindstocontendwithand
my pace was incredibly slow. However, for the first time in Spain, I was impressed by the
greeneryaroundme.FromthevillageofVejer,thesoilwasahealthybrownwithforestson
both sides of the road. There were vast stretches of vineyards and sunflowers. There were
also vast patches of black sunflowers perhaps burned as part of a crop rotation.
I came upon a rather sharp bend in the road with a metal guard rail along the outer
edge. Behind the guard rail there was a grove of trees that were burnt. The fire must have
happened at least a year ago for there were signs of rejuvenation. I decided that it was a
good place to camp. I slept OK but had a slight scare due to rain. Since I didn't set up my
tent, I quickly popped my umbrella and used an oversized black garbage bag. I placed my
air mattress inside the bag and slipped my body inside up to my waist. Then I propped the
umbrella up to shelter my upper body and fell asleep.
I welcomed the overcast sky in the morning which was a nice break from the sun.
The strength of the wind was tough. I stopped in a 'prevado' rest area, but got kicked out
for I didn't want to pay the 100 pesetas fee. As I left, I met a Moroccan family sitting out-
side their car eating lunch. I must admit that it was my first experience with Moroccans
andthisencounterreallyhelpedtodispelmyapprehensionsoftravellinginMorocco.They
were very pleasant to speak with and told me about their country. They also invited me to
visit them in Casablanca (an offer which I never took up due to an incident with food pois-
oning).
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