Day thirty four

 

The N340 with 997km sign ahead. I somehow missed the 1000km marker after leaving the road to go to the campsite.

My performance nose-dived today. I'm not sure why but I suspect it was mainly due to poor sleep or lack of it. Last night I hardly slept at all despite being in a quiet campsite and that has been the case for the last week. Maybe a croissant and gazpacho for breakfast was also not enough for the tough climbs I was faced with this morning. By lunchtime I was finished and feeling nauseous. I decided to leave the N340 and make a shortcut through the next town.

I found a fantastic hotel at a bargain price. I had two cafe con leches and a bacon and cheese tostados at an equally good cafe nearby. I was almost sick in the cafe but after one coffee and a couple of bites of the toasted sandwich and I was back to normal. So lack of enough food for this morning's task could well have played a role.

Needless to say I did not get far today but I must get some proper sleep, which has eluded me at virtually every campsite. I am usually the only tent surrounded by mobile homes, dormobiles and caravans. Everyone is helpful and friendly but you cannot but feel out of place. 

It was also very hot today and after saying how great the N340 was to travel on, today it was not. An endless stream of (Sunday) traffic and sometimes no hard-shoulder to ride along made uphill stretches extremely stressful and tiring. 

Snake on the road! I do see a lot of dead wildlife, birds, rodents and rabbits, but I think this snake was asleep as it appeared to be in perfect shape and I was not about to wake it.

Loved this mural that I passed as I cruised wearily into town just after lunch.