Castile from a mule's view
“I am Don Quixote, and my profession is that of cavalry errant. They are my laws, to undo wrongs, lavish good and avoid evil. I flee from the gifted life, from ambition and hypocrisy, and I seek for my own glory the narrowest and most difficult path. Is that, silly and goofy?" 'The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha', Miguel de Cervantes.
This same reflection that Don Quixote made was made by Juan and Santiago on numerous occasions before making a decision: to start a trip through Castilla that has changed his way of thinking forever.
After 15 years as a fixed income broker in a multinational, Santiago Palazuelos decided to leave his tense work in his offices in Madrid's Torre Picasso. John Deck , a professional photographer, also put his stressful life on hold for a while. And together they embarked on a month-long journey through the roads of Castilla la Mancha, mounted on a cart from the 1960s, with brakes and pneumatic wheels, pulled by two mules.
For both of them, this unusual journey of 900 kilometers has been an exciting experience , full of surprises. Also, why not say it, hard and intense. Every day, they got up at dawn to feed the mules and traveled about 35 kilometers. Going down a steep slope or cresting a mound dealing with the cart and the animals were real challenges for them.
Time was spent preparing meals or looking for water, they washed in fountains and basins, every night they had to find a place to shelter and they had to solve continuous (and varied) problems, such as finding a blacksmith. “We have not been able to draw or read under an oak” , they tell me, surprised by the intensity of a trip in which each moment of the day required something different. "The disconnection has been complete, we have not remembered at any time the work that we left behind," they say. The only contact with another reality has been through Facebook, where they have been recounting their adventure.
The warrior's rest
“We left Noblejas, and passed through the Finisterre Reservoir, where we took a bath. We continue south of Real city , crossing the Tables of Daimiel , and we arrive at the Alcúdia Valley . We had to cross several ports, and those were perhaps the hardest stages. The second week we got to The Alameda , a district of Puertollano with twelve inhabitants. They were excited about our arrival. We left the animals in a communal meadow and stayed with them for two days, they were lovely. We had a party, and they even gave us a house. From there we went to Calatrava Causeway Y Tomelloso , and we arrived at Campo de Criptana, where we spent two days. A lady housed the animals in her own house, in a stable that we improvised, "says Juan. The journey continued through Noblejas, Villanueva de Bogas, Consuegra, Daimiel, Almagro , Brazatortas, La Alameda, Valdepenas , Ruidera, Campo de Criptana, El Toboso , Segóbriga or Santa Cruz de la Zarza.
According to Santiago, the most impressive thing was live with the solar cycle , "always watching the horizon". "The familiarity with the mules, the encounters with people whose relationship with the animals, naturally, was very close because they worked with them and were part of their lives. The talks with the countrymen, the opportunity to learn something about their way of life. Going through paths, ravines, cordeles and other livestock routes ", he recalls.
And Juan finishes it off with the vision of his buddy: “The reunion with the landscape and the changes in light. Even if you've seen something a thousand times, by going at a different pace you look at it from a different perspective. The change of vital rhythm, going five kilometers per hour, enjoying the little things. The charm of the simple life of old people living in small towns."
Quixotic Adventure Transport
This trip has also served as an incentive to give their lives a different direction: doing different things, even if they are only different for oneself, is possible. Juan is now traveling to Bilbao with a photographic project that will keep him busy for six months. And Santiago will first visit the Documenta in Kassel and then he plans to settle in Lisbon to learn Portuguese and do a full-time hotel management internship.
“Liberty is one of the most precious gifts that the heavens gave men , the treasures that the land and the sea contain cannot be equaled with it: for freedom, as well as for honor, one can and must venture life.” Thus spoke Don Quixote de la Mancha. Juan and Santiago, like him, ventured along the paths of La Mancha. Unlike the knight of the sad figure, They did not seek honor or perform any deeds, and they contented themselves with looking at the same landscape that he saw, conversing with the people they passed, taking care of the mules and sleeping in the shelter. This trip has made them freer.