Tag: backpacking

Today was our 14th day of walking the Camino. The albergue that we stayed at last night was great, but lacked doors. On our room, on the bathrooms, on the kitchen – it was pretty much a free range hostel. Which would have been fine, but for a group of French ladies who decided that 4am was a good time for their breakfast in the kitchen (the room next to ours).
Now, whilst we aren’t always the first ones up when we wake at 5.45am, this morning’s shenanigans took early starts to a whole new level. And rather than enjoying their ‘petit dejeuner’ in silence out of respect for sleeping albergue- mates, these ladies chatted loudly and made good use of all of the plastic bags in the vicinity.
My instinct was to get up and say bonjour – and maybe BE QUIET – but then I thought that this might be a Camino test (you know, to enhance my personal growth & development), so I lay in my bed listening to the commotion until they left at about 5.30am. I did not feel at all Zen-like, I gotta tell you.
Anyways, after we had our breakfast, we headed off by moonlight and soon came to the steepest hill that we have climbed in a while – 12% incline…followed by the inevitable decline of 18%…but although it was tough, it wasn’t quite as bad as the early days – proof that our fitness must be improving. The rest of the day passed uneventfully as we walked the long and flat Meseta. It wasn’t anywhere near as intimidating as we’d expected after what we’d read about this part of the Camino. Many people see it as a tough mental challenge – trudging through the boredom and sameness of the terrain. But with good company like our walking group, it was another day spent chatting about a whole range of topics, or walking along quietly, as the kilometres ticked over.
We arrived at our destination – Fromista – at around 12.30pm and we’re staying in another great albergue here. As I type this, we are relaxing in the beautiful garden after our pilgrims’ lunch. This siesta idea is pure genius!

Another fine day for us today – entering the Meseta part of the Camino (which Dave tells us means ‘table’, in recognition of it being a long, flat plain). We set a good pace, stopping for breakfast at a cute albergue along the way, complete with medieval-ish round table and lighting. We were joined for breakfast by Nick and Jim, a father & son from Alice Springs in Australia (or, as Jim so eloquently put it when introducing himself: ‘from the middle of f*#%ing nowhere’). These two were actually the first people I haven’t warmed to on the Camino – they didn’t seem interested in giving genuine or thoughtful answers to questions (as all other pilgrims have done), but were full of smarty pants one-liners and it was as if they were playing the roles of big-drinkin’, swearin’, stirrin’ Aussies from the desert. The dad, Nick, claimed this was his fifth Camino – although it sounds as though he does much of his walking by bus or taxi between main towns. I guess it takes all types and we have certainly met a lot of different folk thus far on the Camino, but these were two peeps I was not sad to leave behind.

Our walking group is six at the moment and it’s great to have company when you feel like chatting, but equally great to have time for silence and solitude when you feel like thinking. We’re going at a similar pace over these mostly flat days, stopping for breakfast (mostly for the hit from the cafe con leche) at the nearest town (which has sometimes been 9km away) and trying to walk as far as we can before the heat sets in.
We arrived at our destination – Castrojeriz – at around 1.30pm, which was really good going. It’s another cute town and we decided to have our main meal at lunchtime today (when in Spain…) so went to a restaurant for the pilgrims’ menu. I tried gazpacho, which was really delicious. As was the chocolate pudding covered in cream for dessert. We pilgrims have to keep up our energy!

Days 10 and 11 were pretty good walkin’ – around 25km each day and not too hilly. Walking in the heat and over a lot of rocky terrain is pretty tiring and we’re all starting to walk like cowboys by the time we slow down at our albergue, with a range of foot, leg and ankle troubles.
Without wanting to sound like a spoilt brat, the landscape has become a little boring – the sunflowers are a highlight as we pass through all of the golden fields.
We ended Day 9 at Redecilla del Camino – a tiny town, where Steph and I were the only ladies in the bar. Also at the bar was a peculiar little kid eating an ice cream and sporting a long rat’s tail hair-do. Other than that, highlights included finding out the nationality of the blonde supermodels we had seen at the previous albergue (Lithuanian) and another delicious Dave & Tom meal – chorizo and apple stew (with cider).

Day 10 saw us head to Villafranca Montes de Oca, where we were welcomed to the fantastic looking hotel & albergue by a nutty sort of chap who kept interrupting Dave’s translations. We met an Australian guy, Charlie, who sounded as though he was being held hostage by his German walking pals – only allowing a 15 minute stop on a 30km walking day. Made us glad that we’re walking fast, but taking time for photo stops, breakfast and lunchtime picnics along the way.
As it was lovely Tom’s last evening with us (before heading home to London) we had a great pilgrim’s meal at the hotel restaurant to celebrate our time together. Good wine, good food, good company – a great Camino experience.
Day 11 started in very thick fog, making the moonlit walk up and down the steep hills very interesting. We walked with Luis, a Spanish guy who could only converse with Dave (and with me via Dave’s translation) – he was looking forward to a bocadillo for breakfast at the first town we visited (“9 o’clock is a good time for a sandwich”). Steph was very excited to find some German Ritter Sport chocolate in one of the little shops on the way today. We finally found out more about the German family with whom we’ve been keeping pace for a few days – a javelin thrower & her archeology-studying, discus-throwing sister, their Mum and coach Dad.
We’re an imaginative bunch, so we do spend quite a bit of time making up back stories about the people we see along the way. It’s always interesting to find out the truth about people – sometimes as fascinating as we’d imagined, sometimes not.
Ended the day in Cardenuela, at a fantastic albergue with a large sunny terrace. We met Chris from Texas, an electric cigarette-smoking graphic designer travelling the world for a year. The guy who runs the albergue has just brought us a jug of sangria to enjoy while we sit around chatting. Life is good!