Camino Blog – Day 16 The race for beds

Day 16 – Tuesday May 17th

Carrión de Los Condes to Terradillas de Los Templarios
17 miles

There is a large group of people walking their way to Santiago from St Jean Pied de Port. Judging by the Camino website, around 200 people probably left St Jean the day we did, Monday 2nd of June. We meet the same people constantly, but a small change in someone’s schedule means you lose them again.

Currently we’re on synch with Chris from England, Bettina from Denmark, some Spaniards we can’t communicate with, 2 lovely Portuguese lads, Ugo and Roberto, Louis from New Brunswick, Chloe from London, 2 nice lads from Holland and Lynsey from Canada.

We’ve met up with an American girl again, whom we hadn’t seen since Zubiri, on our second night out from St Jean Pied de Port. We’ve also got in synch again with our old Canadian friend, Dana.

We had a couple of glasses of wine and ate our Peregrino dinner with him last night.

Our albergue was very modern, with good facilities, though the dorms were well filled with bunks. A nice nun signed everybody in, though she was a bit slow – we were waiting in the queue, standing, for over 30 minutes.

We set out at 6:30, but we stopped at a coffee shop at the edge of the town because the next café/restaurant was over 10 miles away. We had a café in leche and took a chocolate cake for later consumption.

About 3 miles out a taxi passed us and stopped at a crossroads about 100 metres beyond us. 4 Peregrinos stepped out and started walking out the road ahead of us.

About 6 miles into our walk we found a mobile café. It was run by the grumpiest man and woman we’ve ever met. For sandwiches he barbecued a couple of sausages and stuck them in half a small baguette. Ketchup and mustard cost 5c extra, each. €5 for a sandwich and a drink, as long as you don’t have ketchup or mustard.

Ricky was suffering a bit today and we had to slow down to the pace other people go at. We still made good progress, holding about 5 km per hr, I’d reckon.
The road into Calzadilla de la Cueza was on an old Roman road, laid down over 2,000 years ago.

At Calzadilla, we took a 30 minute break and had a chocolate bar and a coke. Ricky put some Spanish Wintergreen type balm on his legs, and he was able to walk much better.

We took another short break at Ledigos. Just as we were leaving a bunch of about 8 people passed through. We decided that if we were to improve our chances of getting a bed at our destination, Terradillas de Los Templarios, we needed to get in ahead of the bunch.

We managed to pass the last of the bunch right at the entrance to the village. When we reached the albergue, we got 2 of the last 4 beds left, and there’s no other albergue in the village. Next one is 2 miles up the road, at Moratinos.

Again, apologies no pictures.

Camino Blog Day 15. Carry on the Camino

Camino Blog Day 15

Boadilla del Camino to Carrión de Los Condes

15 Miles

We’re already into week three and approaching the half way stage.
We were on our way at 6:30. We covered the 4 miles into Fromista in barely over an hour. The route took us along the Canal de Castilla, a lovely bucolic level path. We heard many cuckoos just as we have done over the past few days. We just had coffee and were on our way again in 20 minutes.

It was a bright sunny morning, but strangely chilly. We stopped at a very hippy-ish albergue, Albergue Amanecer, on the outskirts of Villamenteros, about 6 miles out of Fromista. It even had a Red Indian Teepee.

The path followed the main road all the way from Fromista to Carrión de Los Condes. It wasn’t very exciting, but we marvelled at the acres and acres of grain crops all around, with some fields seeming to spread as far as the horizon. The terrain is very gently rolling hills, all green with grain. I’m sure they turn yellow as the crops ripen. The only crop we could clearly identify was barley.

We made Carrión de Los Condes by 12 noon – 15 miles covered in 4.5 hours of walking. We weren’t quite as quick today as we are both just a little tired after our long sections of the last few days. We’re seriously considering taking a rest day in a pension soon, with a lie-in and a short day, may only 6 – 8 miles. We’ll see.

Again, no pictures today, no wifi available.  

Camino Blog Day 14 Bocadillos in Boadilla

Day 14 – Sunday May 15th

Hontanas to Boadilla del Camino

18 miles

Happily, I survived my night in the open bed 6 foot in the air.

We had a lovely late lunch in Hontanas in a little restaurant cum supermarket, right across the narrow street from the albergue. We had 2 gammon steaks, 2 fried eggs and chips. Lovely!

Hontanas was very busy, even though it is a tiny little village. All 5 albergues were full to the brim. Our albergue put mattresses on the floor to fit people in.

As there was nothing else to do, we went to bed around 9 pm. The bed was comfortable and I slept well.
General opinion last night was that the Camino is beginning to suffer the effects of its own success given that it seems to be getting harder and harder to get into albergues at the end of the day’s walking.

Private albergues can be booked in advance, but municipal ones can’t and operate on a first come, first served basis. It seems the private albergues are often booked out days in advance.

The problem with booking in advance is that you are committed to reach a designated village in your day. So if you are tired or sore, you have to keep going until you reach your booked albergue. I don’t know what happens with late cancellations. Will find out and report back later.

So people are starting out earlier and earlier to increase their chance of getting a bed at their journey’s end each day.

We were up, packed and on the road by 6:30. We covered the 6 miles to our breakfast stop at Castrojerez in 1:30, so we suspect the mileage given in the guide book. It seems a little bit overstated.

At 8:30 we hit the road again for Itero de la Vega, nearly 7 miles away, which we reached at 10:45. We were joined by Nicole from Seattle, who is studying in Munich, for much of the journey.

We had nice bocadillo for lunch there, and were on the road again for the last stretch into Boadillo del Camino, a little over 5 miles, where we intended to book into the Municipal albergue. The road brought us up a gentle hill, through a gap and down to the village.

The municipal albergue is very basic, in an old schoolhouse. The bunks are comfortable, but the toilet and washing facilities definitely need upgrading. Not one door closes properly.

I pushed shut the shower cubicle door, but when I tried to open it, it was jammed and the handle was coming away from the door as I tugged on it. Luckily a man outside pushed it in for me. My towel had fallen if in the struggle with the door, so I just grabbed clothes and towel to cover my modesty till I got back to my bed, but when I walked out of the cubicle, I walked straight into a woman coming in.

We had a few beers and a bocadillo (sandwich) and watched the Spanish Grand Prix for the afternoon. After the Peregrino dinner, which was unremarkable, we went to bed. 

No pictures today because I’ve no wifi and my roaming charges are already over €40. 

Camino Blog Day 13 Don’t pay the ferryman

Day 13 Saturday May 14th
Burgos to Hontanas

20 miles

We met up with Lee and Rod from Minnesota, and took them to an Irish bar for a few pints. We were joined by Rodney (not his real name) from Northern Ireland, whose story I will share anon. Just as we were finishing up to head back for the albergue curfew when Mick and Brent from Oz turned up.

Lights came on at 6 and a mad volunteer went from dorm to dorm shouting Buenas Dias at everyone. When I kept my eyes shut, he tapped me on the elbow to make sure I was awake. Little so and so!

We were on the road by 6:40 and covered the 10.5 Km to breakfast, in Tardajos, in 1:50. It was cool and dry, lovely walking weather.

We did the 10.5 Kms to lunch in Hornillos del Camino in 1:45. We were really moving. However, the 10.6 Kms to our beds in Hontanas took 2:05. We don’t believe the distance given by signposts and guidebooks. There is some mistake there. 

The last leg was largely uphill, but not too steep, across the meseta. The village of Hontanas is in a hollow, so we could see for miles ahead, but could see no sign of our destination. Overall we covered around 20 miles, and we were quite tired arriving at the Municipal Alberge, San Juan el Nuevo.

The long and winding road into Hornillos

I’ve got the top bunk which is so high I can’t see the bed. The ladder is a set of steps cut out of the side of the structure, badly spaced. The are no sidebars, so if I manage to roll out of it during the night, this is likely to be my last blog. I love you Heather.

Rodney’s story:
Rodney (not his real name) is a 62 year old man from Northern Ireland.  We met him a few days back, one of the few fellow Orush we’ve met.  He told us he’d planned to walk to Burgos, then take a bus to Santander to catch a ferry to Southampton, from which he’d catch a train to Liverpool, from where he would catch a flight to Belfast, we here he lives.

The whole journey would take 4 days, with hotels booked along the way, as had the journey to Spain also taken him 4 days.
However, on the night we spent in the barn in Atapuerca, he informed us that his whole journey had been thrown into disarray because the ferry from Soain had mechanical problems and was being withdrawn from service for the foreseeable future.  All his hotel bookings were non-refundable and he would lose the money.
Of course we suggested that their was surely more than one ferry company operating the route and he would surely be accommodated.
Rodney said, no, there was no alternative, and he couldn’t make alternative arrangements because he only had an old phone, and the wifi signal at the barn was ‘too weak’.  The only thing he could do was walk on to Burgis and contact a travel agent from there.  He wouldn’t countenance taking a flight from any nearby airport.
When we met him last night, he said, yes, there was an alternative Ferry and he had secured a place on it, and, yes, he could use all his hotel bookings.  So everything was restored to what it had been.
He’d said he had been a ship’s emgineer, so I asked him last night was that why he was so fixed on taking the ferry?  No, he hadn’t been a ship’s engineer for 30 years.  So I asked him why he was travelling so long and so far so he could take a flight from Liverpool? Had he not travelled through England before and was this his chance to see some of it?  No.  The reason was because taking the lane from Spain home would be just too easy.

Camino Blog Day 12. Burgers in Burgos

Day 12 – Friday May 13th

Atapuerca to Burgos
13 Miles

The albergue yesterday was just a barn attached to a house. The house is now am hotel, and you book into the albergue at the hotel reception, which we did.

When we were leaving a Spanish man called me back as he picked a sock up off the floor and handed it to me. It had the Nike ‘swoosh’ and all my socks are Nike, so I thanked him, and accepted it.

I wondered how it has worked itself out of my backpack and whether, if it had, had its companion done the same earlier and had I lost it back the road.

Of course, I forgot about it, but about an hour later, I was approached by a Spanish man, possibly the same man who gave the fallen sock, who waved a Nike sock at me and asked me something in Spanish. I figured he was asking me had I got HIS sock. So I took out a pair of mine and compared . His socks were shorter above the ankle.

I searched my bag for the fallen sock, but couldn’t find it. I finally figured out that I’d just stuck it in my coat pocket. I produced the sock and it matched his not mine. Mystery solved!

We had a lovely Peregrino meal in the hotel next door for €12 – 3 courses and a bottle of Rioja between us. Ricky had very nice, if very thin, steak and I had the lamb stew, which had a lot of bones in it, but was delicious, nevertheless.

Ricky didn’t sleep very well, he said he felt cold all night, but I slept the sleep of the dead.

We were a little later starting out, 6:55 instead of the 6:40 of recent days. We had a shorter journey ahead, and if took a little while to organise our rain gear – it was raining fairly heavily.

The first 2 miles were all uphill, but we were in reasonable shape and took them steadily. Near the top of the hill, out of the grey gloom, a grey dog came at me suddenly. He was at my feet before I realised what was happening. I gave a loud yell at him and he backed off. When I gave him the ‘good dog’ routine, he just ran off.

There was another, smarter dog just lying down, sheltering under a tree. I presume the dogs were there to protect the flock of sheep behind the wire in the adjacent field.

We had our breakfast in a lovely restaurant in Villaval, after an hour and 20 minutes of walking. There was a very impressive array of delicious looking sandwiches on the counter, along with several types of tortillas. Happily, when we emerged, the rain had stopped.

We fell into our stride and made the edge of Burgos by 10:20, when we stopped for coffee. Suitably fortified, we set out for the Municipal albergue, Albergue de Los Cubos, which we reached in another 45 minutes, at 11:25.

The albergue didn’t open until noon, but there were already 15-20 backpacks lined up beside the entrance, booking their owners’ places in the queue for beds. It has 150 beds, so we had nothing to worry about.

The albergue itself is in a newly built building. The beds are in little alcoves with 2 bunks in each. Showers and toilets are arranged along one wall – all very clean and modern. It also has lifts to its 6 floors. It was full by 1:30.

Ricky and I got to the washing machines early to get our laundry done. There are just 2 washing machines & 2 driers. The early bird caught the worm today. We have a kit full of clean clothes.

The one modern convenience the albergue lacks is wifi, but at €5 per bed, it seems petty to complain about that.
In the afternoon, dying for a burger, we set off to find a Burgerking. Cleverly, I have maps of Soain downloaded to my phone, so we found one 1.2 miles away.  That’s an extra 2.4 miles we walked today for a Whopper meal.

Our two Aussie pals, Mick and Brent with Ricky, today.

Camino Blog Day 11 Muddy Runners Stick

Camino Blog Day 11

Thursday May 12th

Belorado to Atapuerca

19 Miles

We had the Peregrino menu in a nice restaurant in the main square of Belorado last night.  It was €10 a head.  We saved €3 a head by having it indoors, rather than outside in the square.   The meal was lovely, and included a bottle of lovely Rioja and bread.

We were in bed by nine.  I lay on my upper bunk, contemplating how much this Camino has already changed my life.

There was a group of Irish people having a sing-song in the dining room on the floor below us, while we were sincerely hoping they’d stop soon, so we could get to sleep.



We slept well, and hit the road at 6:35. We both were tired and sluggish after our two long and fast-walking days.

We reached Villafranca 12 Kms down the road before 9:00, where we had breakfast in a truckers’ café.  The tortilla was absolutely exquisite.  After a 30 minute break we headed off again.

There was a long, steep climb out of Villafranca, the longest and steepest we’d met since the early days in the mountains. We felt the tiredness, but managed to maintain a decent speed all the same.

The path ran through a pine forest with long straight sections.  As it had been raining all morning, the path was very muddy, which made me regret opting to bring un-waterproof, but light, runners and not the heavier waterproof walking shoes I’d considered bringing.

The first hour was all uphill, but the second hour and a half were level or downhill, so we made good time into St Jean de Ortega (St John of the Nettles).  Ricky christened it Midsomer Norton because John Nettles played Inspector Barnaby in Midsomer Murders.

Our lunch consisted of café con leche and a beautiful ham and cheese sandwich, made from a baguette style roll.  We were joined by our pals Jenny and Chris, who for the record, are not married, to each other, at least.

Unfortunately, Ricky didn’t have Inspector Baraby’s telephone number, when he discovered that his walking stick, for which he had paid €11 in St Jean Pied de Port on day 1, had walked during lunch, without waiting for him. 
We decided to carry on for another 4 miles to Atapuerta.  Unfortunately, for tired legs, it has a very long, straight road approaching it.

We passed Agés just before we reached Atapuerta.

The first albergue we met WA completo (full) and we got directions for a second one, which proved a little difficult to find, as it was behind, and attached to, an hotel.  The hotel looks fine but the albergue is just an ancient barn with bunk beds, a couple of showers, with cold water, and a corner sectioned off at the entrance that serves as a common room, with an ancient stove.

Camino Blog Day 10 The day of the Koreans

Day 10 Wednesday May 11th

Cirueña to Belorado

19 miles

For the record, all the maps shown in the blog come from John Brierley’s excellent book, The Camino of Santiago.

I decided to skip the meal last night in The Virgen de Guadalupe albergue because we had had a huge sandwich in the cafe in the village and because rice with lentils and chorizo didn’t speak to me, one bit.

Ricky went downstairs and faced the meal and carried my apologies.  The landlord even came up to the room to check on me – I was in bed.  Ricky now envies my escaping from such an awful meal, when he didn’t.  He says ‘he took one for the team’.

We both slept well and set out at 6:40, as we had done yesterday.  Before dawn the air was cool and calm.  We saw the sunrise about 15 minutes into our walk.

Ricky was on very good form and set a very fast rate.  We travelled over 8 miles to our first stop of the day in Grañon, at 9:00.  We had toast and pan de chocolate.  We’ve had toast several times, but it usually baguette. Today we got regular sliced bread.  We had it eaten before we thought of photographs of it.

At 9:30 we set off again, intending to take another 30 minute stop in Viloria, about an hour and a half down the road.  We passed the first cafe, but didn’t stop, because neither of us liked the look of it.  The drill is to stop at the first, because there may not be a second. There wasn’t a second.

So we continued on until we reached Vilamayor del Rio about 30 minutes down the road.  There we found an hotel, that was quite fancy.  We bought two slices of apple pie and two cokes for €14, the most expensive snack, by miles, to date.  The pie was gorgeous, though.

Strangely, a strong breeze blew in our faces all day, making it a bit chilly.  The route took us over rolling hills, with a lot of the route right beside the N 20 main road, on a separate dirt track.

We made Belarado before 1 o’c and booked into the municipal hostel.  We’re both on top bunks, first time for either of us for days.  Ricky won’t let me forget it’s my turn on the top bunk next, and this doesn’t count, because he’s on top, too.

The hostel is in a very old building, and it’s very nice.  The woman booking us in confused is, and herself, with the money, we don’t know who paid what.

The showers are basic, and you have go in from the dorm in your underwear, because there’s no place in the shower room, which also contains toilets and sinks, to put your clothes while you shower. It also means that you have to emerge from the shower room in your towel, and dress beside your bunk.

Luckily we chose bunks at the shower room door!

We wandered out the town and came across Jenny from England, whom we met earlier.  We ate with her in Estella a few nights ago.  She had a pal with her called Chris.  We know she’s English, but we’re not sure now if she lives in Austealia or not.

We also met our old pal from Chelmsford, Tony, today.  He walked some of the way with us.  He set off in chase of Chloe, his companion of a few days, who had gone ahead of him.  We last saw him a little ahead of us before we went into the hotel for our last break of the day.

Ricky and myself are hitting it off well, we’re enjoying each other’s company.  We’ve even had several chats and reminisces about our family and our parents.

Ricky it was who suggested the name for today’s post, because we met so many Koreans throughout the day.  The Koreans told us that South Korea is Catholic.

Camino Blog – Day 9

A dead and soulless town.

May 10th
Navarrette to Cirueña.

22 Miles

I didn’t sleep very well last night. I seemed to be awake as much as I slept. Maybe it was because of the lie-in in the morning. I didn’t feel too tired, though, this morning.

We’re beginning to see Kilometre posts, now.  The last one we saw today said 568 Kms.

We got up at 6:15 to get on the road earlier, because we had a long day ahead of us.
As we set out, there was a mist which kept temperatures down and made for nice walking conditions.

We had to do 11 miles before we met the first restaurant at which we could have breakfast. That was in Nareja, and it took us from 6:40 to 9:30 to reach it.

We had intended going all the way to Santo Domingo de la Calzada, but when we reached the village of Cirueña, we decided we’d done enough.

The day had become quite sunny and hot by then, and the path was through open fields, with absolutely no shelter.  We had covered 21 miles in 6 hours walking time and we’d had enough.

We went to the Albergue Victoria, but it was full, booked out. Municipal hostels do not take bookings, giving beds on a first-come-first-served basis. Private albergues can, and do, take bookings.
This was why the Victoria was full. Also we noticed 6 or 8 bags in the hallways, which had been transported ahead of their owners. Believe it or not, some pilgrims just walk with a bottle of water and some food in a light backpack, while their luggage is sent ahead.

Fortunately, the Albergue Virgen de Guadalupe was nearby and had beds, so we didn’t have to do the last 5K+ to Santo Domingo.

It’s rather basic, and dinner consists of rice, lentils and chorizo, with no alternative on offer. We have noticed that lentil soup is offered universally on the Camino.

The village is quite run down, even the church is a bit of a wreck. It doesn’t seem to be in use. Next to the village is a new village with new houses and apartments, most of which seem never to have been used. There is also a golf course, with a driving range.

My friend, John Finn @Carrigman, who is a stage ahead of us on the road, warned me against staying in Cirueña, calling it ‘a dead and soulless town’.  I can’t disagree with him, but them’s the breaks.

Camino Blog Day 8

Day 8 Monday May 9th – Rest Day

Logroño – Navarrette

8 miles

We were very disappointed to discover that the pension we booked for the night had no rooms with a bath. However, e did enjoy a lie in this morning, until 9:30.

We went out at around 4:30 yesterday afternoon to find something to eat, but the restaurants seemed to be closing down between the afternoon trade and the evening trade. We eventually found a restaurant with a menu at €12.

The meal was nice, with a bottle of wine thrown in. Just after we left the restaurant, we met our old Canadian pal, Dana, who was going to ear and asked us to join him, which we did.

However, Dana decided to opt for wine rather than food, and we had a few beers with him. We were joined by Ann Marie from San Francisco. Dana insisted on picking up the tab for all of us, at the end of the evening. Most generous of him, and now we must find a way of reciprocating.

We needed the lie-in this morning, because between beer and wine we both had quite a hangover.

My socks hadn’t dried by morning so I decided to try out my sandals for walking. They were great, well cushioned, and didn’t rub on my blister. The only problem was they tended to pick up stones on the gritty sections of path.

The swelling around the insect bite on my shin has mostly receded, but the wound, itself, is rather nasty looking.

We got under way by 10:20. We stopped for café con leche at a lovely lakeside restaurant outside Logroño after a little over an hour. Another hour took us to the hillside town of Navarette.
Who was standing in the main street when we arrived? None other than Dana. We booked ourselves into the Municipal hostel. It’s clean and bright, has a kitchen and washing facilities, but it has the slowest of showers.

We met our old pal Tony, from Chelmsford, in the town and had a nice time swapping experiences.  When we first met Tony, at 1450 metres in the Pyrenees on our very first day, he was kitted out in jeans.  In Zubiri he bought hiking pants and cut the legs off his jeans.  Now, he looks like a traditional pilgrim, walking stick and all.  Lovely lad.

We had the €10 pilgrim menu tonight in the restaurant beside our albergue.

Vegetable soup Rioja style

Egg rasher and chips Rioja style.

Tomorrow we plan to walk to Cirueña, about 18 miles.

Camino Blog – Day 7

Day 7 – Sunday May 8th

Los Arcos to Logroño

18 Miles

I probably should have mentioned it earlier, we tell people we meet that we are the Walker Brothers, as in: walkers who are brothers.  We seem to be getting a name for ourselves.

We slept well in the refuge in Los Arcos last night, were up early and on the road by 5 to 7.  It was raining again, but lightly enough.

There were thundery showers forecast last night for today.  We saw a couple of quite heavy showers last night in the albergue. We were in the albergue, not the showers!

We came across more humpbacks today.  We called these ones the Sisters of Mercy.

We fell into a reasonably brisk pace and made Torres Del Rio by 8:35.  We had a quick breakfast there: jamon y queso bocadillo and a café con leche.  Ham and cheese baguette and coffee with milk.

A vineyard, close to Viana, dull day
We made Viana by 11:00 and had our revenues there – a heated jamon y huevo bocadillo.  Ham and  fried egg. Very nice it was, too!  It was washed down with the usual café con leche.  We haven’t had a cup of tea since we left home.

We met our old pal Dana (Pronounced Day-na) a couple off times on the road and he joined us at elevenses in Viana (It means nothing to me).
We met our old Minnesota farmer pals, Lee and Rod just on the bridge into Logroño.

Logroño is a medium sized city.  We haven’t explored it yet, we’ve just booked into a pension, with the intention of having an easy day tomorrow.  We’ll just saunter up the road 6 or 8 miles to the next village of town, after a lie in.

We had planned to take a day off on Saturday, but we were going so well we decided to hold of for a couple of days longer.
We’re both in good nick.  Ricky had a couple of blisters early on, but they’re sorted.  I got my first one today, soon to be sorted.  I also got an insect bite on my left shin which has ballooned up a bit.  Ricky has some bite cream, and anyway I’m right legged, so I won’t be too bad if I lose it. 😳

Today was our longest day – 18 miles, but we maintained a strong pace all day, though we were a bit tired in the last couple of miles.  So we reckon we’ll get to Santiago as planned by June, no problemo.