Feet, Don’t Fail Me Now
June 20 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
Another foggy morning; another slew of kids. I had hoped we would leave town through the back, but no, we had to go down a hill, over a different bridge, and up a hill on the other side.
The crowd spread out a little more quickly today — until the first coffee stop at mile five. There was a line out the door, but we didn’t care. Despite the long wait for food, and the long day still ahead of us, we lingered a bit, which let the crowd thin even more. It was actually a little chilly at our second stop, although walking quickly took care of that. We spotted a few of the teens hopping in a taxi here.
The paths are still fairly easy, mostly dirt and gravel with a little road walking thrown in. We had one short but very difficult section where it was solid rock, very narrow, and had deep drops from rock to rock. A man ahead of us was holding the arm of an older woman, helping her down, which was slow going. Shortly after, when we were back on the road, a younger woman came up and appeared to move the older woman out of the way, and the guy put his arm around her. I was thinking how rude that was when I noticed his trekking pole had a white ball on the bottom and realized that he’s blind. He was holding the younger woman’s backpack straps, and they traded off guiding him during the day.
I needed to stop to dig out some more Tylenol and fix my socks. We happened on a rest area being run by high school students from LA on a mission trip. They had hiked for five days and were manning this little outpost for five days. I’m guessing different groups come each week.
A bit over halfway through our day we were back to walking with just a few other pilgrims. Until the bus came. It stopped in a tiny town and let out at least fifty folks who started walking from there. We knew there would be many more people in this section, but I really hadn’t processed how the tenor would change. There is much less camaraderie, many fewer “Buen Camino!”s, much more music being played while walking, and what I assume is many cans of Axe being sprayed, based on the cloud I walked through this morning.
I was really tired of walking around mile twelve, which was a pity, since we had three more to go. We stopped for snacks about a mile and a half out; usually when we’re that close we just want to get into town and find our hostels, but today we all wanted that break.
Mim and Kathy at staying in a converted storage unit just at the front edge of town. I’ll have a slightly shorter walk tomorrow, since I’m in a pensión right in the center. (There are distinctions between albergues, hostals, pensións, casa rurals — and a few more —but I tend to use albergue and hostel interchangeably for all of them.)
When I checked in my dress was waiting for me. Through Google Translate I told her I needed to pay for the transport but didn’t know how. She frowned and said no, then typed that the courier hadn’t said anything about being owed, so I didn’t need to pay. Since the first hostel was clear that I could pay here, I’m guessing that the Camino provided via JacoTrans.
My room faces the plaza. I showered and fell asleep, only to be woken by blaring music, speaker feedback, and an announcer who went on and on about something. When I finally looked out the window I realized it was the start of a road race, runners all milling around and picking up T-shirts. Nothing like doing that at 6:00 pm when it’s 85 degrees. (Much better to do on July 4 in Atlanta when it’s 85 degrees at 6 am.)
Before I looked out the window, I googled what might be happening in town tonight. The answer I got is that it’s the Eve of San Juan, and there will be a fiesta involving a bonfire and a popular sardine feast. Please let that be happening on some other plaza here in town.
Had dinner with Kathy and Mim, then went to the pilgrim’s Mass. I thought it had started when I walked in because people were reciting, but I saw no priest and knew I was early. It seems they have a recording leading the rosary before Mass starts.
Tomorrow we start at 6 am, hopefully to beat both the heat and the kids. It’s our longest day left at 16.2 miles, and I don’t have a reservation, so it’ll be my last night in a dorm bed on this Camino.Read more