Day 20, Carrion to Terradilos

Today’s walk wasn’t a favourite, to be honest. It was long (26.7 km) and less than wondrous. We walked for extended stretches without much visual stimulation - the sky was overcast and the flatlands on either side of the path somewhat monotonous. Though there are always the wildflowers and the birds.
We left our lovely monastery hotel around 7am, keen to stock up on extra water because we knew the first opportunity to refill was 17kms away. Bizarrely, the cold tap in our room was spewing warm water this morning. We asked the guy at reception if he could provide us with cold water - but he filled our bladders with warm water too. We passed a drinking water tap on the road and it was hot too. I have no idea what was going on with the local water supply!
7km in, we were delighted to see a van selling breakfast - in my case green tea, freshly squeezed orange juice and toast with olive oil and tomatoes. All delicious. Janice and Sheryl joined us. Day after day, we set off at different times from different accommodation yet always seem to reach the food stops within 10 minutes of each other. Fiona and I had two more stops before reaching Terradilos. 3km short of our destination, on our final stop, we met up again with Rachel who has been ahead of us but is sharing a 4 person dorm with us tonight. Each bed cost 13 euros so we’ve bought the fourth one to avoid having to share with a stranger. It still seems odd to me that you could end up sharing a room with a man you’ve never seen before. And there is always the fear of the loud and erratic snorer.
The afternoon brought the usual thunder storm - just hope this pattern of morning sun interspersed with cloud followed by afternoon rainstorms continues for us. So far, it has allowed us to finish our walk just before the downpour.
Tomorrow Fiona and Rachel are taking a different route from me - they’ve chosen to walk the old Roman road which is described as desolate but beautiful in my guidebook. Though that sounds wonderful, I’m going to take the more commonly walked Camino path because there are lots of warnings about how hard the Roman road is on the feet and I am, of course, rather feet-obsessed. Since we’ve got a long day whichever route we choose, I’d rather not risk the tougher one. It means that tomorrow night I will be staying on my own in a dormitory and going on to Leon ahead of Fiona on Wednesday. I feel quite nervous!
And despite all my precautions a little blister has appeared between my toes. Not the worst place for a blister but I just don’t know how it got there. Ah well, must get the sewing kit out again, I suppose.Read more