Our second third begins

I know Chris has mentioned this before, but the route we’re on is traditional broken into three parts:
-From St. Jean-pied-du-port to Burgos (which is said to test and then strengthen your body)
—From Burgos to Astorga (where your mind is tested and opened)
-From Astorga to Santiago (where your soul is lifted)

When we left Burgos this morning, we entered the second phase of our Camino.

Before we started, I was particularly nervous about this middle part: we’ll be walking across Spain’s breadbasket, a high plain called the Meseta where there’s very little shade. This is also a sparsely populated part of Spain, so there will be several times when we’ll have to walk 12-15 kilometers before we reach another town, which feels psychologically harder than walking the same distance with several chances to stop for a cold drink and a snack.

Once blisters started troubling me, I became even more nervous. How would I handle the long, hot stretches — especially now that serious power walking was out of the question?

I still don’t really know since I’ve only done a day, but so far it’s been very pleasant. The slightly shorter walk and the cooler temperatures are certainly helping. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.Read more