Almería to Rioja

We were up reasonably early despite the fact we would only be walking 15km today. Nely had made us a wonderful breakfast, and she told us that she had reserved our Albergue in Quentar for the 12th of May.

She said that since we had been to the service at the Cathedral and our compostelas had been stamped, we didn't have to start from the Cathedral as the camino went right past her house.

Just before we left, I invited her to join us in a prayer that we intended to pray every morning as we set out on our camino. It is based on a prayer by St Patrick of Ireland.

May the power of God guide our steps.
May the eyes of God watch over us.
May the ears of God hear us when we pray.
May the hand of God protect us.
May the presence of God go with ys and bring us safely home at our journey's end.

She was quite moved by that and held onto us as she prayed for us also. We set off, and she walked with us part of the way, then waved us goodbye.

The camino was well signposted, and we had no problem following the route. The first half was actually through the city, and the only real problem we encountered was preventing Ken from stopping at every café.

Until we reached the very edge of the city, we had been walking on tarmac, not my favourite thing, but it allowed for a good pace. We did actually stop for coffee on the edge of the city. Once we entered the countryside our problems started.

The camino soon came off the road and entered a dried up river bed - the first of many. The walking became much more difficult as the ground became less solid underfoot. It was a lot like walking on deep sand, very tiring.

We we were quite exhausted by the time we reached the albergue. I phoned the number we had been given and got the pin code for the key safe.

The albergue was clean with a half decent shower. So we got on with all the daily tasks of the camino, then went to the bar for dinner, then an early night.

We had the company of two other peregrinos from France.

It had been a good start to our camino, but the next day was to prove more challenging than we could have imagined. Czytaj więcej