Rioja to Alboloduy 22km

We had 23km to walk today, but as on any hike, the distance is only one factor to be considered, the terrain is also very important. It is easier to walk a long distance on a flat path than a short distance over rough and/or steep terrain. The camino today was split into three clear sections of about 8km each with a rest point at a café.

We were up and away slightly later than planned at 0620, and the first section to Santa Fe was very pleasant. It was cool, and we walked the whole way in the shade. The café was open, so we had our breakfast there. We also met the young Dutch couple (Jaap and Helen) who had been at the service in Almería Cathedral. Whilst we had given ourselves a short day for our first day on the camino, they had walked on and stayed in Santa Fe.

The second section was always going to be the most difficult, as there were three mountain peaks to go over, but before we reached them we paused for a selfie with Don Quixote. The steep climb began almost immediately, before we even got out of the town. The first part was on tarmac, although it was a flat hard surface, it was very steep, and eventually, the tarmac became gravel, a bit looser, and more difficult to walk on. Ken worked out a system he found helpful, he would walk 100 steps up the path and then stop for 10 deep breaths, then do another 100 steps. It was slower but it worked, pocco a pocco as we say on the camino.

The path levelled out briefly and then started to ascend to the next peak, and it was even more difficult. I was concerned about Ken, just a year earlier he had been very seriously ill in hospital and had gone through major surgery, the camino would be a real test of his recovery. I thought that these ascents would be a particular challenge for him, but he was doing very well, especially considering it was the most strenuous thing he had done since being in hospital last year.

We both made it to the top and there we found that what goes up must come down - there was an extremely steep descent and it was mostly gravel and loose stones, and quite treacherous. We got down by zig-zagging across the trail, and I was surprised that neither of us was injured. We then had another shorter but equally steep climb with a longer, steeper descent into the town of Alhabia. We were very glad to stop at the café for half an hour to recover. The section from Santa Fe to Alhabia was the same distance as the section from Rioja to Santa Fe, but it took us twice as long to do it.

The final section was a lot easier, it was flat and on a tarmac path, following the course of another dried up river, but we didn't get to Alboloduy until 3pm by which time the temperature was in the 30s. We were both jiggered but got on with the daily tasks of the camino, then went to the only bar that was open to get some dinner.

Back in the albergue we were able to chat to Japp and Helen, who turned out to be lovely. Jaap was a physiotherapist and Helen had volunteered him to assist any pilgrims who had pain, so he gave me good advice about the pain I had in my legs and I followed his advice over the next week, with great success.

We went to bed very tired, but I found it difficult to sleep as there was some sort of local fiesta going on, it was very noisy and kept waking me up whenever I drifted off. Ken seemed un-bothered by it and was snoring happily.

I was glad that we had split tomorrow's stage over two days.Baca lagi