Valverde to Fuenterroble

I checked my journal and today was indeed set to be the shortest walk I had done on the camino so far, I had chosen to do a longer walk yesterday because 90% of today's walk is uphill. Although there are no steep inclines, walking steadily uphill for 3+ hours is quite tiring. I was expecting it to take about 3 to 3.5 hrs so I planned to leave quite late at 0830, I was to arrive at the albergue after midday. As it happened I woke up quite early, but I lay in bed as long as I could - I'm not very good at that, once I'm awake, I like to get up and get on with the day.

The albergue in Valverde had turned out to be a bit dire, there was no fridge, and nowhere to sit and chat, and although the toilet/shower was ok, the rest of the place wasn't very clean. So I was glad to get out, the cafe bar was open and I had my usual breakfast of coffee and toast and then set off. The walk was unremarkable and I didn't stop to take many pictures, it was a bit foggy in places and there was an occasional drizzle of rain. The fog was more of a problem because the path was actually the main road, and there wasn't much of a verge. However, I made it in one piece.

When I arrived in Fuenterroble I went straight to the cafe for second breakfast and then went around to the albergue. It turned out I was the only person booked in but that suited me fine. I did all the usual camino stuff, messaged home and then lay on the bed and read for a while, then I went out to get to the shop before it closed at 1430. It was larger and better stocked than I expected. I was even able to buy a couple of pairs of lightweight trainer socks.

I went back to the cafe for dinner and Seiki arrived, it turned out he knew a few words of English, and with the help of Google translate, we were able to have. bit of a conversation. He was staying in the municipal albergue, which, from what I saw of it, did not look like a great option. He was worried about the next day, 28km, mostly uphill with a steep ascent and the forecast was for high winds and torrential rain. He clearly did not want to walk it but didn't know what else to do. So I suggested to him that we could perhaps share a taxi part of the way which would mean arriving in Morille before the worst of the weather. He was overjoyed at the thought of it and asked if I could arrange it. So i spoke to the barman and asked if he knew anyone who could take us to a certain point on the camino the next day. He said he would do it, and we agreed a price and departure time. I agreed to meet Seiki back at the cafe bar in the morning.

I had a quiet evening reading and doing some internet research on flights home, as there are no no direct flights from Santiago to Edinburgh. Flying from Madrid would cost over £300, but I could go from Santiago to London Stansted with a connecting flight to Edinburgh for less than £100. So I wrote down all the details for later, when I could be more certain about when I would arrive in Santiago.

Then it was time for bed, tomorrow would be here soon enough.Read more