Santo Domingo - Granon - Belorado

Today was finally the day to get back on the horse, or the dogs, that is to say, the feet.

After enjoying another wonderfully comfortable morning in the apartment, I set out for Granon, a mere 7km away. I went back and forth a bit about whether to walk this stretch. I knew I wouldn't enjoy it, because it was an ugly stretch next to the highway, and there was zero shade. Sure enough, it was boring and very hot. I chose to do it though because I wanted to test out my shin asap; if I have to pivot I don't wanna waste time doing it.

The shin went well, surprisingly, but we'll see how it holds up tomorrow (8km) and the day after (21km).

Granon was a nice pitstop, where I waited around an hour or so for a bus to Belorado. It was truly hot by this point, so as soon as I got off the bus I made a beeline to the albergue, hitting the supermarket on the way so I didn't need to go out again and melt.

After a very long check-in process, I made it upstairs to my cutie pie little bunk. Plaid!! Wooden beams! A quick floor picnic (baguette, cream cheese, salami), and quicker shower, and then it's Horizontal Time friends.

There's a young man here from Arizona ("in the states") who feels the need to narrate his every move, and a young (Italian I suspect) man who is outraged that the schedule has him arriving in Burgos (one of the big cities of the Camino) on a Sunday, because he wants to party. Therefore, he's looking for somewhere to nap for a few hours before setting out for another 24km walk today (30° mind you) so he can get ahead of schedule and party down in Burgos on a Saturday night. YOLO I guess, rock on.

After a lovely siesta, I had a stroll around town and hit up the supermarket again as I remembered tomorrow's town doesn't have one. Then it was back to the albergue for dinner - surprise, baguette, salami, and cheese again. A nice Italian man (not party man) approached me, certain that I was French, and gave me a beer. Delightful. Thank you Simon. Curious as to what gives off the French vibe...

Then, immediately after, a nice American (Canadian??) man walked past and commented "oh you have beautiful hair, very pretty!", in an earnest genuine way (key). Delightful. Thank you Nick. He then struck up conversation about who I was travelling with, currently no one, where I was from, Australia, and that he's part of a pack of 20 odd pilgrims (some Australians) who have started walking together and I'm welcome to join! Didn't have the heart to tell him that between here and Leon is more bus than walk for me, as I'm playing catch-up and so probably will never see them again. But it was nice.Read more