Camino Day 24: León to Hospital deÓrbigo

Total Distance: 41.5km
Step Count: 58k
Blisters to date: 2
Tortillas to date: 21
Injuries: shin splints

Blippin’ longest day ever walking! Not just on the Camino but in my lifetime! - to date anyways.

What was meant to be a 34km day (a bit of a stretch for my leg and the longest day I’d have so far) ended up being 41km! All the guide books and trail info about this stage were wrong as confirmed by the locals later.

The walk itself was flat, uneventful, serene, with minimal stops, a very early start and some rain during the morning. I ended up walking the whole day with a Mexican woman who’d asked me in León if she could stick with me just to make her way out of town. It would be dark and she didn’t want to get lost but we found our way out easily thanks to another pilgrim who was heading out at the same time.

Grumpiness kicked in after 30 odd KMs when I realised I still had another 8 to reach my destination but all the aches and pains disappeared in an instant when we arrived! Hospital de Órbigo was by far one of the most beautiful arrivals to a village with its long Roman bridge and the beautiful love story surrounding it (el Passo Honroso)! ❤️

We were also going to stay at an Albergue run by Venezuelans which to my surprise was all dedicated to paintings by pilgrims. It was so colourful and reminded me of posadas by the beach back home! 💛💙❤️

Lukas and I spent like an hour painting and then went to enjoy a well deserved dinner with Tim and then lots of sleep! The next day would be a short one 😊Read more