Montamarta

I set off at 0545 and headed up the 2 km long hill out of the city, the path soon turned off the tarmac and onto the standard camino gravel. Again it was one of those days in which it was difficult to get lost as there was only one path with few opportunities to turn off but all of which were clearly marked. The path was fairly flat with few inclines that were long rather steep, and a featureless landscape of crop fields.

As we were unable to get into a private albergue, I had no option to but to go to the municipal and when I arrived I saw Luis and Delphine, two lovely Spanish guys from Bilbao who were very fast walkers but spoke virtually no English. Julia, a lovely Canadian girl of Korean descent was also there, she was super fit and also a fast walker, she was friends with Anita and Mirjam.

I was also very surprised to see Anita sitting on a bench outside as she had been in her bed when I left Zamora. It turned out that after walking 5-6 km she suddenly had an incredible pain in her good knee, so painful in fact that she was unable to put any weight on it. She had to sit down on the side of the camino path and about 30 minutes later Mirjam found her and phoned for a taxi to bring her to Montamarta. I sat and chatted with her for a while but I didn't know what to say to her, I was devastated for her because at that point it was looking very much like her camino was over. I could only imagine how I would have felt in her situation, and I was very sad at the thought of her leaving.

Mirjam arrived and after a bit of discussion with Anita and the guys it was decided to call 112, the emergency services. Luis handled the call, and it was agreed that an ambulance would be sent to take Anita back for medical treatment in Zamora, and so we waited for the ambulance, worried about Anita. The ambulance arrived and we waved her goodbye, there was a lot of joking and laughing but in truth I was broken-hearted. Over the last few days I have become incredibly fond of her, and as i thought about her going back to Zamora I didn't know if I would ever see her again. On the camino, people come and go, but I already knew that I wanted to be friends with her beyond the camino.

With Anita very much in our minds and on our hearts, we got on with the tasks before us. The report we had about the albergue was that it was not clean, but when we arrived the hospitalero was taking in the washing and then we saw him mopping the floors, once he was gone we ventured in for a look. Having had a look we all split up to properly clean the place, I drew the short straw and had to clean the gents toilets which were filthy, and before long the albergue was more habitable. The showers were ok, and there was a good kitchen, and the toilets were now very clean.

We got word back from Anita, the X-ray didn't show anything conclusive so they were basically just recommending painkillers and rest for a few days, I prayed for her recovery.

Luis, Delphine, Mirjam, Julia and myself walked into the town to a restaurant that I think had been recommended, and had an excellent meal, 3 courses and a drink for 11€, I'd like to see that in Scotland. Later in the albergue, I was able to have a friendship-building conversation with Mirjam, which I was thankful for.

I got my stuff ready for the next day, read through the guidebook, and got ready for bed, it is a slightly longer walk tomorrow and it will be hot, but I have decided to stop worrying about what might or might not happen tomorrow, it just robs you of your joy today. Also, looking back, none of the things I worried about over the past four weeks have happened, and unexpected problems that arose were dealt with as they happened. I am slowly learning how to live in the moment. Right at that moment, it was time for bed.Read more