Río Cardeñadijo

"Today will be a much easier day", Carlos assured us. "It's only about 15 km of easy walking and will only take about 3 hours". Of course we later found out that this was a bald faced lie.

The day began pleasantly enough. I awoke long before the first light of sunrise and decided to look out my window. Although the hotel was situated in the commercial centre of Logrono, I was somewhat surprised to see a steady stream of pilgrims were already out walking. Each of them was labouring under the weight of their heavy backpacks. I looked about my comfortable hotel room and could not help feeling a little guilty. But not for long.

To walk the entire length of the Spanish Camino, especially for those carrying all their own luggage, certainly requires a huge degree of perseverance and dedication. We had only walked around 40 km so far and most of us were already feeling the effects of the repetitive walking. I was certainly glad that I had a clean and comfortable bed to look forward to each evening and very, very glad that our luggage was being transported each day in the bus.

Our day began with a bus drive to the town of La Guardia (just like the famous airport). In this La Guardia there were no planes in sight, just a collection of very old buildings and a large church. We had been booked into a large winery for a tour of the premises and a wine tasting. Since I have us much interest in wine as I do on the history of the dung beetle, I did find the couple of hours we spent there rather tedious. The underground tunnels, however, were quite fascinating.

The bus then transferred us to the start of the walk at Montes de Oca. The first 4 km of the walk were through lovely green forests and the relative cool of the morning made it quite easy to do. Since rest stops were in short supply along this section, we stopped for lunch at a large cafe. I ordered a beef casserole which was quite delicious.

We then came back outside to find that the temperature had climbed a few degrees. The Spanish sunshine made it feel even hotter than it probably was. At this stage we were still under the delusion that we only had about 11 km to walk. How hard can that be ?

Almost immediately we were faced with a steep and prolonged climb. Not the thing you want after you have been resting for the previous hour. It did not take long for the usual culprits to speed away from the front of the group, leaving about 8 people to make up the remainder. At this point I must mention Douglas for the incredibly patient way he stayed back to ensure that everyone was OK. Although he could have easily outpaced everyone, he was content to put other people's well being before his own wishes. This takes a very special type of person and demonstrates something of the true spirit of the Camino.

The path itself was often very rocky and unstable , making the walking quite tiring. The first climb was the most significant, however there were several more steep pitches that we encountered along the way. For many kilometres we walked along a somewhat monotonous path through a forested area. Unfortunately the path itself was exposed and the trees offered little shade.

Although we were making steady progress, the hours started to tick by. By 5 pm we were still walking and there was no sign of the Monastery that was meant to mark the end of the stage. It was very clear that the original promise of "15 km" was hopelessly inaccurate.

Just as the heat was starting to really take effect we cam e across a carload of people offering cold drinks and snacks for a donation. I suspect that, at this isolated location, this was actually a clever way to gain maximum revenue. I am sure that most people donated much more than the drinks would normally cost.

It was only at sometime after 6pm that we finally arrived at the day's end. My GPS said we had walked over 18 km and it certainly felt like it. We all took the opportunity for a rest and a drink before boarding the bus for the final transfer to Burgo.

Our hotel was situated right in the middle of the city and we were rather excited to discover that it was a 4 star hotel with enormous rooms. In fact it was probably the best hotel we have had so far. The evening dinner was also well received (no chicken), although I still cannot understand the practise of providing unlimited wine without charge, but if you want anything else you must pay for it. Not only does this seem unfair to me, but it also encourages drinking to excess. That seems to have become an unfortunate part of life on the Camino.

As I retired to bed for the evening I could not but wonder how the portly fellow from Montreal was progressing. We had met him two days earlier and he had been having a hard time of things. I really hoped that he was still moving towards his own personal goal.Read more