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Published: July 24th 2012
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First pic of something we saw quite a lot of for a few days .... little abodes/storage areas built into hillsides , very intriguing looking - sort of like hobbit homes.... Well as I mentioned at the end of last blog... we set off after that awful windy day....from Terradilos de los Templarios.... the wind was not quite so bad.... but I was really feeling the accumulated effects of walking day after day....Nurofen was readily consumed morning and night ... actually that reminds me - a little aside about Nurofen... - here in Australia it comes in tablets of 200mg..... and is more expensive than Paracetamol..... in Spain we could buy from the Farmacia ( pharmacy) boxes of about 40 of them - at 600mg per tablet for only about 3 Euro....
The halfway/rest point for that day was Sahagun - which I dont actually remember too well but I do recall thinking that it's a very Japanese sounding name for a place in Spain..... we stopped and had lunch.... revived a little then continued on ... I was feeling quite low most of that day really - Really questioning WHY am I here and doing this and feeling dispirited by the aches and pains were both intermittent yet constant. I think I didnt really expect to feel like this so far down the track ( about 3 1/2 weeks of
walking) i thought I'd be fitter and stronger - which I was - but that didnt cancel out the toll of 20-25km a day on my body. After Sahagun we accidentally took the 'alternative route ' which was marginally shorter but still ended doing 25km for the day .
We stopped in a 200 yr old Parish Albergue at Bercianos del Real Camino....a 2 story Albergure that had no set fee but was a donativo - you pay as you can afford or see fit.... we still ended up putting 10 Euro each into the donation box, were checked in by a friendly Canadian volunteer Hospitalero and shown up to our beds by a Spanish guy - who later cooked the dinner for the night - and didnt speak a word of English...
The bunk was in one of two rooms that had about 6- 8 bunks in each and the place was filling up.... it was VERY COLD there... but the shower was hot - though we had the usual juggling of clothing/towels/soap/passport money etc that are always kept with you... all in a small shower space with 1 hook ...... I rested on the bed a
while..... then went back downstairs - was introduced to Craig from Melb, then Rosie - Sydney and Anthony from Sth Africa ..... it was really good to hear familiar accents and not have to THINK about how to try and communicate - also the shared dry humour and laconic manner of Rosie and Craig was just so... relaxing and refreshing to be around - we played cards with them again later that night after we'd all had a shared meal.
I have mentioned before how I've really enjoyed sharing a meal with everyone who happens to be in an Albergue at one point in time - and this was another example of that.... A prayer/blessing was read out by the Canadian woman - we shared a salad and a tuna/pasta main course, some sing - then a sing! Led by Craig we sang 'Hallelujah' and a woman across from Diane and I took my camer and took a pic... I didnt discover until the next day she had done a video - which I've included here.... but couldnt work out how to get it among the text ( I've done so before... but this time... nup! ) so its
at the beginning of the blog ...
After playing cards we all settled for the night by 10pm.... I felt a bit of panic when my 'change your HRT patch' went off at 11 ! but managed to turn it off while simultaneously muffling the alarm under my pillow ! I felt a bit less against the Camino after the day/night in that Albergue - I was uplifted by the chatting with Aussies and the meal and song we'd all shared . Managed an OK night's sleep, really even my attitude to sleeping underwent a change while walking the Camino....I could do without 3 pillows, a shared bed, I could cope with snorers ( except the REALLY REALLY bad ones) and shared rooms and really just having my own sleeping bag and little pillow is kind of like home - a nest - and even if I didnt get 6-7 solid hours sleep or even 3-4 - I survived to walk on the next day....I was indoors, and in bed, and that was all I needed ... mind you most of the mattresses were really quite good - I think there must be a certain mattress or bedding requirement/level
that the Albergues have to provice....
We all had to be out by 8am next morning - house rules... and we walked 6km to get coffee and breakfast at a small place called El Borgo Ranero..... it was a BACON AND EGG ROLL - delicious ! and popular..... I went to the loo there and when I sat down a crack in the seat widened and then closed up and pinched me ! I warned Diane when I went out that she should sit side saddle to avoid it.... after her an English Peregrina ( Sp for female pilgrim) went in.... she protested when she came out the toilet had BITTEN her lol ...
We set off after for Mansilla de Las Mulas - the last small town before our next big city - Leon. Walked a total of 26.3km and thanks goodness the wind had dropped .... but although my mood was better I can see by a pic here of me resting by a wall how much I was feeling the physical effort of walking walking walking...
We saw a few of the houses? storage areas? built into hillsides - they are very intriguing because
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Craig leading the singing... they sort of look like hobbit homes and when we managed to look inside an abandoned one they are dug really quite deeply in to the ground..... but I'm unsure if the upper parts of some were sheds or something like that - and then dirt loaded over the top to MAKE a hill around it......
We needed a break at Reliegos, and walked through the town searching for a Cafe Con Leche...... but couldnt find one so sat down in the drizzling rain , at the side of a house, removed boots and ate bread/fruit/yogurt.... just before we sat we encountered the man in the street with his 'wooden-walk-through-water-sodden-streets-shoes' - he smilingly obliged when I mimed that I'd like to take a pic of them and the woman inside the house he'd just knocked on threw herself outside and joined in the photo taking too.... and then she went back in and found a churros each for Diane and I .... It was a really lovely encounter - made me feel happier :-)
We ploughed on after our break- Diane needed a wee stop - and ended up going behind this huge wall that was only that
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Anthony and Rosie - just a big wall in the middle of a field..... she didnt even think about being seen at the OTHER side of the wall where following pilgrims were coming up behind us lol
That night we indulged in the luxury of the Albegueria Del Camino - which we didnt realise until we went in to register was NOT an Albergue but a Casa Rural ... we paid a shared fee of 55 Euro so really NOT expensive and it was lovely - the surrounds were all very stone and wood and with rural/farming things on the wall - there was a library - our room was toasty warm and we could have hot showers as long as we wanted AND another before leaving in the morning ( something we didnt in the Albergues) ... they had a lovely 'Pilgrim Menu' and a bar and it was JUST what we needed at that time.... A chance for the 3 R's -rest, recover and recuperate - before tackling the BIG city of Leon...
I forgot to include a video on prev blog posting.... so am going to put it here.... its the view from the top of the 12%
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Craig and Rosie gradient , 1200m high hill we climbed ..
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