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We left Villafranca just before 6:30, knowing there was a stretch of 12 kilometers with no water, much less coffee. Unfortunately, there we no cafes open in Villafranca. About two hours and 8 kilometers down the trail, we discovered the "Oasis". I thought I remembered the place before we got there, and it was the right place. Unfortunately, it was only good for a rest stop, and bathroom break, as it was too early for any food and stuff. Another hour along the Camino and we caught sight of San Juan de Ortega and finally entered 15 minutes later. Here we gratefully sat down in Bar/Albergue El Descanso de San Juan for a coffee break.
At about 45 minutes later, Ages pops up in sight. This was one of those towns that didn't show from very far away, so we saw it and entered less than 20 minutes later. Ages is a fairly small town, but it has several albergues and a couple of bar/cafes. I'd stayed here on my Camino in 2017. By this time it was after 11am, and the next town was our destination, so we stopped here for a light breakfast at Albergue Fagus. Fifteen minutes
later, we spotted Atapuerca, and 20 minutes after that we entered the town.
Atapuerca is famous for the oldest human remains ever found. Unfortunately, for Atapuerca I think, all the remains and stuff they found was taken to Burgos to be put on display. It took a bit to find the albergue we were staying in, Hostel La Plazuela Verde, and there was nobody there at the time, so we went looking for lunch. Since I'd had a light lunch earlier, Manoli ate her lunch at the Cantina de Atapuerca. After lunch, we returned to the albergue but the only people there were two young South Korean ladies, waiting to check in. One of them had a working phone (Ours don't work in Spain, except at $10 for 10 minutes), so she called the albergue's number and my wife spoke to them. They would be there soon, but they gave us the code to get in, so away we went.
We knew this was an unusual albergue from the listing. Two brothers built everything by hand. The beds were made of wood, but very seclusive with individual lights and outlets, along with curtains. It also had a small
upstairs kitchen/dining room. Apparently, there are no stores to buy food in town, so the albergue keeps a few shelves of some the necessities for sale. We got checked in, took our showers and relaxed. When we were checking in, we realized that we were low on cash, with enough for either the albergue or dinner. We mentioned this to the owner, and he told us he had to go to Burgos later today and he would be glad to take me to an ATM. That's how nice he was. Around 5pm, he took me to an ATM in Burgos, and took care of a customer for his other business, and we came back. Later in the evening, we returned to the Cantina de Atapuerca for dinner, then hit the hay.
Tomorrow we got Burgos for our 2-night recuperation stay.
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