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Published: October 12th 2012
Route: Hotanas - Boadilla del Camino
A day that started with the depressing news of the Venezuelan elections. 6 more years with this clown. What a bummer.
I walked around 29 km in about 6.30 hours. A difficult last 8 km walking in plain sun with a strong head wind. Notwithstanding my 360 degrees shade hat, I feel the sunburn in my face and neck. Arrived at the albergue at 3.30 and have been having a couple of beers with the United Nations, i.e. an Irishman, a French Canadian, an American, a German and a Norwegian.
What I confirmed during the day are the different stages in the mindset during the day. The first 3 hours (10-15 km) are great for thinking and meditation. The following 2 hours are good (and I need) to talk to other people you meet and during the last 2 hours the mind tends to shut down and is solely focused on getting to your destination. Sitting down after a shower with other pilgrims and a beer helps you refocus and prepare for the next day.
Note: The disturbing news I received this day was not limited to the outcome of the
elections. I met a couple of people that had slept at an albergue in Hontanas and were in real distress because they had been bitten over their whole body by bedbugs. Itching and swellings all over. I met these people (an Australian lady, a Corean lady and a Mexican) over the next couple of days. Although going to the doctor and getting treatment, they suffered the problems resulting form the bedbugs for over a week. This experience made me change my interest in staying more nights in albergues for the rest of my walk. This decision because I did not bring a sleeping bag and had to borrow blankets at the albergues.
It was sad to see that the people affected by the bedbugs had to wash all their cloths, sleeping bag and disinfect their backpacks and walk around in wet cloths for a more than a day.
Notwithstanding my intentions of minimizing my stays at Albergues, I stayed at an albergue this day. The difference was that I had a room for myself. Sometimes that is an alternative at albergues. This albergue was very nice and had ample gardens.
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