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LIVE from the Camino [An Unexpected Pilgrimage - - 2024 - - Intermediary in my Home to Home]

I am at the start of Furela, at the first place for a cerveza since Triacastela. Open despite Monday Hooray !! And also a little over half way to Sarria.

There was one fairly nasty stretch of steep downhill trail, and I really should have taken tarmac, but I didn't.

Oh well. Live and don't learn ...
 
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Day 28 - - Sarria

Well, it only took me ten hours to walk 18K ...

But I'm here. Hooray !!

I am at the Albergue A Pedra at the start of town, where I stayed once in 2014.

It's a good place. There seems to be a communal dinner here that I have missed from getting in very late, but at least I scored a couple of cervezas. I also had a portion of tortilla earlier and elsewhere.

I am alone in a three bed dorm, a situation as cosy as it is gratifying. I really do like this place.

I seem to have posted some fake news yesterday - - the large blob of pilgrims at Triacastela yesterday was not in fact the Circus ; more simply it was Sunday and the weekend gathering at a popular starting location. It seems numbers are down also on the Sarria > Santiago section.

Feet continue to hurt more than my knees, legs are fine this evening, it's strange still but I am starting to get used to it. Today's walk would have been impossible three weeks ago.

Thanks to God the Father for this amazing Grace of Healing !!
 
Taking a while to move on out, and I also have no real plan for the day. Except avoid the pointless climb up to then down from the Monastery here.

Guess I can take the cycling route out and also avoid the grotty section next to the railway.
 
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Vilei - - The only somewhat annoying part of walking on the cycling route here is the final portion climbing on tarmac exposed to the Sun. Otherwise, the way out of Sarria and as far as about the bridge over the motorway and a little further is fine, and at the start is much nicer IMO than the official route. Having a cerveza at Casa Barbadelo then carry on.
 
I have never seen so few pilgrims on the Sarria > Santiago stretch as right now.

We were not very many in August 1994, but we are even fewer in July 2024.

It's almost surreal ...

I am in the bar at A Brea, and in October 2022 there were significantly more pilgrims in the bar that day than I have seen on the Camino in the past two days.

But I am told that these low pilgrim numbers are normal for July, at least in a non Holy Year. Also August to a degree, apparently.
 
Day 29 -- Ferreiros

15K seems to be my new baseline daily distance, which is good - - though I will try and up it to 15K - 20K.

Yesterday I walked part of the way in the company of another pseudo-French pilgrim (didn't catch his actual nationality, but we did swap contact details), who slowed down for the length of our conversation. His company did make the walking easier.

Much about the day I've already posted - - I did go for a pilgrim menu in the evening, pretty much immediately after I got here - - the steak and eggs were good, the tinto a bit meh, and I had to settle for a caldo as the lentils were all gone. It was good enough !!

Not sure where I'm headed today, but anyway it will be beyond Portomarín.
 
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I am in Portomarín, and it is somewhat hot, but I will carry on.

After three times in a row walking in or out over the old bridge, and last time the water was the lowest I have ever seen it, now it's the highest I have ever seen it. So new bridge it was !!

The Circus has rolled into town, so that instead of a bare dozen pilgrims, there are hundreds.

The harbingers of the Circus this morning were a couple of taxigrinos stopping just before the 100K marker, getting their Credencials stamped by the taxi driver, and that was the last I saw of them. They did not pass me on the trail, bearing in mind that *everybody* passes me ... I can only conclude Camino by taxi with a Compostela at the end. Don't understand the point
 
OK forget that, the Pharmacy is showing a temp of 32°C, and from past experience I really do need to be careful with this stuff.

Likely the official temp is lower, but I cannot take my tendency towards sunstroke lightly.

So here I stay.
 
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Well I’ve had sellos from most kinds of institutions; but a sello from a taxi is a first in my experience. There is no point as you say; regrettably the Frances is (in my opinion) full of them.

Pleased to see you’re in good form.
 
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JabbaPapa said:
Don't understand the point
Click to expand...
Another framed piece of paper they can stick on their wall - and brag about to dinner party guests? Who knows. Karma's always fair though. So...whatever. At least they aren't clogging the albergues, from the sound of it.
Buen camino, JP. You're moving right along.
 
Day 30 - - Portomarín

Just some weather report to add to the previous comments.

It's a bit weird - - overcast and cool in the morning, blazing hot in the afternoon.

If not for the latter, I would definitely have moved on ; but as it happened I did have some initial warning signs of potential sunstroke risk, as I realised in the evening, so stopping was certainly the right choice.
 
It still takes me about an hour to set off, usually, to let the anti-inflammatory kick in - - though I am sort of hoping that when this is done and I'm home, I can start using it as treatment rather than palliative.

So I have a coffee and a beer while waiting ...

I do miss about an hour's walking from that, but if I then need to stop along the way somewhere I can end up losing even more time.
 
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I am in Gonzar. Conditions are not too different to yesterday afternoon - - with the huge difference that there are at least two more watering holes at reasonable intervals along the way from here, which would not have been the case from Portomarín had I continued yesterday.

In hindsight, I am completely unsurprised at how exhausted I became from carrying on from here to Portomarín in late 2022. I really should have stopped and slept here, even if that would have been a very short day.

Yes I did end up having a very memorable and beautiful arrival there that time, and from the river bank further downstream than pilgrims typically go, but my was it exhausting !! Including because there are so few places for a sit-down on the section.

Anyway I do have my plan for the day, but more about that later.
 
Day 31 - - Vendas de Narón

I slept at Casa Molar, which is an OK place, had the pilgrim menu with the three other pilgrims who were here, two started from SJPP, the other from home in Germany, and this year from Le Puy.

Hopefully I can make a better distance today, IIRC, the terrain is a bit better now.

Coffee and a beer, and it looks like an earlier start today as well.
 
The only thing that would make sense today is a bit of a shorter day to Palas de Rei, because any stopping points beyond there would be too much of a stretch.

Yesterday I came upon a pilgrim who recognised me from Pamplona, very fast walker obviously, and so it would seem that the July Wave is incoming.

There are many minigrinos walking with their parents, and also some groups of teens.

Galicia here has an air of Provence to it this morning.
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Day 32 - - Palas de Rei

The day went well enough, and it was not hard though I needed a few stops along the way, and there was one longer stretch that I was less happy with.

The Xunta Albergue was completo, except for the disabled dorm which I took, and as it turned out, it's a very good thing that I did.

In the middle of the night, my ankle pain massively flared up, not sure why ; it had been "normal" on the walk and in the early evening, so that the disabled amenities in the dorm as well as being alone in there and so bothering nobody else were both of them serious pluses.

My knees are still OK by the way, just the normal wear and tear from the Camino, but even within this pain flare up, they're still good, which is definitive confirmation of that Grace of Healing at Lourdes.

As to today, well, I will see if some amount of beer might help, but even so, I do not think that I can walk, so that I may need to do the unthinkable and get a bus. Well, it's not contrary to any principles to do so from an injury, but it does diverge from my own preferences.

Oh well, I knew that there would be days like this, but I really do wish that one of them hadn't been here or now.
 
It's not quite so bad now as it was, but I am still in Palas as I was given some bus stop disinformation - - 2 bus companies ; 2 bus stops.

So that's five hours of extra waiting.

I think it was triggered by the weather, which has turned damp with some rain.

Nevertheless, I am quite unsure about being able to walk tomorrow either. I was certainly not strong enough today to even hitch-hike.

Relief from the cerveza has been fairly minimal, but then so has it been from the anti-inflammatories.

Oh well, just over an hour now for the bus.
 
Day 33 - - Arzúa

It has calmed down a bit, and it was more than just the weather, though certainly the sudden shift from hot and dry to cool and damp did not help.

I had a temperature, so that this was either a mild sunstroke or some virus or something. The fever is gone now, and the pain in the ankles is subsiding somewhat, though walking tomorrow still seems iffy. And I think I need a rest day, which will necessarily mean getting to Santiago by bus on Monday as I am, unusually, on a bit of a deadline at this end.

I suppose that this is just some more of the unexpected nature of this pilgrimage, and not all of the unexpected can be positive.

As to busing back to Melide afterwards and finishing on foot, something just wouldn't feel right about it - - I need to just accept that this injury or whatever it is has led to these consequences.

Also to head out from Santiago could really only be to begin making my way back towards Roncesvalles and to resume my real Camino, the Home to Home. Not some sort of to-and-fro where I would end up doing this particular stretch four times in a row.

This has anyway been more Pilgrimage than Camino per se, even if it's not finished yet, and won't be until I reach Roncesvalles.
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Definitely getting better.

I could probably force these legs to do a short 10K or something today, but there is clearly too much risk of recreating the injury.

If I were anywhere else on the Camino I wouldn't even be thinking about getting along !! ... unless that were out in the sticks in France or something and a short afternoon walk to the next village so as to sleep outside in a different location.

Not my current situation.

I still have no idea if this were a light sunstroke or some virus, symptoms would be pretty much identical in either case, and I'm just happy that it seems to be ending.

My legs and my knees though are still too stiff to risk it. Still, this morning at least I am walking slowly instead of just hobbling as I was yesterday. Oversleeping to 8:20 AM this morning has also helped. But I am still getting the occasional twinge of pain, and the legs are throbbing a bit from the exertion of the past month.

The Albergue cleaning lady shouted at me to get up in some broken pseudo-English ... It remains a mystery to me why so many Spanish in this region want to speak bad English instead of some more normal language. Including because the majority of pilgrims are either Spanish themselves or will have at least some degree of Spanish if they aren't.

I met a Swiss pilgrim just as I came into town, doing a Home to Home from Geneva, on his way back from Santiago. Fast one too, 67 days or something from Home to Santiago. Faster than I was on my 2005. Actually, he was on the other side of the road, looked at me, and crossed over for a chat. There really is something about we long-distancers that we spontaneously recognise in each other at a glance.

We compared a few things, and I tried to reassure him that there are fewer pilgrims than normal. He was talking about seeing hundreds of pilgrims every day on his way from Santiago, whereas in 2022 until I reached Sarria I would usually see thousands. I could see hundreds in any given hour.

It is true though that since reaching and then passing the 100K marker a few days ago, the number of pilgrims has significantly increased.

BTW I think I had a second sighting of the same taxigrinos that I saw near that 100K marker yesterday, arriving by taxi in Palas de Rei. The taxigrina anyway gave me a smile and a nod from recognising me. So at least they are polite taxigrinos.

Strange behaviour IMO, to taxi at a slower pace than what someone disabled is hiking, instead of I dunno, transporting your pack and walking even just a 10K to 15K or something ? I think only the first bit out of Portomarín is devoid of even hotels and bars for any appreciable distance.

I am here now busing it of course perforce from injury, and what do I know, is one of the two also disabled ?

Otherwise, it's now not just a majority walking with day packs and transporting their stuff, but it's almost everyone !! I certainly could not do so even just from a practical POV - - if I get stuck somewhere by my bad legs, I need my stuff with me to be able to sleep out there.

There are about double the number of pack transport vans out on the road than in late 2022, and some new pack transport companies as well. It seems to be a growth industry.
 
I am changing my mind. I don't need a full rest day with an afternoon and evening in an Albergue, and so there is no point staying in Arzúa ; but I still can't walk. Even tomorrow is iffy.

My only reasonable option is just face my need to take a bus head on, and so go to Santiago this afternoon.

This is not even out of the blue - - I began this pilgrimage with a decision to just let it take me where it led to ; and this morning, asking where a supermarket is open on Sunday morning led me straight back to the bus stop. There's a good bench here where I can stretch my legs out in the Sun, and so there we go.
 
You are an inspiration mate! Enjoy your rest on the bench.
 
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JabbaPapa said:
It remains a mystery to me why so many Spanish in this region want to speak bad English instead of some more normal language.
Click to expand...
Haha, just like those of us who use bad Spanish instead of normal language?

Hope the pain settles down - it sounds miserable.
 
Day 34 - - Santiago de Compostela

Legs still feel a bit like death, so this was definitely, if not the right choice, at least the unavoidable consequence.

I have my little Mahou Verde ritual on the Cathedral squares at Burgos and Santiago, and this evening was no different, and good thing I already knew where to purchase it despite Sunday.

The arrival in front of the Cathedral this time was neither over-- nor under- whelming, but just normally so. Happy to be here, and neither disappointed nor ecstatic.

Having a cerveza, then I'll look for a spot to put down my sleeping bag. There appears to be no chance of rain tonight.

I am mainly relieved that this part of it is pretty much ended, so that I can start to put my focus back, in a few days, to the final stage of my Home to Home.

I do have one overall impression, in that it is shocking how much more costly the Francès has become over the five years since I started this Home to Home. It really doesn't help of course that the cheaper food makes me ill, but Albergue prices have close to doubled in that period, a pilgrim menu is up by at least +50%, and getting some supermarket equivalent that won't make me ill is not far off in price from a menu. Gone seemingly are also the days when a plato combinado with a drink was meaningfully cheaper than a menu.

As to my disability allowance, it has not increased by any equivalent % numbers, and so it seems that I am being priced out of the long-distance hiking which is the only sport that I have found which can keep my disability at least partly in check.

It's nobody's fault that I have these insane food restrictions, but it's still true that what I could just about afford five years ago for some hard health needs has basically been turned into a luxury leisure activity for daypackers.

I do hope that this is just one more low point in one of the Camino's ten year cycles, but the lower overall numbers of pilgrims on the Francès are unlikely to lower any daily prices. The opposite probably.

I am actually looking forward to getting back into France with its straightforwardly unaffordable Gîtes so that I can get back to the simplicity of somewhere to sleep outside, a shower every couple of days preferably, then hiking through places with a French supermarket with foods that are friendlier to my gut.

...

eh, sorry for the ranting, it's just the accumulated pain from the Camino talking.

I am super pleased to be here, and I am not done with the 2024 Francès as I must still make my way to Roncesvalles and SJPP and the fact that I will have no more deadline stuff from here on out, after these couple of days here, will be a massive relief both physically and mentally.

...

Otherwise, as a Pilgrimage the 2024 has been brilliant. I have been carried along my Way rather than choosing some itinerary for myself. It has been a religious Pilgrimage, and more meaningful than the ones recently that I have done for more personal reasons.

The Grace of Healing at Lourdes, partial as it may have been, is at its epicentre.
 
As someone over 80, last Camino last Fall, and plotting for another, even with wonky knees and ever slower Kms per hour, I am constantly inspired by your determination, grit and wonderful writing abilities.
Please keep posting.
 
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8:15 AM and there's already a short queue at the Pilgrim Office. And some people thinking that leaning their hiking poles against the wall is a place in the queue for two people. At least the French guy who wandered off for a coffee or something was polite about things, which goes a long way. Queue has doubled in the time it took to type this.

The ankles are definitely better this morning, I could crouch down to sit on my backpack here without much trouble.

Maybe I could have found a better place to sleep out, but I didn't. It was good enough.

I should manage to find some bed tonight, then after that we'll see.
 
Well, I have my Compostela, I have a spot at the Pilgrims Lunch too (only big thing I had failed to do so far on my Home to Home Camino), and I have found a bed for tonight.
 
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VNwalking said:
Just honestly curious - since you bused from Arzua, did they not check the credential?
Click to expand...
Quickly yes, but in any case I have a disability, so that I am eligible despite that.

If that had not been the case, well, none of this situation would have existed in the first place, because it is the disability that flared up about three days ago and put me into some pretty severe pain as well as greatly hindering my ability to walk.

Also it is extremely doubtful that I would have even been here in that first place, given that every one of my Caminos since the 2014 has had a central purpose of trying to mitigate the effects of the disability.
 
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Day 35

The best thing about the day is that my ankles are getting back to pretty much normal. Hooray !!

The Albergue I found is in the outskirts, about halfwayish towards Monte do Gozo, and this morning I was able to hike out here with my backpack, drop it off, then head straight back to the Cathedral square for the Pilgrim lunch in just over 90 minutes - - which seems to suggest that unstressed, I am actually walking a bit faster than I was.

The surprises continue.

I have taken it for two nights, so not only can I take a massive rest day now, and I have been able to wash all my clothes, with enough time for them to dry, but also in this place I can get in late tomorrow night which I will need.

Meanwhile, I'm glad to simply be away from the Camino stress for a bit, with just water and no need for anything else. Which I take as a glimpse into what my post-Camino might be like. No need for anything liquid to dull any pain.

The Pilgrim lunch was fine - - somewhat in similar style as the old ones, except far more expertly cuisined. An inventive Caldo/Minestrone mashup for starters, then pork with a rich cream of mushroom sauce, then for dessert the first piece of Tarta de Santiago that I've really liked - - professional pastry chef seems to make the difference. I did once taste a home made one that I liked well enough, which are the two exceptions to a dish that I don't much enjoy - - though again, today's was truly excellent.

The vino is a lot better than the ghastly plonk they used to serve. Still no coffee !!

I met the three young American pilgrims on Cathedral square who had cheered me up along a difficult section for me, from the pain, and was glad to thank them for it.

A few others whom I had met in passing.

More alarmingly, on my way back to the Albergue, a young Englishman, possibly a pilgrim not sure, had a violent epileptic seizure. Two Spanish men helped him at first and well enough, all I could do is get people to step back and give him and them enough space, and prevent one lady misguidedly trying to give the poor man some water. He calmed down enough to be able to sit up on a nearby bench before the ambulance arrived, but it was a bad fit, I think the worst I've witnessed. I hope he's OK and being well cared for.

This place is not too full, but with the Feast Day approaching, the Albergues in the centre of town must be packed. There's a huge number of tourists, dwarfing the considerable number of pilgrims, except of course on Cathedral square itself.

I won't be here for it, heading off back towards Roncesvalles and back to the hitch-hiking, with I don't know how much walking along the way until I get there. No deadline now though, so it will take as long as it takes.
 
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Day 36

Mostly a rest day. I had hand washed my clothes, but then the Hospitaleros washing machined them for me, which is great for settling off this morning towards France.

Other than that, most of the day was just hanging about, except ...

There was a presentation last night of Bill Bennett's Camino film The Way, My Way - - and it's not coincidence that I was in Santiago for it.

I've known Bill for years, online at first from commenting on his original Camino blog, while he was walking the Francès, that first the book then the film came out of.

I had known about the presentation last night for a few months - - and the way that I found out about it as well as something Bill had written to me earlier plus a particular sermon by a guest priest at our Parish combined into a Call back to the Camino - - my Home to Home that is, via Santiago - - with a determination to get my arrival here to coincide with the film showing, and a chance to see Bill and Jen again etc.

I have written a little more about that Call back to the Camino on the main Home to Home Camino thread, and I won't repeat that here.

The little reception after the show was pleasant, and I usually dislike such events, but I guess that being a pilgrims and Camino event tipped that balance.

And I realised something towards the end - - walking out from there back to my Albergue would be the very start of the next stage of my Camino back home.

So here I am - -

My Way back Home began again last night, and I have made my first steps back towards France and Home.

A morning shower, then I will walk out and then get along on my hitch-hiking back along the Francès to Roncesvalles. We'll just have to see how many days and Ks of walking on the Francès that will include.
 
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Day 37 - - Somewhere near Lavacolla

Opposite the service station up the road towards the airport.

Another interesting day.

It was somewhat hardish at the start, from so much tarmac and uphill tarmac, though after a beer up at the top, it did get easier.

Massive numbers of pilgrims walking in on the vigil of the Feast Day, large groups of youth in particular, many of them Scouts, and there were large groups of adult pilgrims too, including one being led by a fellow in traditional pilgrim's garb minus the hat.

I came across the 18 year old Dutch pilgrim again, a happy encounter, as I thought that he was long gone.

Later, having been stopped in Lavacolla from a combination of the heat with not having walked with a pack for some days, I had a great conversation with a Belgian pilgrim finishing his Camino from Brussels - - I just keep on meeting these Home to Santiago pilgrims !!

I *think* I've found a good enough place to sleep, a raised walkway by some stone picnic benches acts well enough as a bed by a lovely lawn. No protection against any breeze though, I hope that won't be a problem later.

I am not sleeping on that lawn from sprinklers in the night reasons.
 
I am at San Paio, and not too far now from the first hitch-hiking spot. Still need to get 'round the airport.

I slept fairly well, though I have woken up with somewhat stiff legs and sore joints. From the outside more than anything else.

I had chosen that spot for access to cool cerveza from the gasolinera shop in the early morning, which has helped, but really, sitting down in a warm indoors with a couple of cafés con leche is helping more. Plus some devices recharging !!
 
I have reached O Amenal, which is the first more or less sensible place to start hitching from.

The walking to get here was a lot better after those coffees than before them, and was pleasant and shaded through the eucalyptus forest.
 
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Day 38 - - Santa Irene

Hitching out of Pedrouso was not successful, so I just walked here and grabbed a spot and a shower in the Xunta Albergue.

That it was the Feast Day and it got too late in the afternoon plus it's not a good road for it clearly did not help.

But I can get a bus in a couple of hours to move along a bit.

High pilgrim season has definitely started, and now that the Feast Day has come and gone, it's become less Circus-y. Very many pilgrims along the way, more of them now walking with their backpacks.

The weather is variable rather than just being relentless heat - - it's cooler in the mornings, and the afternoons can be either in the 20s or the 30s. 20s today supposedly.

See how far I get today on my journey towards France ...
 
Saw your picture in one of the many FB posts regarding the filmscreening " The Way, My Way " this week in Santiago. If not mistaken at Pilgrim House.
Good your timing was so well thought of! Must have been great to be among other true pilgrims.
Semi divine intervention surely.
 
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I actually knew about that screening some months in advance, and my timing was deliberate.

It was a mixed audience of local people, pilgrims, some from the pilgrim house, and so on. It wasn't there, but it was at the theatre a few doors along from there.

It was a fun event, and it was great to see Bill and Jen again.
 
Day 39 - - O Cebreiro

A fairly uneventful bus day, the only notable events being in the morning before the bus that I met a young Irish peregrino who I had first met in the Betania Albergue in Pamplona, and then yet another Home to Santiago pilgrim, this one having walked from Britanny.

I'll probably start the new day walking down a bit, on the trail.

I nearly forgot how good the water is up here, so I'll refill before setting off.
 
There was an almost full 1L bottle of Mahou Verde unused last night and left in the kitchen for the other pilgrims, and that will be most helpful this morning.
 
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I also managed to get a fantastic 12 hour sleep last night.

O Cebreiro was very beautiful this morning, no more coachloads of tourists really has made a big difference.
 
Day 40 - - Las Herrerías de Valcarce

The walk down to La Faba was quite lovely. Fairly gentle downhill, withstanding a few steeper drops, great walking surface, spectacular views, amazing weather.

I had even forgotten to strap up my left foot bootstraps, but both ankles also behaved well. These rest days seem to have been good for them. Even the steeper bits after La Faba went well.

I met another one of that gang that stayed at Albergue Betania in Pamplona that time, she was walking up that hill, I think that's seven so far that I have met elsewhere on the trail, eight including me, out of about a dozen. That was a good group.

The final bit of tarmac in the blazing Sun was a little less pleasant, though not so bad, and after hitting Hospital it was pleasant again for the final K.

Here then, though, one of the Albergues is closed this weekend, whilst the other had no more bottom bunks, so I am sleeping outside again - - but I did have some food at the one Albergue that is open, the guy also remembered me from a couple of weeks ago, and so he let me take a shower hoooraaayyy, and I will be sleeping behind the Albergue, which is also the place where I can wash a t-shirt that needs it.

Having a cerveza now, while waiting for sunset, plus recharge devices and write some more of my nonsense for you lovely people.

I'll walk and try and hitch some lifts tomorrow along the way, we'll see how it goes.
 
Was more or less OK outside.

Having a cerveza while waiting for the anti-inflammatory to kick in. Supposed to be hot this afternoon, but for the time being the weather is lovely. And it's not supposed to be as hot in the Bierzo as elsewhere in Spain.
 
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Day 41 - - Trabadelo

Calling this one early as it is too hot to continue either hitching or hiking.

I got an amazing lift from an English couple here on holiday, to the large service station by the motorway exit. Where I had my usual 1L Mahou Verde ...

We swapped stories, mine about the Camino, his about his cycling. His wife did not much participate, though she did seem pleased to hear my recommendations for lunch. He's a better cyclist than I was a hiker at my best ; if he biked the Camino it would likely take him three days at most. The hiking equivalent of that would be 2 weeks ...

I was impressed by his amazing cycling, he was by my insanely long Camino.

Otherwise, I met a few good pilgrims along the parts that I hiked, including a lovely longer chat with a Flemish peregrina, can't remember if Dutch or Belgian, which was a genuine delight for some minutes by the roadside despite the heat of the day. She is so bubbly and friendly and clever !! A great encounter.

I have returned to the Municipal instead of off to the Parroquial just because it was so nice here last time. If it ain't broke ...
 
I've found this your thread (and this forum) today and I was impressed by the way you are living your Camino. There's something I'm itching to ask, you've sometimes slept outdoors, wherever you could hide from rain and wind. Has this ever been a problem to local authorities or people? Is it something you've seen other people do?
Thanks.
 
I've almost never been bothered no, and never after I have set myself down to sleep.

A large part of it is to look for spots where you will not bother others nor will others be likely to bother you.

Most people who habitually sleep out have a tent, and will seek secluded spots to put it up. I'm unusual in that I don't - - some tramps/hobos do sleep out like that, but just avoid the sorts of places where they sleep, be civilised in the manner of your sleeping, keep yourself organised, leave no trace.

Dark and sheltered spots that are out of the way, preferably with somewhere to sit, ideally with running water or better.
 
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Well, stopping here was the right thing to do. Half way through the second cerveza, I realised that some warning signs of incoming sunstroke were fading.
 
It's building up to stormy weather tomorrow, so the heat this evening is pretty oppressive.

OTOH that means cloudy weather in the morning, which will be a boon to the pilgrims down here preparing their walk up and over the mountain.
 
I found a lift into Villafranca, and I think I can get a bus from here to Astorga - - which would evade the poor hitch-hiking prospectives between here, Cacabelos and Molinaseca.

And then I will be on the meseta !!
 
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A selection of Camino Jewellery
Day 42 - - Astorga

A bit tired to write anything. I am at the Municipal, which I love, even though I did prefer the old teensy one next door with its 12 beds or something ...

I will walk for a few days instead of any other means of getting ahead - - because I will be on the meseta !!
 
Day 43 - - Santibáñez de Valdeiglesia

I found the stage very difficult in 2022, and the same this year, both times being unable to continue further.

I think it's because of how it's structured, so that people walking the normal way have the hard part first, then places to rest later ; whereas the other way it's the reverse.

Ending with the hard part is not good for me.

So just a short one today.
 
I am re -living my C.F. as I follow your progress. This post gave me fond memories of a balmy September Sunday pilgrim meal in the garden of the Parrochial with the church bells ringing. I see from Gronze that it is still open, and gets terrible reviews. A good place for lovers of simplicity, though only when it is warm.Thank you for posting.

God speed on your journey home.
 
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Day 44 - - Hospital de Órbigo

A bit of a catch-up post.

I briefly mentioned the difficulty of my stage into Santibáñez, but I really was quite exhausted upon arrival. All I could do was crash into bed, and stay there 'til morning. Even that wasn't quite enough.

That Parroquial is a blast from the past, except the prices that have kept up to date. Rickety 90s era massive metal bunk beds, though to be fair also good thick mattresses. The outside loo is a minus. True the back garden is pleasant, but as I was just huddling in bed, it didn't help.

Better than last time anyway, November 2022, as I was in a really bad state even in Astorga, to the point that it took me three days to reach Hospital ; and in Santibáñez, I had to sleep at the bus shelter, and it was one of the colder nights that month. That was a a bad stretch for me to León, as many Albergues were closed for Winter.

Still, Joss up at his little Bodega place between the two villages cheered me up in the morning, as he had last time, and the improvement to my knees did make the journey here easier after that.

Pilgrim numbers are right down again. The Parroquial in Hospital has many free beds, nor did I see that many pilgrims on the trail. There are a few of course, it's not empty, but compared even to Astorga, it has become quieter.

I seem to stay in this Parroquial at Hospital every ten years, though as always this could be my last Camino Francès.

Anyway, this 2024 Intermediary is drawing to its close. Payday next week, and I have decided that I will get transport to Pamplona, then probably the next morning, the bus up to Roncesvalles and then start the final stage of my real Camino, back home.

I'm glad I've done this Spanish section despite the difficulties, and anyway the French portion of the way there was a genuine pilgrimage, especially through Lourdes. The huge inflation has made everything more difficult, and my guess is that it is a major reason for the lower number of pilgrims along most of the Francès.

Bit of a longer one tomorrow, but still not too long. It is good though to be back on the proper flat !!
 
Day 45 - - Villadangos del Páramo

Easy enough walking, except for the heat and the sweat, and nowhere to sit along the way in the shade for a rest.

Little enough to say, the day was uneventful, and I basically just crashed into bed as soon as I got in.

The renovations to this place here have been very well done, keeping the essentials intact but improved, especially the electric points and the little lights by each bunk bed, and the modernisation of the kitchen and eating area.

The dorm has been cleaned up in the same style, and generally the place has been given a good facelift that hasn't changed it into something else entirely.

I'll see what's happening today, but there's a fair chance that I might bus into León from the suburbs. I had to do so two years ago from too much pain, that even cervezas did not help with, and as to this time, the distance is probably too much and this Intermediary isn't a full Camino anyway.
 
Yes, this albergue is often overlooked. Thanks for the good review.
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
Day 46 - - León

I am starting to miss being in France, quite apart from which it is becoming crystal clear that this 2024 Camino is on its last legs.

Maybe all of the time that I spent in Spain in 2022 hasn't quite rubbed off yet, and it's getting to be too much again ? Anyway, I have a spot of the blues ... Possibly I am also getting a bit tired of juggling the languages.

Knees and ankles are anyway happier on the flat, so the walking is not much of a problem.

Well, on Tuesday or Wednesday or something I'll be making my way to the border and so on.
 
Day 47 - - Puente de Villarente

The Camino provides.

I started out fairly late from León because of that funk, and also started out walking fairly slowly because of it, using rest spots and so on, and it was already getting pretty hot as I started.

I wanted a shorter day, so I trudged on in the growing heat and blazing Sun past the top of the hill and down the trail, avoiding Valdepuente (I think a mistake, there was at least some rest in the shade there), and hoping to sleep in Arcahueja. But then for the third time running, no possibility there !! Twice it's been closed, as it was this time, and last time it was open but had been allocated to Ukrainian refugees.

Gah !!

Well, at least I could cool down a bit and refill with cooler water, after a rest, and there was a little more of a breeze past the village, but I was still pretty bedraggled getting into Puente de Villarente ... I just went straight to the Bar-Restaurant-Hotel at that end of the pueblo (Ayellenada ??), really wanting not much more inside my head than a rest inside and some cold water - - but eventually, the owner seeing my state offered me a bed and a plate of some quite excellently prepared Tajine for what it would have cost me to get a bunk bed at the Albergue and some unsatisfying supermarket snack.

Amazing given the blues I was in, and to be alone in this room with a private shower room was exactly what I needed. That the room had not been fully done up since the previous guest, one bed unmade, and that the food was leftovers from the lunch service are in my view positives, from someone making a real effort to help a pilgrim in need with the means at hand, and I have been very content with it. A good 12 hour sleep in a proper bed with a lovely duvet. Alone, and in the best conditions to get over that funk.

Another scorcher today looks like, see how far I get - - Mansilla or Reliegos ?
 
Last edited:
More 2024 Camino Guides available
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
JabbaPapa said:
And of course I aam in the meseta in the month of August.

Same old same old ...
Click to expand...
Since you're continuing your home to home, why not just head up there and begin walking where you left off rather than torturing yourself with the shadeless meseta (sublime as it is)? Or at least take the shorter way and head up the Vasco once you get to Burgos?
 
I am not torturing myself.

It is simply impossible that I might walk any version of the Francès without some section on the meseta.

And as it happens, today was meseta perfection.

Hot, but dry, and flat and easy.

As to my plans, I have still already walked from Santiago to the Pyrenees, and I have no need for the time being to repeat that walk, apart from these sections.

Nor do I need to walk any other variant way to France, but my ongoing Camino is still just from the Pyrenees to home.

I needed to go to Santiago, and to begin some kind of Way back, in order to give meaning to my Roncesvalles to Home, instead of it being some sort of random A to B.

This has to be a Pilgrimage.
 
Day 48 - - Mansilla de las Mulas

I've written a bit about the day's hiking, but it really was beautiful.

There was only a top bunk left at the Gaia Albergue, so I asked if I could sleep out back on the ground of the back porch/garden, and she said yes, but check the Municipal first, as it has now reopened !!

That alone was a surprise, so I left my backpack and made my way there. No hospitaleros, and some pilgrims told me it was completo.

On my way back, I came across an Irish pilgrim on his way to the Municipal, I told him it was full, but follow me, and he got that last top bed at Gaia. And for €8 I got a mattress to sleep on out back, so everyone was happy.

Good conversations in the evening.

That was my last day of walking on this 2024 Intermediary, next walking is from Roncesvalles on my Home to Home ; so I am not quite done with the Francès.

Until I get there, it's still this Camino.

Staying in Mansilla for the day, as the bus to Sahagún, where the railway station is, leaves at about 5:30 PM.

Of course my last day of walking would turn out to be perfect, though I am unsure if that was a cherry on the cake, or if yesterday was given to me as a sign that there's more of this in future ?

hmmmmm ...
 
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A selection of Camino Jewellery
Good choice for a rest day, it's blazing hot out there !!

I read a Camino book while waiting for bus time, was pretty good until about half way in, then it turned into self-indulgent sludge. Beginning of it was great though !!

Escaping from the heat a bit at the Albergue, bus is in a couple of hours, though I'll need to wait the last bit at the bus station.

They are so nice here at Gaia, and with the Municipal reopened and the large private place reopening soon, they're also a lot less stressed than they have been.
 
Day 49 - - Sahagún

Nearly 8 PM and it's still 34°C ...

Payday is imminent, but it's just too hot for an Albergue even if it were right now, so I'll sleep by the station and get the first train to Palencia, then plan the next stage of my trip to Roncesvalles from there.

Hopefully I can get some cool ones before settling down, meanwhile the bus driver gave me a 32% disability discount on the ticket, and the difference plus change let me get a supermarket dinner.

Not much more to say really, and my brain is overheated anyway.

Cool ones would be helpful ...
 
No cool ones sadly, and I changed my mind and went to the monastic Albergue and got in at the last minute. Practicality was the deciding factor, I need to sleep somewhere close to the ATM, and that's not the station. It's here.

They are graciously letting me stay, and sadly I will need to leave before breakfast.

Thankfully it is starting to cool down, finally !!

Edit : crikey, there's 36° to 38° C predicted here for next weekend ...
 
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I woke up 20 minutes later than I wanted, which was just enough time to see the train come in, stop on the opposite platform to the one I just barely made it to, and then leave.

Sigh.

Guess it's the 10:30 one instead then. At least I can get a coffee now.
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
I cordially loathe Spanish notions of what should constitute a timetable.

The 10:30 clearly does not exist, but there might be something after 3PM ???

No timetable is displayed at the station, there is no ticket office, and the buses are just as unreliable and arcane.

No wonder that so many choose to just walk there instead !!
 
So with another 4 hours or so to kill now, I may as well look for a menú del día or something.

I like this place, and I am not really pressed for time on my Home to Home, but this will still necessarily make where I can sleep tonight overly complicated again.
 
Day 50 - - Palencia

Most likely sleeping on the grass in front of the train station.

Next train out is a bus, 11 AM or so in the morning, so yeah I am learning to cordially loathe the Castilian public "transport" "system". If I had actually caught the 7AM train this morning, it would still have been a dreadfully bad transport day.

At least I have a friendly bar here in Palencia, from previous bouts of waiting for hours and hours between trains ...

Normally, I like the unpredictability of train travel, but this isn't that, it's just chaos.

Well, at least it isn't as hot as it was yesterday.
 
More 2024 Camino Guides available
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Took a bit of a search, but I succeeded in finding the one spot in those gardens that was out of the sprinkler zone - - just bare earth with no grass and next to the little walls/benches they have out there. Nice gardens BTW.

1st round of sprinkling was about 6 tiny drops of water twice ; 2nd round a dozen droplets about 4 times. Nothing basically.

True there are some spots with artificial pseudo-grass without sprinklers, and I saw this morning that another chap had grabbed the one spot to sleep well on that stuff, though I preferred my own solution. Slept well in any case. The bare earth was fairly soft.
 
I suspect ADIF spent all the money on over-sized stations leaving RENFE nothing for actual trains. Why on what must be a popular route there would generally be two trains per day one ludicrously early and one late afternoon has always baffled me.

Still: bacon and eggs. It’s not all bad.
 
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Day 51 - - Pamplona

All that waiting for transport to show up was really starting to push me round the bend ...

To be fair on them, a lot of these problems were from a part of the railway line being closed for repairs or something, so I think a bunch of departure times were just cancelled.

Anyway, I finally got into Pamplona.

Instead of the wonderful American hospitaleras last time at Betania there was a pair of humourless Spaniards who "informed" me that I was "not" walking the Camino, so they sent me off to the Municipal instead. Also instead of being full of wonderful pilgrims, the place seemed to have only about half a dozen or so, I guess the few who had ticked the right boxes.

Anyway the Municipal is a lot better than last time I stayed here, blimey decades ago, and I got a good ground floor bed. Seems to have been about half full.

I think I was "supposed" to meet two pilgrims in particular here, which I think caused all those delays. The conversation with them was quite deep, though I really can't get into it in here.

Otherwise, off to Roncesvalles on the morning bus, and last day on this 2024 Intermediary. And when I get there, it's also Day 373 (+0) on my Home to Home. More on that elsewhere and later.
 
Now that I am back on my main Camino, it is starkly clear to me how different in character this 2024 was. My attitude to it was different, and now that I am walking back home again, I pretty much instantly slipped back into the mindset and the habits that belong to the Home to Home, as if I had left it off just last week, not last year.

Nevertheless, I was quite right to do that 2024 Intermediary, as that pilgrimage to Compostela is more fresh in my mind as what I am walking home from.
 
Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
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