We all have our cross to bear. Mine just happens to be wet, brown, and stinky. I was really hoping that my diarrhea would be gone by now–it’s been over 2 days since the onset. I am feeling better, hence, our first 30K day.
There were only 5 of us in the dorm last night–good thing. The bed we chose was at one end of room which acted as a sound cone amplifying all noises–bad thing. Every snort, fart, belch, and snore were magnified at our end. I guess it’s only fair that Pam was by far the loudest snorer and the vast majority of the farts were mine.
With all the blinds closed, we managed to sleep past 7. We expected the biker guy to be up at 4 since he was asleep by 8 but even he slept in.
Since we were planning to make up the distance we skipped yesterday plus our scheduled amount for today, we wanted to get going and delay breakfast until we got a couple miles down the trail. We stopped in Terradillos de Los Templarios primarily for a bathroom but also for food. I was up twice in the night with my ailment. Pam was asleep when I went in with her ear plugs yet she got up to check that I had closed the door because of the noise amplitude. I wasn’t much better at breakfast.
Brenda came in and joined us just as we were getting our food. We sat and chatted for a leisurely breakfast. She was suggesting we might need to change our distance plans for today since I was still under the weather. We agreed to call it by ear as we got down the trail.
The next town was only another 2 miles. We travelled the distance well under an hour , but it was necessary for me to stop again for a 7up to calm my stomach as well. Moratinos is a town with a lot of bodegas. There’s evidence of their use dating over 2500 years ago for wine production. The restaurant we stopped at had incorporated a couple of bodegas into their seating area. Again, Brenda managed to pass us even though she was trying to move at a leisurely pace and avoid any more encounters with me.
Even the next town was less than 2 miles away, so we had plenty of break opportunities. In San Nicolas, we ran into Helen (who I sent to the wrong town last night causing her to walk an extra 2 miles–she suggested I change my name to “Best Forgotten”) and Janike (pronounce with a “ya” rhyming with Monica) from Norway. I had another 7up and some shade. I think it’s safe to say I became well acquainted with every bano on our path today.
Now came a four mile stretch without porcelain in the picture. I was mighty worried about this section. We did take a short break after 3 miles and met a couple of more Canadian women from Van Couver. Helen and Janike caught up and we finally remembered to get some pictures together.
Finishing up the last 2 miles into Sahagun, we once again caught up with Helen and Janicke. We ended up having a long lunch together in the main square of town. We all got to know each other better. They were very encouraging of our plans to checkout of “normal” society for the next several years. Helen told a great story how she won two cars for herself and a woman she knew did a lot of community work in her city. Janicke is planning on moving to Spain on a part time basis as a second home to Norway.
It was already 3:15 when we finished lunch. We were trying to give the heat a chance to dissipate but we still had almost 9 miles to go for the day so we had no choice but leave. Helen took off while I was paying our bill thinking we would catch up with her before the trail splits. We could see her a couple hundred yards in front of us, but we never did catch her. We made the junction of the Camino Frances or the Romana Route. We had already decided to take the Romana Route as the more peaceful alternative that runs along one of the longest stretches of Roman Roads still in use. We stopped at a cafe in Calzada de Coto for one last cold drink before heading into the hot afternoon sun for the final 5 miles.
It We were just about ready to head out when another Pilgrim came in and began talking to us. This was Peter from Van Couver. He was traveling with St Louis Linda whom Helen had been telling us about. Linda had just taken Helen back to her turn that she had missed. Somehow, we had passed Helen without knowing it or seeing her.
Linda finally showed up and we were discussing the trip and St Louis. Peter and I also began talking about different trips we had been on and we had a major overlap in Nepal around Annapurna. Pam was getting antsy so we took off at about 5:15.
The Roman Route is long, straight, and hot. If you didn’t know you were on a Roman road, you’d have no way of knowing because it’s been gravelled over. We didn’t see anyone still out hiking all the way into Caldazilla de Los Hermanillos. Pam was hot and tired so she headed for the first place that indicated habitation available. Not being one to rock the boat, I obediently followed.
We went ahead and splurged for a private room with our own bathroom. We showered, did laundry, and then headed down for dinner. Because it was nearly 7 when we got in, we were the last ones seated for dinner. We looked around the dining room and saw Pam, Mike, and Rachael whom we hadn’t seen since our walk 3 days ago. It turns out Mike had strained his knee and Rachael’s feet were in bad shape so they took a day off and went sightseeing in Spain. They had just returned to the trail today. I imagine we’ll walk with them some tomorrow since we have 10 mile stretch with no restaurants, cafes, or towns.
