Walking the Camino

A fabulous cool day. We slept again in a hotel in Najera, getting some snacks from the local Supermercado (supermarket), and eating in our hotel room. This avoided the problem of having to wait until 8:30pm + to get dinner, and if we are lucky getting to bed after 10pm. Last night we went to sleep at the unheard of time of 7:30pm, and we got a great nights sleep (which we needed).

It rained in the morning, but by the time we left at 9:00am it had stopped and we had a great day of cool walking. The temperature never got above 20C. We seemed to meet a lot of pilgrims on the trail today, and when we got to Santo Dominigo at a bit before 4pm, the first Albergue was already full. We are staying at the Hostel run by the Nuns at the back of the albergue. We did 23km today.

some white wine we bought for dinner at 69 euro cents - about a $1 Australian!

Greg carrying a baguette for lunch.

The dangers of staying in a hotel room. We slept in late, not leaving until nearly 10am. Another hot day, again about 30C.

Filling water bottles at the fuente (water fountain)

Judy got pan (bread) from the local bakery, and we found a nice seat in shade outside the cementario to have late breakfast.  The camino path didn’t quite follow the guide we had, and we spent a long time walking along a path next to the freeway. We had taken about 3 litres of water between us, but we were to find that this wasn’t enough. So many pilgrims take very little water, maybe 500ml for 8km of walk in hot sun. We heard a story of 2 american girls that just took cups to drink out of every fuente (water fountain). If its 8km between fountains though you can get into trouble, as they did. Too many pilgrims skimp on carrying water to save weight, and do not appreciate the dangers. We were asked on this stretch for water from another pilgrim.  It must be because we come from Australia, and appreciate the dangers of not enough water.

We made to Najera at 4pm having walked 17km.

After a good night in the Santa Maria albergue (highly recommended), we set off into the cool morning at the unhead of time of 7:20am.

We headed out across the plains towards Logrono. It was Sunday and almost everything in Logrono was closed. We now see how walking on concrete and roads is so much harder on the feet than walking on dirt paths. Walking across town was hard on the feet. It was warm again, but we did get some shade from the buildings.

We stopped for an ice cream (and cafe for judy) at a kiosk at the Planto de La Granjera.

The afternoon was hot again (30C) as we walked up the hill towards Navarette. We had booked a hotel room in Naverette, which we need to do every few days so we can get a decent nights sleep.

We had tapas and dinner at Bar Deportivo, which was fantastic, well worth the 12 euros each for 3 courses. Total distance 23km

the concrete walking track leaving Logrono. The track is so hard on the feet that thousands of pilgrims have worn a track in the dirt next to the track