Walking the Camino

500km walked only 300km to go

We had a good nights sleep at the Ana Albergue, with not many people sleeping in the main room, and those wanting to leave early doing so quietly.

We set off at 8:15am, just after dawn, heading towards Hospital de Orbigo. Unfortunately the first 7km were still along the N-120, with lots of traffic. We got into Hospital de Orbigo, and crossed the Medievil Puente (bridge) built in the 13th century replacing an earlier Roman bridge. We obtained some lunch supplies, and when leaving bumped into Matt, a New Zealander we had last seen at dinner in Pamplona three weeks earlier. It is amazing how we keep bumping into pilgrims we thought had traveled way ahead of us, but we have caught up with.

We left Hospital, moving through Villares de Orbigo (ice cream stop), and then for lunch at Santibanez de Valdeiglesia. Judy is still having problems with a big blister on her heel, that has expanded up her ankle, so she spent time trying to improve things.

It was then an afternoon walk over the hills (away from roads!) until we got a great view of Astorga and the mountains behind Astoga. The mountains interest us, because over the next 3-4 days we are going to have to climb over them. We have been walking on relatively flat land for so many days, we wonder if we still have hill climbing muscles left

We slogged through suburbia (always tiring at the end of a day) into the old city of Astorga. We are staying in the main square (Plaza Mayor). We did 24.5km today.

Walking in cornfields towards Hospital de Orbigo

Looking towards Astoga in the distance, and the mountains we have to climb in the next few days

Things start to get busy at 7pm on Plaza Mayor Astorga - view from our hotel balcony

Our earliest departure  yet from a large town after a rest day. We walked out of our gorgeous 4-Star hotel at 9.30am, to walk across town and then spend most of the day walking alongside the N120. This road seems to be a major east-west road which we often walk beside, and cross several times a day, always a scary occurrence with cars and trucks approaching us from the ‘wrong’ side of the road. I always have to take several seconds to get my bearings and remind myself which way the traffic is going before I step onto the road.

We had a couple of stops on the way out of Leon, popping in to a bar so I could boost my caffeine levels, and a couple of $2 shops (called ‘Bazaars’ here and usually run by Asians) in search of rubber thongs for us both which we found in our sizes at the second Bazaar we tried. Our foot problems continue, although we both seem to be relatively free of tendonitis. Greg has sore toes, and I have a whopping great blister on one heel. I performed a minor operation on it as soon as we got into Leon to drain it, but to my intense annoyance, the fluid reaccumulated. So I have decided to just leave it along and keep it covered. It’s a bit squeezy in my boot with 2 pairs of socks, several layers of dressings and sticking plaster and the blister itself, but we still managed 27.5kms today, so we’re doing okay.

We had intended to only walk 22kms today, to ease ourselves back into ‘pilgrim mode’ after our day off yesterday. I think we probably still walked 7kms or so, just doing the usual stuff we do in large towns when we stop there (er, shop, eat and visit places of local interest). However when we got to our intended destination, the hostel we tried was full, so we decided to just keep walking to the next town. Wow, how quickly things change – if that had happened a couple of weeks ago, I probably would have had a hissy fit and melted in a puddle on the floor. It means we don’t walk so far tomorrow, so it’s all good.

Camino Guide markers in Leon. What a bad idea!. These markers stick above the pavement level, so they are a trip hazard. How many little old ladies have broken their hips on these?

San Marcos Pilgrim Hospital - now converted into a 5 star hotel

Walking along the N-120 at La Virgin del Camino

A rest day in Leon, where our main activity was – resting. Plus we visited the Catheral, and got some more supplies, and searched for more Tapas

Leon Cathedral