Day 2 - Hontanas to Fromista

                                 The ruins of San Anton pictured in the morning

Dinner last night was very good. To bed by 10pm. All the refugios tend to have lights out at 10pm.The two Finnish women (we now know are mother and daughter) were up at 5am. We 'slept it in' until 6am and were on the road by 6.30. We wore miner lamp type torches on our foreheads.

We walked 33km today to get to Fromista. It was hot and dusty and we were tired when we arrived, with both of us feeling the weight of our bags for some reason. While it was hard, the last 6km was along the shaded Canal De Castila.

The fields were less of straw today, though it was present, but now we saw other crops - more sunflowers, turnips and alfalfa (we think).

I was talking recently to Pat (from the 4Ms walking group) about the number of stops we had to make on the hill up to Orisson last year. He said that he understood that if you dropped your speed to one where you did not have to stop for breaks, you would get to the top quicker. We tried it today on a kilometer long climb just beyond Castrojeriz and it worked.

So, pleased with 65km over 2 days and no foot problems. Now we'll seek out dinner in Fromista.

:-) 

                          Kieran in the sunflower field

                         Canal De Castila

Walking Again

                         Early morning leaving Burgos


Yesterday we returned to Burgos, had tapas and wine in the local bars, and went to bed at an early hour. The Spanish are very nocturnal and don't understand early - so it was noise all night, it being Saturday. So, when we left Burgos at 7am, the club next door was going strong and the racket from the disco off the main square was 'breaking the sound barrier' stuff. There will be a lot of 'tired' people in Burgos today.

We walked 32km today. We have arrived in Hontanas a village of 80 souls that exists for the Camino walkers. It is a beautiful place. Our feet are good but our bones are tired. It was really hot all afternoon so now we are hiding from the sun. On the way, we had breakfast in a village square with a Dutch lady. When she told us she was doing 40km today, we kept quiet about our little trip!

Tonight we are in an eight bed dorm. So far we are sharing with two Finnish women.  More may arrive as the day progresses.

The walk today took in the start of the Meseta part of the walk. This is a high flat area that we will be walking for about a week. From what we have read, many walkers don't like this section, and some even skip it! We have an open mind about it and so far we have been rewarded. It has been interesting. At the moment,  straw is being baled everywhere. These fields are broken up by wonderful fields of sunflowers.

So, it is dinner at 7pm (3 course with wine for €9) and early to bed.We'll tell you if it was tasty in tomorrow's blog. Tomorrow we will walk either 27 or 32km depending on how we go, and then we will slow down again.

Some walkers ahead of us on the Meseta

Church of the Conception, Hontanas

Burgos Again!!

 

The locals in Plaza Mayor, Burgos, (photo from 2012)

500km To Go

It is twelve months since we completed the first part of our Camino - from St Jean-Pied-De-Port in France to Burgos. We are now about to undertake the remaining journey, starting again at Burgos and finishing (hopefully) at Compostela - see map below.  The 2012 trip was for 300 km and took two weeks, while this year we will walk 500 km in three weeks. So, that is an average of 25 km per day - but about six of the days will exceed 30 km to allow us to linger longer at places of interest on other days.

Our equipment will be largely unchanged from last year, except in the important area of footwear. We both have new walking shoes (Keen), a wide fitting brand, that hopefully will be more sympathetic to our feet. However, avoiding the dreaded blisters will be difficult, so Compeed has been packed.

Buen Camino!!