Walk 27.8 km, 6 hours 7 minutes
Ascent: 130 meters
Descend: 90 meters
Kilometers to be traveled: 392.8
Photos / Video / Day back / Next Day
Do you think that you wake up alone and first at 5 am, you see that almost everyone in the room is already rubbing his eyes. Well, pilgrims are actually just herd animals, they all do the same at almost the same time. The alarm clock has not yet been heard, so can immediately stop. The well-known morning ritual consists of waking up, visiting the toilet and face / washing your teeth, filling your rucksack again with the stuff you don’t wear but having to lug around again (no that’s not a punishment because I think I need it all). Then leave the bed tidy and then have breakfast.
Because of yesterday’s purchases, we have a wide selection this morning in the main hall. The number of Koreans is overwhelming and falls to all adult ages. And almost all of them do NOT carry their luggage completely, but use a small daypack for the necessities en route. It may be so, everyone’s thing, maybe I have written about it before, but it continues to stand out.
Fifteen minutes before the sixth hour of this day I walk out of the iron gate, the gate that forms the entrance to the courtyard of the monastery. The days are still longer, so the sun is visible a little earlier every day, but that is actually negligible, only if you compare this on a weekly basis will it stand out, but still, I have been walking for 3 weeks.
Last night’s alberge was not directly on the camino, so find out where the route goes so that we can pick up the pass again with good spirits and courage. Yes, it remains a privilege to continue to carry out this adventure. Did you repeat yourself again? I cannot write it down often enough. If we have to believe Rother, it will be boring and it can become very unbearable if you walk this stage in the full summer sun. We can now forget the latter because it is not summer yet and the forecasts are normal for the time of year.
There are or are meseta (s) on the hiking menu again. Yes, the granary of Spain is large and wide and is fully present on the camino Frances. From the end of June and the months of July and August you have to carry enough water, because if you fall short, it can be harmful to your health. If I reach the meseta, there is a straight straight road ahead of me and over a distance of 17 kilometers, there would be nothing available for supplies.
That road is indeed straight, I cannot say and write whether I am walking straight for 17 kilometers, but I walk a lot straight and on gravel paths between the wheat fields.
The corn is still green
and wide the fields,
hit the trails
with walkers of all sorts.
There is even 1 police car running at walking pace, to minimize the amount of dust on the path. I have never felt unsafe this entire journey so far. I walk with Dad and Saint Jacques, my protectors and counselors.
Despite the report that there would be nothing for sale over a distance of 17 kilometers, at a certain point there is a container on a field with chairs, benches and tables where you can buy a lot. Choice of juices, other bocadillos croissants, sausages, drinks etc. And it is announced as a stop on half of the meseta. So just take a moment to land and take a break.
The dullness that is often described by previous pilgrims is a bit exaggerated, but all opinions are personal opinions. Also the time, the period and the fellow pilgrims have a big influence on your opinion, I think. I walk without headphones or music from a speaker, I want to enjoy pure, record everything and then give a pure personal opinion. Yes I remain positive about this meseta and don’t find it boring. Your thoughts get their time to shape, your state of mind can come to rest, the impressions of the wide can act. Yes it is nicer than expected. You should not only look in front of you and to the side, but also upwards, above the horizon, because clouds can also be a beautiful view, always unique.
It is striking that time makes little impression during this walking day, you do not know what time it is and in the first village after the long mesetas it is really time to score another lunch. The inner person must also continue to be fed. A mini hamburger on the menu with coffee and gravy. We are already half past today, another kilometer or 10 and then there must be another alberge who wants to help us with an overnight stay.
The last 45 minutes of this walking day you can walk along a busy road, or you take the alternative route on a different path, away from the busy street. This is a nice option, I think the right choice, you walk over small mini mesetas to Terradillos de los Templarios. There are only 2 alberges in this village with almost no other facilities. If there is no more room, the next location is more than 5 kilometers away, with only a small alberge there, where there is a chance that it will certainly be full. Should you then have to go further, you will arrive in Sahagun, where there will be opportunities for overnight accommodation again. But that would also bring the daily distance to 40 kilometers.
Fortunately there is still room at Alberge Los Templarios Jacques de Molay, the last free places for these 3 pilgrims. Although there are not many pilgrims yet, all beds are now occupied. The large group of Koreans of this morning have reserved beds and again take everything in front of the disorganized pilgrims.
After setting up the place to sleep and freshen up, just start to consume something and execute the blog / vlog. To be sure that you will have dinner later, also let us know that we want to join us for dinner, otherwise it will go to bed with an empty stomach. For dinner there is a mass given by a young Canadian priest in another alberge. A mass behind the alberge in the open air. It is a nice and fun service.
This morning the weather forecast was a bit negative, some rain would fall, but that didn’t happen, it also means that I packed everything in the plastic for nothing. But it is better to prepare for this than to sit in the wet clothes in the evening.
The menu del dia is simple but filling, the wine no castle Koppijn and the stories fun again. Went to bed today, because tomorrow we will make a longer stage than the one described in Rother, which is actually very short with a thick 13 kilometers over fairly flat terrain. So just check what we will cover for a distance tomorrow and via which route, because to Sahagun you can choose again from 2 variants. We actually let the choice wait until tomorrow, then we know what the weather will be like.
Accommodation: Albergue Jacques Molay
