One Week Down

Lorca to Villamayor de Monjardin – 18kms (plus an extra 1.5kms when I discovered I had taken the “less travelled” route which would miss the wine fountain!)

The heat has simply been brutal and with an expected temp of 36 degrees on the trail, from a self preservation perspective, I had to be leaving earlier.

BC was out the door at 5am and while I tried to get a little more sleep, I quickly gave up and thought I might as well move. It still took me an hour to get to a functioning state, but by 6:30am, I was out the door… to complete darkness and silence.

I’d fully expected to see hordes of pilgrims because they seemed to always be leaving well before me every other day, but today, I was on my own.

I actually had to use my headlamp this morning, so I have officially used everything in my pack.

It was a little unsettling walking by myself in the dark from a safety perspective as I felt very exposed, so it was a relief for the darkness to finally be lifting. At one point, I had the moon in front of me and the sun lifting behind me.

I arrived in one piece in Villatuerta. Some snails weren’t so successful, but there is only so much this night owl can deal with at 6:30 in the morning and not stepping on snails isn’t one of them.

I am learning along the way, so this morning, I ate a banana as I left Lorca and picked some grapes off a vine. A pretty decent first breakfast that was followed by cafe con leche and the most divine croissant I have ever tasted for second breakfast in Villatuerta. It was hot out of the oven and so buttery, it was a dark yellow inside. 🤤

I sat with a small group from Japan who didn’t speak any English and I clearly don’t speak Japanese, but somehow we managed. As I began to set off, they handed me a small packet of pancakes to enjoy along the way.

It was quite pleasant walking early in the morning and I was probably walking the fastest I have been since starting.

At one point, I turned a corner and came across a bridge and I stopped dead at the sheer height of it. It actually bent my foot at a 45 degree angle. AND THERE WAS NO REASON FOR THE HEIGHT! They could have built a straight across bridge, but maybe they figured the pilgrims hadn’t had a hill for a while, so why not make one for them?!

In Estella, my feet were already hurting, which was a little demoralising as it was even earlier than previous days, but I took a longer break, took my boots off and let them cool while I sat by the river.

At the end of Estella, I added an extra km to my day by following an arrow straight (not noticing the one turning left) and I had a local assure me I was still on the Camino and that they merged. What she failed to acknowledge was that the wine fountain was the left way. I was about 800mtrs up the road when I realised I might be missing it and after pulling out the book, had to turn around and retrace back to where the paths diverged. Priorities.

I was so happy because today’s wine was a Rose. There was a large group of German men clearly enjoying the wine (it was 9:30am) and I was chatting to one man and he said they came last year and by the time they arrived, all the wine was gone so this year, they were starting this year at the fountain. I have no idea whether they made it past the fountain because I didn’t see them again, even after stopping for a bit in Azqueta.

I walked with a woman from the UK who had me laughing most of the way, sharing stories of her upbringing and I shared stories of Bree. She pulled figs straight off a tree and they tasted heavenly. I may never see her again, but there was a feeling of comfort and safety in sharing Bree with her.

It was a short trip from Azqueta to Villamayor de Monjardin, so it was lovely to be greeted by BC at the top of the hill. BC of course looked fresh as a daisy by arriving a good two hours earlier.

Tonight we were staying at Albergue Oasis Trails, a homestay with only 22 beds. I may have caused a bit of a scene when they opened the doors to the queue of pilgrims and when running through the announcements, they mentioned they had a vegetarian meal. It was pure heaven.

Due to the heat, dessert was served outside. It was just a fabulous evening.

I am 122kms down and this is probably the first day of feeling moderately ok. Bring on the next 100kms!