Camino de Santiago - Days 16 - 18

Day 16: Carrión de los Condes - Ledigos
Distance: 23.4 km(14.5 miles)
Approximate Walking Time: 5-6 hours
Altitude: Start at 830 m(2,723 ft.) and ascend slowly up to 889 m(2,917 ft.) at Ledigos.

     Leaving Carrión de los Condes was a daunting proposition. It had one of the longest stretches of trail without a stopping point. We woke up before 6:00 a.m. and headed out at 6:15 a.m. to trek along the 17.2 km to Calzadilla de la Cueza. We walked for 4 hours along an old country road and the white dirt and rock lined trail. It was cold most of the morning. There weren't any clouds and we saw lots of shooting stars all across the sky. We did find one enterprising man. He set up a stand about 10 km from Carrión that sold coffee, tea, and breakfast items. We didn't stop but our friend who did told us the coffee wasn't good. We ate fruit and an energy bar and pushed on to Calzadilla. It was pretty flat most of the way.

     At times, the long stretches were a bit overwhelming. The landscape became monotonous with yellow field after yellow field. The one thing our minds quickly adjusted to was keeping us moving because we had no other choice.

     Calzadilla was a welcome site and we stopped at a local cafe for a much needed break and an Aquarius. If you've never been to Spain, then you wouldn't know the wonders of Aquarius. It's a simple isotonic drink with a lemon or orange flavor made by Coca Cola Spain. Izzy also had some spider bites that we had to drain. Insect repellant is a must have.

     After a nice half hour break, we headed on to Ledigos, the halfway point from Saint Jean Pied de Port. The trail followed the N-120 the rest of the way. We saw our second set of hikers with a dog. It looked like a greyhound and was limping along after its owners. To add insult to injury, they stopped him and put a small pack on his back for him to carry. I love dogs but it looked like the poor animals we saw being dragged along by their owners were tired and unhappy. It seemed like they were only there for the owners selfish reasons.

     A creepy guy passed us the first day. His ripped jeans and black shirt and greasy long hair made him seem a bit out of place. We lagged for a bit and let him get out of sight.

     The trail descended a bit around a curve and down into Ledigos. The French guide suggested continuing on to Terradillos de Los Templarios. We didn't because the albergues there didn't have kitchens and the one in Ledigos did. It also had the supermarket. We paid 6 euros for a bed. They offered us a double room to ourselves for 9 euros each. They had a bar attached to the albergue that served a pilgrim's special. When I asked about a supermarket, the girl took me into a storage room next to the bar and let me pick out things we wanted to cook. We had been carrying a jar of pisto for a couple of days so we used it with rice to make a rather filling dish. Aside from the kitchen, there was really no other reason to stay in Ledigos. The town was small and full of flies. We walked around it in about twenty minutes. There was one old church and tons of houses made of adobe as you can see below. This was one of our least favorite albergues but it had everything we needed to get by, including high speed internet to pass the time.

Day 17: Ledigos - Bercianos del real Camino
Distance: 26.6 km(16.5 miles)
Approximate Walking Time: 6-7 hours
Altitude: Start at 889 m(2,917 ft.) and end at 854 m(2,801 ft.) with some ups and downs but nothing steep.

     We woke up at 5:30 a.m. and packed our things. Around 6:00, a group of us tried to open the door to leave but it was locked. One guy told us he told the girl who ran the albergue to have the door unlocked by 6:00 but she didn't wake up and do it. Instead of waiting around on her, Izzy and I climbed out of a window in the stairwell and headed off. This was our first warning sign that the day was bound to hold challenges and problems. We walked the next two km to Terradillos. The town had several albergues, all around 7 - 8 euros along the trail. 3 km from Terradillos was the small village of Moratinos. About the time we arrived there, the sun was coming out. We took a small break to empty our shoes of rocks and take out some fruit for breakfast. The albergue there cost 8 euros and didn't let pilgrims leave until 7:00 a.m. As we headed out, the trail split off and headed right, we went left. For some unknown reason, we just didn't see the signs and wandered around a private hunting field for an hour. Needless to say, it threw off our day and put us in a bad mood. We eventually righted our wrong and made our way through San Nicolás del Camino and on to our first stop in the province of León, Sahagún.

     It was a 10 km walk from Moratinos to Sahagún along the highway and we walked most of it in silence. The problem with wasting an hour of walking time was that it made our day a lot longer and it was difficult to just push the thoughts aside as we could only continue to walk. As we entered Sahagún, we were greeted by the sign below directing us to an albergue. We went to a pharmacy and bought more vaseline and a set of earplugs(called tapones). Many of the buildings were made of brick and stone. We stopped at the ruins of some churches to have our breakfast.

     Sahagún was founded after two martyrs, Facundo and Primitivo, were killed and their remains recovered and put to rest in what would become a local monastery. We visited the Church of Saint Tirso and Saint Lorenzo. The Church of Saint Lorenzo was built in the 12th century and the tower added in the 14th. The Church of Saint Lorenzo was also built in the 12th century and was made almost exclusively of brick, a newer construction material. We also passed by the Monastery of Saint Bendito and the watchtower attached to it. The monastery dates back to the 11th century and the kings Alfonso of León. An arch also dedicated to San Bendito was erected in the 17th century and still stood over the road that led out of town.

     We walked through the arch and headed out of town across the famous Sahagún Bridge over the Cea River. For another 10 km, we walked along the white dirt and rocky path to Bercianos del Real Camino. About 3 km outside of Sahagún we reached a crossroad that goes through Calzada del Coto and takes an alternate route through Calzadilla de los Hermanillos to Mansilla. The trail goes for 20 km without passing through anywhere. We decided against it and walked on to Bercianos. Someone who's walked the trail in the summer heat knows how unbearable it can be and had trees planted all along the Camino to provide shade. It was a life saver being able to walk in the shade as the sun's full force grew stronger and stronger.

     We passed a field full of scarecrows near Bercianos.

     We arrived to Bercianos around 1:00 and had to wait for a half hour until the albergue opened. We sat and ate our lunch and took our shoes off to let our feet breathe. Often times, the best rest was letting our feet just breathe. We checked in as soon as they opened. The price was a donation and included dinner. The dinner was a typical soup of ham, eggs, and bread, a second course of tuna salad, and some chopped fruit for dessert. Afterwards, they had everyone sing a song to the tune of La Bamba but with new words that reflect the experience of walking the Camino. It was quite summer camp like. A word of advice, get a bottom bunk as the ceiling of the albergue was made of adobe and bits of dirt fell off periodically throughout the night and woke Izzy up.

     We spent the afternoon wandering around the town after we washed ourselves and our clothes. The one troubling part of the albergue was the large number of wasps hanging out in the trees by the clothes washing area. The town was a bit dreary and old. There was an interesting mix of old stone buildings, others that looked to be crumbling apart because they were made of adobe, and new, modern brick buildings like the local church and tower. It was odd to not see an old church in the town. The one good things about Bercianos was the supermarket. Compared to other places, it had an abundance of supplies at reasonable prices.

Day 18: Bercianos del Real Camino - Mansilla de las Mulas
Distance: 26.3 km(16.3 miles)
Approximate Walking Time: 6-7 hours
Altitude: Start at 854 m(2,801 ft.) and slowly descend down to 795 m(2,608 ft.).

     We woke up around 5:45 a.m. and got ready to leave. It took a little longer than usual because there were limited toilets at the albergue. There was a free breakfast of coffee and cookies downstairs. We took some and headed out the door. We walked with a group of Spaniards we met because they had lots of bright flashlights. The stars were bright and we saw more shooting across the morning sky.

     Our first stop was in the town of El Burgo Ranero, about 8 km from Bercianos. About the time we arrived, the morning sun was rising over the horizon and spilling beautiful golden light on everything. The pictures we took in the early morning hours always had an incredible golden color to them. The town was small but had some nice places to stop and have coffee. The albergue there only accepts a donation to stay.

     From there, we trekked nearly 13 km to the next town of Reliegos. Along the way, we passed by more fields of golden hay. That part of the Camino was quite monotonous and didn't offer much in the way of scenery. The only thing that changed were the smells. Occasionally, the smell of cows and their feces filled the air, then it changed to nothing, then to the smell of a rotting animal carcass. A small country road ran parallel to the Camino most of the day and, fortunately, we had more trees to shade us from the sun.

     We went over a big hill and down into Reliegos. There, we experienced a rare thing on the Camino, a bar sold us a loaf of bread. This probably had something to do with the fact that it was not the typical old grumpy man behind the bar without a clue of how to think outside of his small world. We had some breakfast of peanut butter and bread and continued on. The town's albergue had some fun paintings and graffiti on the outside.

     We arrived to Mansilla de las Mulas about a quarter before 1:00. The town's buildings had an old stone look to them and there was a monument that expressed the feeling of the Camino better than any other. It was a white cross with three tired backpackers looking as exhausted as anyone on the Camino feels when they arrive to their destination. We followed the yellow arrows through the town and to the local municipal albergue. They asked for a donation of 5 euros. It kind of defeated the purpose of a donation. We checked around and took a room that only had 6 beds hoping we wouldn't get a snorer. We were wrong. The office closed for lunch but asked pilgrims to go ahead and grab a bed and settle up when it reopened at 5:00 p.m. Nothing will stand between a Spaniard and their lunch/siesta time. We washed our clothes and ourselves and headed to the supermarket. Mansilla was a big town with all of the luxuries of a supermarket, pharmacy, and ATM. We reloaded our supplies for lunch and dinner, returned to put them away, and headed out to see the town.

     Mansilla de las Mulas had tons of buildings made of stone. It was famous for having large walls built back in the 11th and 12th centuries. They were part of the ongoing effort to kick the Moors out of Spain. We visited the Churches of Saint Mary and Saint Martin. Both structures were quite different from each other, mainly because the Church of Saint Mary had been reconstructed in the 18th century. The Church of Saint Martin was built in 1220 when a host of new churches flooded into the town. We walked around for an hour or so checking out the town. There is an alternate route outside of Mansilla that takes a different way into León, the next day's stop. That evening, one of our Canadian friends told us how he had left his camera at the previous albergue. The people working at the one in Mansilla helped him to get in touch with them and the camera was found and returned to him that night. It was quite a relief for him because he had spent 3 extra hours walking because he turned around and went back but no one was there to let him in to find it. There were many people who tried to make us suspicious of everyone and others who showed that good people were everywhere.

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