Day 12

Sunday September 26, 2010

Day 12 on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela

Belorado to San Juan de Ortega

Dear Blog Readers,

For the first time on the trek we stay the night at a Casa Rural - this is a house in a hamlet, village or town, privately owned and converted into a rooming house.  There are about 5 double rooms. The family live in the town not in the Casa Rural.  They check us in and leave for the night.

After breakfast I leave the hotel earlier, as it is a long hard day, with some steep climbs.  Trail is rocky.  Walk pass fields of dying sunflowers, who remind me of a pilgrim, with head bowed, arms hanging from carrying a heavy backpack - the sunflowers reflect the tired, weary pilgrim, with bowed face and hanging leaves.  Trek pass an ancient church built into the hillside (hundreds of years old) - someone says it is actually an Albergue, however I see no one as I stop to take photos. Bells are still hanging from the church´s towers, an odd site on the trail.

All day rain threatens. The clouds are dark and heavy - the wind is chilly, so scarf, gloves and jacket are the order of the day.  Pass several small villages on the way to Villa Franca, where I buy bread for my lunch, along with some salami and cheese purchased yesterday at the supermarket.

Out of Villa Franca the trek goes straight uphill, very steeply for about 3 kms.  Yikes, going is slow and many pilgrims are actually moaning, including me.  Finally make it up to the top, I can actually say I´ve walked on top of a mountain in Spain.  The plateau goes on for about 8 kms.  The path is lined with Heather, pass their bloom, so no smell. But then there is a large Pine forest for kms. and that brings back memories of British Columbia.  The path is wide so I think the pine has been planted for harvesting, as the area can accommodate large machines and trucks.

Come upon a monument for those murdered and buried in mass graves during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s under Franco rule.  A truly sad place, so stop to have lunch and chat with a young woman (Pia) from Austria, who is on the Camino looking for answers as to where she should go next in her life.  She is an interesting person to chat with, like so many others on the Camino.

As lunch ends, the wind picks up and the temp. drops about 10 degrees, sky darkens and a storm seems about to drop out of the sky.  I hurry on. I think the trek uphill is over, but there is another hard climb before it levels off again.  No rain, but the wind and chill persist.  Finally, San Juan de Ortega comes into view, but there is about 4 kms downhill before the church comes into view.  It is about 2 p.m. a long day indeed.  Take a taxi back to the same Casa Rural as the previous night.  There are no hotels now until Burgos. Will sleep then taxi back to San Juan de Ortega in the early morning to walk the next leg into Burgos and a long awaited rest day!

Wednesday is Raise a Reader fundraising day, thanks to all of you who have contributed to literacy through my trek - I cannot do this without help from all of you!

Blessings from the Camino.

Yasmin

My thoughts for today - Some guide books actually take into account the ups and downs when giving the kms. Trek today 24.3 for a total to date of 263.1 kms - with the added kms for ups and downs it is more like 27 kms today.