Sunday 25th April 2010 (Carrion de los Condes to Terradillos los Templarios – total walked to date 328.82km)


First of all a message to Leslie who I know is following my blog and who has been commenting on them – I do not know how to reply to you through the blog. Each time I type a reply, it will not accept it. Sorry huh .. I am a real novice at this.

From setting off for the day, we walked 18km before arriving at a village. 18km of walking on stone paths and there was no shade at all. Not a cloud in the sky. It was not an exciting walk at all today – we felt like we were in a desert – and as the hours passed, the heat took its toll on us. The last 2km was the worst. We thought we would not be able to make it but what choice did we have? There are no buses or taxis so the only mode of getting there is on foot! I did not come prepared for this heat so the only long-sleeved piece of clothing I have is my raincoat. Put it on and I protect my arms, but I will be perspiring buckets under it. Take it off and I will be really sun burnt. No amount of sun block will help (I think I said this before in my earlier blog). So I decided to take off my raincoat before I die of heat stroke. What made it worse is the heat from the ground. It gets to our feet and the discomfort reduces our walking pace tremendously. But there is no alternative, we just have to live with the situation and get to our destination. Another problem we had was that we kept drinking water but there are no toilet facilities at all on this 18km stretch. At this point I will leave it to your imagination. Today too saw the most number of pilgrims walking within a 500m distance. Perhaps it is because the route is so straight that we could see more people. But this really does not help when you are trying to find a suitable place and time to release those precious fluids. No wonder the grass is so green on the Camino. We did have a light moment today though. When we got to Calzadilla de la Cueza (the village at the end of the 18km walk), we stopped at the bar for a drink and something to eat. We were joined at the table by a French gentleman and his Spanish companion. His Spanish companion was the lady with really bad blisters that I mentioned in my blog yesterday. Anyway, the Frenchman (I forgot to ask for his name) mentioned that he was in Singapore two years ago and he stayed with his friend when he was there. He then continued to say that he comes from Bordeaux in France. Joy immediately chipped in and said “oh you stayed in Bedok?”. I quickly explained to Joy what he said – that he comes from Bordeaux and not that he lived in Bedok. You should have seen the rather confused look on his face! In Cantonese you will say “Tarp Chor Seen”. Joy has her comical moments and it hits when you least expect them. The albergue we are at tonight is somewhat new. I am so glad we booked this one because it is the first building you see when you enter the village (no need to walk another 1km to get to the centre of the village where we normally end up) so we did not have to plod another 1km. Every metre mattered today. It is always nice at the end of the day because invariably we meet up with familiar faces. Some will always be the “hi bye” acquaintances but some soon become friends, even good friends because they will look out for you. This place is cold. I am sat on my bed right now writing this blog and I am under three duvets. I am not kidding. And I was already feeling cold as soon as we checked in - from extreme heat into the cold. I think the insulation needs to be improved. Do you know that it is very difficult to find chicken on the menu in Spain? I wonder why? Very often if we take the set menu, our choice is very limited and they seem to offer the same dishes (and chicken is rare). But we do spoil ourselves and have good meals now and then. Oh dear, it is 10.30pm and it is way past my bedtime. Have to put in sufficient rest so that I have the energy to walk. Tomorrow will be 23km, not so bad. Some say that we are officially half way to Santiago today but the book that we are using as reference says that half way is 354km (which might be tomorrow or Tuesday morning, depending on what my GPS watch tells me). Goodnight!