Day 19: We’re (Over) Halfway There

A few days have past since the day we all broke. The meseta is a strange place. One day we’re fine and the next day is a struggle. When we left Burgos, we were a group of six. At the time of writing, I’m part of a duo. Let’s recount what happened.

After the horrible day we had, we decided we just needed to get as far away as possible and to León quickly. We decided to walk 36 kilometers to get to Carrión de los Condes. The walk wasn’t difficult, but it was very sunny and warm. Although we left at 5:30 in the morning, we didn’t arrive until about 4:45 in the afternoon (that does include stops).

When we arrived in Carrión de los Condes, two people in our group had already been ahead and in an albergue. They told us where they were staying … except they told us the wrong place! After going to the place they had told us they were at (but not really), and it being full, we were directed to another place.

I think it was a former convent. It was run by nuns who chastised us for walking so far in the heat. That was the tip of the iceberg for the nuns complaining. At least our room was nearly empty. Originally, we were the only people in our room of many beds. Several more people joined throughout the evening.

The next day was a challenge. From the town we were leaving to the next town, it was a 17 kilometer stretch of nothingness. The only respite were two food trucks several meters from each other and 10 kilometers in. The two people in the other albergue had left an hour before we did. Another person had shot ahead. Two more fell behind me.

After leaving the two at the “oasis” once I got y second wind, I tried to plow as quickly as possible through the barren landscape and make it to that first town. Shortly before entering that town, I got a phone call asking me to see if I could get a taxi to pick those two up. One of the girls was really suffering from the heat and blisters on her feet, on top of the giant mosquito bite welts that seemed to be merging into one giant bite.

I was panicking. They were quite a bit behind me and I couldn’t do much to help them get to town. The other person was way ahead of me and without phone service. I did the best I could to try to get them help before leaving to get to the next town.

Luckily, the two behind me got the taxi and arrived just before me into Lédigos. We ended up stopping a town shorter than planned, which probably turned out to be a good thing. The albergue was clean and modern with wooden floors and Ikea furniture. The only downside was the lack of air conditioning and the rock band that played outside our window from 12-4 AM. (I’m not joking.)

Two of the group decided to get a taxi to Sahagún and get a train to León. We didn’t fault them at all. The remaining four of us started off the walk. The weather was good walking weather. It wasn’t sunny and there was a chill. Rain threatened the forecast. Our mistake was foregoing the breakfast at our point of origin and not being able to eat until about 6 kilometers into our day.

The walk was much more enjoyable as well. We passed through several towns, albeit small, but they broke up the monotony of wheat and sunflower fields.

In the mid-morning, we approached the halfway point between Roncenvalles and Santiago de Compostela. We took some pictures, although most of us had started at St. Jean Pied-de-Port, meaning we had already hit the halfway point. In town, you can get a certificate saying you’ve made it halfway, but one of our group made a good point. “That’s like getting a certificate that says you ran half a half-marathon.” Touché.

Around 11 AM, we arrived in Sahagún, collected a few stamps on our credencial, and relaxed. Two of the group decided to stay in that town, opting to take an extra day into León.

Then there were two. We wanted to get walking to get as close to León as possible and have a short day walking there on Sunday. Although we didn’t leave Sahagún until 2 PM, the weather wasn’t deathly hot. We stopped in Bercianos del Real Camino for the night, another small town.

This morning was another cool morning. The other person I’m walking with felt quite ill today, so he had to push himself 27 kilometers while eating only toast. There were 7 kilometers before the first town, and a further 13 until the second town. It started to rain about halfway between those two towns. -cue “it’s raining sideways” meme-

Poncho on, backpack protector on. We continued powering through until we reached that second town. We stopped for about five minutes to get out of the pouring rain, but it showed no sign of letting up. Power on again.

As the rain started the slow up, we entered that second town. We stopped for a moment to regain our energy before the final 6 kilometers into Mansilla de las Mulas. It must have helped because we covered that distance in an hour exactly.

Just like seemingly every other town we’ve been through, there is nothing to see or do. It’s like a ghost town. I took a long nap, and my Camino friend is relaxing, trying to regain his strength before arriving in León tomorrow.

Many guidebooks will tell you to prepare yourself mentally for the shock of arriving in a city after so many days walking through nothingness. Not us. We’re all excited to be surrounded by people and shops and having a truly relaxing day before the final push into Santiago de Compostela.