Day 13, Burgos to Hornillos Del Camino

June 16, 2019

The long road of the Meseta

June 16

Burgos to Hornillos del Camino

Today I said goodbye to the lovely city of Burgos and headed for some country stages, including the fabled Meseta. Here’s what my guide book has to say: “Today we leave behind the built environment and enter the relative wilderness of the sublime Meseta. Over half this stage is by way of earth track across the peace and quiet of the endless crop fields: wheat on the better ground and barley and oats on the higher and poorer soil. We might come across a shepherd and his flock or the occasional fox, otherwise you will have the birds to keep you company. There is little or no shade on the Meseta, so protect yourself from the sun. Hornillos provides a welcome respite from the conspicuous consumerism of the city.”

As it was a Sunday, breakfast at my big-city hotel wasn’t until 8am. I was well ready by then – I even had time for a couple of long Messenger phone calls - and had my suitcase ready for pickup before 8am before I wandered into the dining room and had a large breakfast of cereal, fruit and yoghurt, as well as toast, bacon, sausages, eggs and lots of coffee with orange juice.

I was fairly stuffed by the time I staggered upstairs, cleaned my teeth, took 100mg of voltaren for my aching toe joint, pulled on my day pack and hit the road at 8.35am in a temperature of 6 degrees.

It was 5k of city walking before I got out of town, but I was down to just a T-shirt by 9am, as the sun shone down on a very clear day.

As I walked out of the city I passed the marker for 501km to go - 300km down already!

I was walking slowly out of deference to my dodgy foot, but the surfaces were good and there wasn’t much altitude change and I was clocking in excess of 4kph. I wanted to stop, but the road just rolled on, with no obvious stopping point until the lovely village of Rabe de las Calzadas at 14km. I was there just before noon – a steady walk of 3hr 15min.

I had a fortifying coffee and a large chunk of tortilla at a very friendly bar and set off for the final stage of a relatively short day.

This morning I’d found an email from my friends Jens and Merethe, who were a day ahead of me, saying that they’d stopped at the tiny chapel of Ermita de Nuestra Senora de Monasterio and received an amulet against plague and a prayer to Maria. Jens had lost his – could I get him a replacement?

I found the lovely little chapel, which had music playing and went in. The nun welcomed me, blessed me and my journey, all in Spanish. Her assistant showed me a translation – I felt truly blessed. The assistant gave me my own amulet and kissed me on both cheeks.

Now I don’t want to give it up and wished I’d got two, but it’s in the spirit of the Camino that I keep it for Jens, although I’m not sure when I'll next see him.

I felt very invigorated and climbed to the first part of the Meseta, a rise from nearly 900m to 1050m, but a very easy grade on a good clay road.

I caught a German woman from Hamburg, Susan, who was part insurance sales, part union rep and part clown for people with dementia.

We walked together 3-4km and before long were descending into Hornillos del Camino, (you can see it in the distance in that photo) which we reached with nearly 22km on my watch.

I had to find the Bar Manolo, where they would phone for a pickup.

My hotel was 2.5km to the side of the trail at the village of Isar. I had a quick beer with a man from Fielding, before being driven to this lovely little village, where unfortunately I don’t seem to be able to pick up wifi. I had a weak signal on both laptop and phone when I arrived, but that’s now vanished. As you see, it came back, so I've been able to post this after a chat downstairs with a couple from Norway and an Australian woman. I'll probably have dinner with them tonight, as there doesn't seem any other options in this village.

(Footnote: I did indeed have dinner with the Norwegian couple, the Australian, Josephine, and Frank and Karen, the Australians who I meet often. Seems we're the only people here and will have breakfast together and then be shuttled back to the trail in the morning)

Looking ahead, I seem to have a bunch of easy days of about 20km. Even including a couple of coffee stops, that’s only about five hours of walking, so I’m looking forward to the week or so ahead.

I'm walking easily and alternating between audio books and thinking. It's a pleasant way to spend the day while this weather holds (about 30 degrees).

Today's photos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/k5i3Gu34tSeZYkoP9