Day 18, Calzadilla to Sahagun
June 21
It’s a
special day – I’ve now passed the halfway point and arrived in the town of
Sahagun.
By my
reckoning, I’ve walked 419km since I left St Jean Pied de Port on June 2.
I’m not
doing as well as I thought I should be by this point. I’m still having a lot of
trouble with a pressure blister below my right ankle and just above the sole of
my foot. Despite repeated lancings, I can’t seem to get at the heart of it –
the skin is very tough down there, so it’s not easy to poke a needle through.
To ease the
pain there, I walk a bit flat footed and that puts stress on the rest of my
foot, so the joint of my big toe is giving me some gyp too.
I’ve also
got a heat rash on my back from always having a sweaty back under my pack. I’d
been putting antiseptic tea tree oil on it, but read online that you should
avoid oil as it clogs the pores.
Ignoring
all that, it hasn’t been a bad day.
Last night we had a thunder storm which
took out the electricity half the night. The rooms were automatically lit by
emergency lights you couldn’t turn off, but I got to sleep with a pillow over
my head.
It was an
early breakfast, so I was able to get away by 7.30am, concentrating on walking
gently, while listening to an audio book. The rain had brought out the snails
and hundreds of mice, which darted back and forth across
the track.
My friend
Josie caught me up at about 10am and we stopped for a coffee – by then we were
about halfway. The rest of the journey was a bit painful, but we got to Sahagun
by 1pm – time for a shower and some blister poking.
I had a
small wander around town, but it was hot and everything was closed, so I’ve
retreated to me room to type this. Wifi is no good, so I’m typing into a file
and will try to get online later – after a little snooze. (Posting this fille on Saturday morning in a rush to get away, hence most of the photos are just in the album at the bottom of the page)
As I was
resting I thought of a few odd things about today.
We kept passing a man
walking all the way with a donkey. He was very grumpy when I asked if I could
take a photo, but I sneaked a couple anyway.
At the
entrance to one town we passed all these hobbit holes. Turned out they were for
storage of grain, rice, etc.
Just around
the corner is a bullring, seems the sport is alive and well around here. It’s a
very historic town – will go for a walk when it’s cooler.
Went for a walk in the evening, when it was cooler, and took oodles of photos around town - no detail, sorry, but loads of beautiful buildings - all in the album.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/52Pf7jWWw3ErB9Ds5
Also got a download of the day's journey journey on the watch (It's on Strava too, for those that have it):
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