Day 22, Leon to Villadangos del Paramo


June 26
That photo just about sums up a fairly desolate walk. It was 22km of city streets or walking alongside busy roads.


 Fortunately, breakfast was at 7am. I was up early, dropped off my suitcase, knocked off some food and was on the road by 7.20am. Because I was on the east side of Leon, I had to walk the streets for a long time - nearly two hours before I cleared the suburbs about 8km later




I met the obligatory statue, took photos of pelicans and bodegas and then it was just a solid walk down the main road. I didn't really mind the surroundings. I've started to stop fretting about just about everything as I empty out my brains. I hope I leave some room for new stuff.

My friend Linda from Christchurch came by with her husband Chris. I met Linda when I arrived at St Jean Pied de Port and have since seen her in Pamplona, Logrono and Burgos, so not for ten days or so. Chris had come out from NZ and now they were walking together, but he was a hard taskmaster and I didn't want to keep racing along, so I let them go.

Villadangos is an unappealing town. The main road goes right through the town, right outside my window. 

From my hotel window
When the window is shut it's too hot, and when the window is open it's too noisy.



It's a funny thing about the distance markers - they all say different things. As you see, the one at the beginning of the day says 306km to go. The one at the end of the day (22km later) says 298km to go. My guide book says there's 291km to go. It doesn't matter too much - the numbers are coming down. I'm not sure I want to get to the end - this is a bit like the Stockholm syndrome (you may have to Google that).

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Although the first 10km follows the road, I get to more solitary, country trails after that. It's a long day (28km), but at the end of it I'm at one of the four star hotels I scorn - except this one is a spa, with decadent water and a swimming pool - Google The Hotel Spa Ciudad de Astorga.

Brushing up on my Spanish, I went downstairs to enquire about the time of dinner and breakfast. Dinner is not until 8pm. I went for a walk around town to see the sights (pics in the album below) and it's still only 6.45pm. On the other hand, breakfast is at 7am, so I'll get off to a good start.

Here's the day's photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/p4HszQhnJgKxfFrm8

And here's the day's statistics off my watch: https://app.suunto.com/move/petergibbs/5d137fa7d85e39a8d56eca2d/



Comments

  1. Trevor WaltonJune 27, 2019 at 7:58 PM

    Hello soldier. You are making great progress. From the lack of comments you must have overcome the ailments of the trail. When you return to Kiwiland, you'll be fit and ready to knock off Te Araroa (or maybe not)! I've received the photo of the bottle of Rioja, thanks. It's not quite the same as tasting it though. BTW we are hearing reports of a major heatwave in France and Germany, so maybe the clouds and rain are a pilgrims' blessing. Walking in blazing sun ain't my idea of fun ... Best, Trev

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peter's CaminoJune 28, 2019 at 5:09 AM

      Speak of the devil - it's extremely hot now. As I write this (Friday), it's been in the mid-30s. I was pleased to have a 20km day. Tomorrow I have 30km (and hills)

      Delete

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