2 October, Day 11: Hospital de Órbigo - Molinaseca

Distance: 68.4 km


We had our breakfast at the hostel, served by a kind Sicilian hospitalero (who explained that he'd volunteered to this post instead of doing the Camino). We said good-bye to Bent and Gro and left by 8:30. The temperature was 10.4 degrees.

Checking the Antón Pombo Guide, always useful!

We followed the option of the camino beside the road to Astorga, where, once we managed to climb the steep hill to reach the center, we enjoyed the town, with its Roman ruins, it's City Hall and Main Square.

City Hall Square, Astorga

We found a cafe, where they gave us a delicious cup of hot thick chocolate (there is also a Chocolate Museum, but we better stayed away from that!) and we met another couple of cyclists, Italians from Abruzzo.

Cathedral, Astorga

We left Astorga following a local road next to the camino but, after the village of El Ganso, they were doing some repairs and we had to go carefully. In one of these villages, we stopped to chat with an old man who was seating in front of his house, and he told us how years ago, all those mountains that we were going to, would be covered in snow by now and that he was convinced that climate change was being caused by all those rockets that they've sent to space...

Palacio Episcopal (Gaudí), Astorga

We then reached Rabanal del Camino, at the base of the mountains, which turned out to be a cute village, last stop before our climb to Cruz de Ferro.

Rabanal del Camino

We had a snack there and met this girl who was doing the Camino with her father for the sixth time (the first time she was 14!).

Rabanal del Camino

The climb is steep, from 1200 to 1500 meters in 8 km. The Italian couple started with us, but soon they took off; Micael and Oscar were going at good speed and me, well, slowly behind. We caught up with another two cyclists who had stopped to rest; that was the last thing I'd do, fearing I would not be able to continue afterwards!

Climbing Cruz de Ferro, Micael had enough energy to return and take this picture

A German couple caught up with us, they passed me and pedaled alongside Oscar for a while; Micael was going further ahead. They then stopped at Foncebadon, a hamlet before the summit.

German cyclits, climbing Cruz de Ferro

We finally reached Cruz de Ferro, where a kind Dutchman offered to take a picture of us.

Cruz de Ferro

I took out my two pebbles and proceeded to put them at the base of the cross. I was suddenly overcome by emotion, thinking of my immense luck (call it Dedicated Guardian Angel, good star, blessings, whatever) and I started crying...

Cruz de Ferro

After a little rest, we continued to El Acebo, another cute village perched on the mountain, where we stopped to have lunch at a bar where theTV was showing the process of final selection for the host to the 2016 Olympics (where Madrid was one of the candidates). I asked those present if they thought it'd be good if Madrid won and it started a heated argument, so we left them at that!

Oscar in Cruz de Ferro

I called the Private Hostel of Molinaseca to book, where they said that it wasn't necessary, as there was "plenty of room".

View from Cruz de Ferro, Manjarín

The descent is by a steep road with hairpin bends.

Going down from Cruz de Ferro

By 16:45, we crossed the Roman/Medieval bridge of Molinaseca and found the hostel, where the not so friendly hospitalero said that we were lucky to get the last three beds... I pointed that I had called earlier, but they certainly had ignored that; at least, we got a place.

Roman/Medieval bridge, Molinaseca

The bicycles were locked in an open patio; we showered, did laundry and then we sat and had a beer while chatting with Josh, a pilgrim from LA who has just concluded two years with the Peace Corps in Niger.

Molinaseca

In the evening, we had dinner at the Fonda del Puente Romano, caldo berciano delicious (although Micael found a piece of broken glass in his!), lentils, pork chops and a glass of licour (to compensate for the broken glass...). It was my turn to have the cold, so I took the medicine, which knocked right away, although I woke up by two am, worrying if the bicycles would be safe.

1 October, Day 10: Sahagún- Hospital de Órbigo

Distance: 96.5 km



Noise started by 6:15am, with people going to the toilets and getting ready to leave. We got up at 7am and had breakfast at the hostel, where we chatted with two other cyclists, who mentioned that the forecast was for rain to finally start during the weekend, giving us more reason to try to advance as much as possible before the weather changed.

By 8:30, we were leaving Sahagún, taking "el Real Camino Francés" towards El Burgo Ranero, which meant to follow a narrow road next to the camino. There, we caught up again with the cyclists from Burgos; I stayed next to her for a while, chatting, but she was going fairly slow (even for me), so I had to say goodbye and continue. After El Burgo Ranero, we continued by this same small road, with practically no cars.

Camino and road, Castilla-León

In Mansilla de las Mulas, we joined an older lady on her bike, who continued with us til the end of the town. From there, the road changed to one with fairly busy traffic, so it was a little stressful; afterwards, the camino goes now by an area where they are building a new highway and then there are a couple of steep climbs, where a Brazilian cyclist (whom we had met in Pamplona) caught up with us and passed us, and Micael decided to keep up with him. A little while later, his partner passed us as well.

Entering León is confusing and stressful due to the traffic and lack of a separated route for prilgrims. We used sidewalks to reduce risk with the cars. After stopping to buy some fresh fruit, we headed downtown. Micael was going ahead of us and we lost him briefly, so Oscar and I took separate roads to reach the Cathedral, where he was already waiting for us.

Cathedral, León

There, while we had our fruit, a very nice old man, don Francisco Pérez Pérez, started chatting with us, recommending what to see in the city and telling us about his life, that he was 92 years old and how he was just a kid when he fought in the Spanish Civil War... and then he started to cry!

We looked at the Cathedral, casa de Botines (made by Gaudí), the Basílica de San Isidoro and the Hostal de San Marcos, before starting the nightmare of riding out of León, which didn't have many arrows to direct us and it followed streets with very heavy traffic. Very stressful!

Casa Botines, León

Not until we reached Fresno del Camino and for a small distance, we had a nice camino, but there were portions where there was no option but to go by the very busy road.

Hostal de San Marcos, León

Just as we reached Villadangos del Páramo, we caught up with a French pilgrim, his Chilean wife and their 13 month old son, whom he carried in his back.

Miguel y peregrino francés con su hijo

By 5pm, we were arriving finally to Hospital de Órbigo, with its Roman/Medieval bridge (every year, they still hold a festival with jousting) and to Albergue San Miguel, where the hospitalero welcomed us, showed us a safe place for the bikes under the stairs, we had a beer to celebrate our longest distance so far (Oscar wanted to go out and pedal until the computer showed 100km...), we showered and went to the local store, to buy dinner to make at the nice kitchen of the hostel.

Hospital de Órbigo


Río Órbigo

We shared dinner with a Danish couple, Bent and Gro, who had been walking all the way from France. Gro has lived many years in Barcelona, so she's fully fluent in Spanish.

30 September, Day 9: Boadilla del Camino - Sahagún

Distance: 67.5km



The night before, we had been looking at our plans for the day, using a profile of the route that also shows the towns and distances in between. I didn't have my glasses with me and I told Micael and Oscar that we could make it already to Leon.

We got up at 7am, had a nice breakfast with big bowls of coffee and toasts with marmalade and left by 8:10. I was sore in my lower back and it hurt when I left my leg to mount the bicycle, but it didn't hurt while pedaling. Micael and Oscar's colds were at different stages.

It was 13 degrees, but with high clouds. The camino soon joined the side of the Canal de Castilla, following it until we reached Frómista. We looked for a pharmacy but it was still early, so we continued to Carrión de los Condes, 20km ahead.

Canal de Castilla

The camino goes parallel to a local road with very little transit, so we took the road. The landscape is flat, with very few trees ( Poplar, Populus sp), a bit monotonous, although we'd sometimes meet a shepherd with his sheep. The fields have been harvested, we assume of some cereal and there are a few corn fields. On this stretch, we caught up with the Spanish couple we had met yesterday.



In Carrión de los Condes, we passed the hostel of the Convent of Santa Clara; Micael asked for directions and we went to the town hall square where there was a pharmacy. There, Micael got some cold medicine and Oscar got cough syrup. We then sat down to have a cup of coffee in a cafe across the street, before we carried on.

Having our second breakfast at Carrión de los Condes

We followed by the camino, which goes by an ancient Roman road, straight and relatively flat, with a surface of pebbles. In the one and only uphill bit, I lost my balance and fell, but I managed to control it and just landed gently.


We passed Calzadilla de la Cueza and then followed by the road, as the camino goes parallel to it and there's seldom any traffic, until we reached Terradillos de los Templarios, where we stopped to get a stamp at he Jacques de Molay hostel. Micael was feeling very sleepy and we decided to stop and eat an apple and review our route. That's when we realized that Leon was still 70km away and we had already done more than 50km that day and found out that I had read wrong (no glasses...) and the 96km planned were to the town of Reliegos.

Micael was totally knocked and then we remembered that he had taken the cold medicine with his coffee a couple of hours earlier. We then decided to get to Sahagun and see what we'd do. On the way, another cyclist caught up with us, a fellow from Cordoba, who later waited for us as we wasn't sure of which way to go into town. We arrived together with him in Sahagún and he then continued as his plan was to indeed go all the way to Leon that day.

With Andrés, another cyclist, in Sahagún

As for us, we decided it would be better to stay that day in Sahagun, in the Albergue Viatoris, where we were greeted with a glass of water and a small plate of a delicious rice. The hospitaleras were from Brazil and Argentina, both very nice.


When they assigned us the bunk beds, I requested a lower one (please!); we showered, put our clothes for laundry and the men slept and snored for a while (well, Micael for a few hours). Later, we walked around town, passing a convent, an old monastery and a nice church (San Tirzo). We found a pub to have a beer and later, the attended the Vespers prayer of the Benedictine nuns.


For dinner, we had arranged to have it at the hostel and it was very nice: pasta, veal and dessert.

Micael decided to still follow the dosis recommended by the pharmacist that night, but that he would not take the medicine during the day, or he wouldn't be able to keep awake!

29 September, Day 8: Atapuerca - Boadilla del Camino

Distance: 89.3 km


By 6:30 there was already a lot of activity in our room, so we also got up; it was still dark, so we had a couple of muesli bars and chatted with a lovely couple from the US and a fellow cyclist, Jean, from Canada.

As we were ready to leave, by 8am, I realized that the back tire of my bike was flat. So we went ahead, replaced the tube and patched the damaged one to have it as a spare (when I say "we" but, although I do know how to do these things, the master mechanic was Micael, who at the same time was teaching Oscar, whose experience is more with dental issues or horses).

Once fixed, we started; again, we had a foggy day and it was about 11 degrees. We followed the camino, which soon went uphill and we had to do some pushing, more due to the loose rocks than to the steepness of the trail. Once we reached the top, it became fairly easy up until the outskirts of Burgos, where we followed the recommended route by the side of the Arlanzón river, a very pleasant bike lane (even separated from the walking lane), until we reached the bridge by the statue of El Cid (Spain's most famous knight) in downtown Burgos. Just around the corner was the Cathedral, and nearby we found a place to have breakfast; Jean was already there, so we joined him. While we were there, we saw two young pilgrims arrive with their foldable "scooters", one of many ways we saw used in the camino.

El Cid Campeador, Burgos

We visited the Cathedral, which is a beautiful piece of architecture; the sun was out but it was still a cool 14 degrees. We wanted to buy some food for lunch, so Micael went over to ask and it was interesting to hear that they all said "ah, the market is far from here", and it turned out to be hardly 1 km away. There, we found nice fruit, raisins, walnuts, bread and cheese.

We left Burgos following the same bike lane y then we reached the camino, passing through a landscape of wheat fields and a few hills with villages scattered.

Micael stopped to chat with a lady about the landscape and how there wasn't a single tree in the horizon and when she learned where we were from, she commented (she was the third person to do it) that ahead of us was a couple "from Costa Rica".

Miguel and Oscar on the road to Hornillos

Just before Hornillos del Camino, there was a van loaded with backpacks and a bus standing by the camino (???).

Micael had gone ahead of Oscar and me and was waiting for us by a shop called "Area km 469" (along the Camino, one finds that the distance left to Santiago - if one is to believe the signs - shrinks and stretches by turns...), where we sat to eat some chocolate and fruit. Then we saw this couple walk by with a patch in the backpack that said "Pura Vida" and, indeed, they were the "ticos": actually, a Dutch man and his English wife, who have been living in Santo Domingo de Heredia for a long time and considered themselves adopted Costa Ricans. They were doing the camino for the second time.

In this landscape so barren, we observed how the raptors are using the high voltage towers as substitutes to the missing trees. We climbed to another plateau and then reached Hontanas, a very picturesque village.

From Hontanas, we followed the local road, straight, flat and with seldom any traffic, with maple trees on its sides; we passed the ruins of what once was the Monastery of San Antón.

Ruins of the Monastery of San Antón, with the road passing right through it

We then arrived to Castrojeriz, where we looked for a pharmacy - we needed medicine for Oscar's cough, Micael's cold and my sore throat, talk of sharing... -, but being lunch time, it was closed. We found a bench by a fountain where we sat and had our lunch, while being pestered by two kittens.

Now, from Castrojeriz, the camino goes by Alto de Mostelares (interesting name, as there are no trees of that type, mostelar = Sorbus sp, or any other for that matter, left in those hills) and our guidebook warns that it is a rocky and steep climb, so we decided to go around, following the road that goes by a village called "Castrillo - Matajudíos" (oh my! I rather not think the reason for that name...), and then we took the ondulated road towards Fromista, while watching a few raptors and a couple of families of Grouses (Tetrao sp.) moving in the fields.

Once we passed the bridge over the river Pisuerga, we were in Palencia province; we took the camino once again and soon we caught up with a Spanish couple of cyclists who were resting. They had just started from Burgos and had followed the camino by Alto de Mostelares (they confirmed that the whole climb had to be done pushing the bicycles).

It was then a few kilometers to Boadilla del Camino, where it was very nice to reach the private hostel: you enter to a very nice garden, with a small pool where there were people cooling their feet and resting while enjoying a mug of beer. The place is run by three people: one Argentinian, a Spanish lady who not only cooks great but is also an accomplished painter and her son.

Hostel En el Camino, Boadilla del Camino

We downloaded our stuff, locked the bikes and went over to have a relaxing beer. The dormitory is a converted barn, which is now full of bunk beds and we got the last three available spaces, all on the top of a bunk. After we showered, we enjoyed a nice dinner of garlic soup, bread and wine, delicious!

Sopa de ajo para nosotros y cayos para Oscar

During the night, I woke up to go to the toilet. I was in my sleeping bag and the top bunk did not have any railing nor ladder. Next, I really don't know what and how I did it, but the fact is that I took the fastest way to the ground... I fell down wrapped in my sleeping bag. Somehow, I managed to fall in between all the backpacks that were next to the beds of the other pilgrims and I fell on my lower back (so I didn't hurt my tailbone). And you know what: Not a soul woke up! (everybody is using earplugs).

I was still for moment, thinking "now I really did spoil the trip" (well, I didn't quite used such nice words...), while I was feeling around and moving slowly; all I could feel was pain in my lower back muscles, so I slowly got up, went to the toiled, where I checked myself all over and then went back to bed. My Guardian Angel does work overtime!!

28 September, Day 7: Viloria de Rioja - Atapuerca

Distance: 42km



The room was dark and quiet until past 7:30 - so different! - when I got up and found Orietta and Acacio already up and with fresh coffee and breakfast ready. So I poured myself a cup and sat down to chat with them while the others awoke.

We had breakfast together and by 9:20, we all said our good-byes with hugs and best wishes. Following the pattern of the previous days, the morning was foggy, promising a sunny afternoon.

With Acacio and Orietta, Viloria de Rioja

Following the camino, we soon reached Belorado, then Tosantos and from Espinosa, we started going uphill and, when reaching Villafranca de Montes de Oca, we had to push our bikes on the steep hill, do a little pedaling and push again, as the camino passed a nice piece of mixed forest.

Going up Montes de Oca

We were passing quite a few pilgrims and, as always, we tried to wish them "buen camino", trying not so startle them as we approached them and asked for room to pass. However, some of them seemed to be so deep in their thoughts and others simply have their "iPods" at full blast in their earphones, so they did get surprised and often jumped on the side surprised when they finally felt the bicycle next to them (even though a few times we had been calling and using our bells for a while...).

As we climbed, I'd go pretty much at the same speed as the walkers, so I chatted for a while with a Mexican young man who is planning to visit Africa (Senegal, Mali, Mauritania) after he finishes the camino. We stopped at a lookout point to eat a little, while we enjoyed the view of the Montes de Oca.

Taking a rest by the lookout point

We kept pushing and pedaling and at one point, I was lagging behind, pedaling next to this French couple of walkers and, after a little while, the man came close to me, said "allez, allez!" and with great energy grabbed the back of the bicycle and pushed me for about 10-15 meters! (I must have looked really bad...)

Once at the top, it was fairly flat and it was a pine reforested area, where they were cutting some of the trees.

We finally got to San Juan de Ortega (26 inhabitants, according to the guidebook), where we got ourselves some nice bocadillos that we ate while seating with pilgrims from Denmark, France, Germany, Canada, US, Spain and Australia.

We had planned to do a stop in Atapuerca, to visit the archeolgical park they have there, and then continue on to Burgos. However, we arrived just before 2pm, when they were closing for lunch and, anyway, they suggested that what was really worthwhile was a guided visit to the archeolgical site itself, which would be done at 5:30pm.

We thought about it and we all agreed to stay that day at Atapuerca, so we could do the visit and add a little more Science to the trip (apart from observing the different landscapes and if there is any connectivity between patches of forest, and doing tree identification, we've been trying to do some birdwatching, especially of raptors, but we didn't bring either binoculars or bird book and, after almost crashing for trying to follow the trajectory of a Peregrine Falcon, we haven't really identified much...).

With Oscar, outside the Archeological Park of Atapuerca

We then went to the Albergue privado El Peregrino, which has a nice garden, with a place to lock the bicycles. It seems to be built in modules, so each room (and bathroom areas) is relatively narrow. Our room had four bunk beds and we shared it with one French man and two German ladies. After a shower and some laundry, we read and rested a little, while Oscar walked over to see the local church (which was closed).

At 5:30, we took the bus with the group for the visit to the Atapuerca Archeological Site

There, the guide showed us where a team of archeologists and volunteers have been doing excavations since the 70s and have found the remains of several species of Homo (antecesor, heidelbergis, neanderthal y sapiens). The guide gave us a torrent of information which overwhelmed many, but we really enjoyed it, perhaps because we've been reading about it and have watched a couple of documentaries on the subject lately.

Our guide, showing us the skull of Homo sapiens and a relative

Back at the village, we were all starving; the one store there had closed for holidays, which meant that the two restaurants had increased in one euro the price of their "Pilgrim set menus" (demand and supply...), so - oh well! - we went over to the restaurant El Palomar and there we had a bit of fun listening to the young waiter who would recite the long list of options in Spanish and later, in his English to a couple of Korean pilgrims (whom several of us helped understand).

We had delicious potatoes with chorizo, a piece of salmon that had been overcooked in oil (a pity), bread, wine, desserts and even pacharán (anis with endrinas, a type of berry). We also chatted a little with a couple who was finishing their trip this time in Burgos, him Spanish, her Philipina.

That night, the fact that the room was small and narrow became a bit of a problem: our French roommate snored like an industrial sawmill and the there was poor air circulation. We made use of our earplugs, with mixed results.

27 September, Day 6: Navarrete - Viloria de Rioja

Distance: 63.4 km



We left Navarrete around 8:50, after having breakfast. We took the camino, among vineyards and wineries, where they were getting ready for the grape harvest.

The day was cloudy and cool (14-15 degrees); we stopped at Ventosa to get the stamp (a pilgrim pig) and then followed a part of the camino, where the pilgrims have made small stone mounts on the sides.

Stone mount, near Ventosa

We had to push the bikes a little, as there were steps on the camino. We arrived to Nájera, by the Najerilla river. There, we visited the church of Santa Cruz and the Monastery of Santa Maria la Real, where we didn't enter but we spend some time chatting with a group of retired officers, who came to see the bicycles, convinced that ours had a small engine...

We left Nájera and it was uphill until Azofra, where we stopped to take our "second breakfast" of coffee and toast. We arrived at the same time as a fairly large group of German "pilgrims" who also stopped for a stamp and had breakfast. When we were leaving, just out of the town, we saw them happily boarding a tourist bus...

Our intention was to go to San Millán de la Cogolla to visit its monasteries, so we took that route, but the kilometers seemed to be "elastic" and it turned out to be farther than expected. As we passed the village of Alesanco, a lady shouted to us "os vais a mojar!" (you are going to get wet!).

We stopped at Cañas and decided instead to visit the Monasterio Cisterciense de Santa María there, as we would not make it to San Millán in time for the visit hours. The one hour guided visit was very interesting and we commented on how this order, that was trying to live in a very simple and modest way, didn't get to be prosecuted as heretics, as other groups were at that time.

Monastery of Santa María, Cañas

We continued around 2pm and once we moved to the next valley, there was a big change, not only in the landscape, now with cereals, sugar beet, sunflower and potatoes, but also because the sun was shining and the temperature raised.

In Santo Domingo de la Calzada, we stopped in front of the Cathedral to have our lunch; got a stamp and went to the local fountain, to refill our bottles. There, we saw two Spanish cyclists and one lone Irish one.

Cathedral, Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Next, came Grañon, were we caught up with a Danish couple who have come walking all the way from Denmark. At Redecilla del Camino, a very nice volunteer lady was thrilled to have someone to give a short guided visit to their church. We had arrived to Burgos province.


Around 5:30, we arrived to Viloria de Rioja, a small hamlet, where we followed the recommendations on the forums and had arranged to stay at the hostel of Acacio and Orietta. This lovely couple has renovated an old farm house, so there is one large bedroom with 12 bunk beds, showers and toilets, a very cozy sitting room and the kitchen/dinning area, where Orietta was very busy preparing the comunnal dinner.

We enjoyed a nice cold beer, while chatting with the other pilgrims, a lady from San Francisco, a Dutch fellow and two Brazilians.

At dinner time, we were first asked to introduce ourselves and explain briefly why we had chosen to do the Camino. We laughed because when I introduced myself, Bernardo, the young Brazilian jumped and said that his grandmother was called Ligia! so there you go, I've managed to have a grandson without ever having children!

Comunal dinner at Acacio and Orietta's

Dinner was great, rice, feioada (beans prepared Brazilian style), veggie, Spanish tortilla, bread, lots of good wine and plenty of nice conversation.

Acacio and Orietta, with their lovely welcoming attitude and their cozy hostel, are keepers of the original concept of hospitality!