Day 15 – El Camino – Castrojeriz to Fromista

Castrojeriz to Fromista, an early start meant that we could spend less time in the desert sun. Up at 5h45, we had our breakfast at 6h00 and left not long after.

Two or three kilometres out of the village limits, a mountain awaited our ascent. The incline was 10%, which doesn’t sound very steep, but essentially we scaled this mountain like a wall. For comparison, at the gym, I might increase the incline to 4% on the treadmill.

As a reward to ourselves, we paused to take in the breathtaking view behind us. The valley below with the sun rise was absolutely spectacular – it’s moments like this that remind us of the value of this trek.

Having a 10% ascent meant that the descent might be just as steep. Well, in an ideal world perhaps, but the incline was much more – up to 18% at the steepest slope. Thankfully for us, the path was concreted and made for a more comfortable hike down the mountainside.

We passed some fields of sunflowers and had a bit of a frolic.

Even in the desert, the Spanish are growing crops. I wasn’t sure what was growing here, but they had the sprinklers on. Water is a precious resource in Australia, and this kind of made me cringe.

Desert, desert and more desert. We walked along a lovely little river, which came as a welcome sight for sore eyes. I thought of it as more of an oasis having water there, in the middle of the dryness.

When we reached our destination village, Fromista, there was a small bridge to cross. It was like a dam of sorts, perhaps you can make out its purpose from the pictures below?

Here is a pic of a horned beetle I saw.

The municipal albergue is usually our first choice, based on price, facilities, location etc. However, a few pilgrims were put off by the attitude given them by the host at the time. This also influenced our decision to seek out another albergue.

Not 100m away we found a lovely little family run albergue. Again, it was like an oasis in the desert with all its luscious green grass and such. 9€ for a bed, wifi and all the facilities needed.

There we indulged a little, had some beers, sipped on kalimotxo (*whispered with crazy eyes*) and played cards. It was a really nice way to wind down after a walk in the sun.

The albergue had a dog, Kioba, who looked a bit like David’s dog, Jack. Cute thing. She loved getting her belly rubbed.