Day 14 – El Camino – Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz

Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz, did we beat the sun rise? Only just! Planning to leave the albergue at 6h30 (18 minutes before sunrise) we actually did not set off until just after 7h00. It was fine because it still gave us an hour advantage over the sun.

As the sun rose behind us, we all cast long shadows before us. There was a moment that made me think about light V dark.

We are born in darkness. We live our lives in in light. We are returned to the darkness at the end of our days.

The stones on the path all cast shadows in the same direction – as the sun was behind us. These pebbles are in darkness before sunrise. One side is in light as the sun moves across the sky and then the otherside is in light. The cycle ends at sunset and repeats itself again.

In our lives, the light pushes us through our years and later as we age we find ourselves chasing the light. I would need more time to ponder on this thought, but here I had my epiphany in the Meseta Desert. Go me!

Aaron and I had each other’s company for most of the way. We admired the majestic beauty of the wind turbines, reminding ourselves of a better, more sustainable future.

I’m sure there was a conversation about how electricity is produced and transferred around. Aaron is pretty technical like that.

The first town was only eleven kilometers away, we made it there in two hours. We had a pilgrim, with a fluro green backpack, as our marker but we passed him fairly easily before we reached the town, Hontanas.

As we continued on to our final destination, I heard a rustling in the wheat. I froze in fear, Aaron and I agreed it was a snake and hurried along to avoid an incident. Later, Matt and Sam would argue that it was a lizard – I beg to differ.

Here are a few shots of an ancient Convent in San Anton. There is an albergue there too, but our destination town was only another 3.4km from there.

The heat was intense and I was slowing up very quickly. I think I will need to drink more water tomorrow.

In town we went to a camping park that also had hostel style accommodation. The owner told us the price and when we said we would think about it, he became irate and rude. He even went so far as to say, ‘You’ve come all the way to Spain and have no money to pay for accommodation? Idiots!‘ What a jerk face, don’t go there plez.

The next albergue was a god send. The host was excellent, he welcomed us with open arms and invited us to cool off our weary feet in his cold wading pool. Best thing ever!

For lunch, we spent 2€ each, this got us salad, charcuterie and cheese for sandwiches, apricots and half a watermelon + a bottle of coke each. Wow!

Tonight, who knows what we will eat? Probably make something really delicious and nutritious for really cheap again!

Here is a view from a bit further up the road.