Camino Pilgrim

The place I stayed yesterday had only one other person than me – a roughly 65-year-old English lady with potential Alzheimer’s. She woke up at 4am in the morning and kept packing and unpacking her things for 2+ hours while constantly visiting the bathroom. The day before, I noticed that she kept forgetting lights on everywhere she went. Long story short, I did not get to sleep a lot today and went hiking at 6am sharp.

Right outside of Uterga it was still so dark that I did not notice the path turn and continued straight into some farmers’ recently harvested wheatfield. I went for a good 500 meters before checking with my app where I should be. Had a slight panicked moment trying to find the path again. Made me really think that I should not hike before sunrise unless it’s to escape extreme heat like yesterday.

After 10km of hiking, I sat down at a bar, had a Spanish potato omelet and then felt energy come back into me. Starting without breakfast seemed like another mistake I made today.

I really enjoyed seeing Puente la Reina that is in the image. Although the old town streets were flooded with beer from the night before. Today, locals celebrate Saint Johns Day, who is also the same person based on whom this whole Camino pilgrim experience to Santiago is built upon. There must have been huge festivities in Santiago today as it is also a holy year.

My new method to combat heat is not just to take breaks with shoes off, but also swap socks and shirts once a day. The weather will stay just under 30 degrees Celsius for another week and I need long sleeves in the afternoon to protect my hands and neck from the sun. Just sunscreen and a hat will not do here.

I was very happy to see that the cheerful albergue owner and barman in Lorca Hostel is still active as always. Also glad to stay this time in the magical city of Estella. Easily in the top 3 most beautiful places on the trail.

I am not completely sure yet if walking so close to 30km daily will be a good idea for me. Got some feeling of my weak knee being overloaded today at around 24km. It might be fine if I increase break amounts & time.

The landscape is not my main obstacle anymore, but the sun. I can feel my mind drift off at times.