Camino Pilgrim

The temperature has normalized finally. It was +9°C in the morning and reached +18°C in the afternoon. This is the weather I expected all the way to Santiago to be like. I am travelling northbound while getting closer to Summer after all. Things should more or less stay the same.

I am surprised by how much it is raining in the first 700km that is technically a desert region. I guess its a record year, which is good since these regions had severe water shortages in the last 2 years.

The 17.5km walk to Zafra in the morning was all covered in soft sticky mud. Between the mud there were smaller and bigger puddles of water. The trail is less organized for pilgrims and local farmers before Zafra. Things did get better after Zafra.

Thankfully there was no wind or rain in the morning. Those started right when I reached Zafra. The 20km walk from Zafra to Villafranca de los Barros had weather completely change every hour or so. I understand now why the region here is called Extremadura.

Right in the end of Zafra the way marker stone cubes appeared again. I did not see any since Monesterio. Its so nice to be able to sit something that is not wet or muddy on these long 15-20km stretches between villages and towns.

From all these daily water crossings I have gotten 2 blisters. One for each foot but in different places. I also realized that my right foot was giving some pain in the sneakers because it has slightly swollen up from all the stress caused by endless hours of walking. All these issues are temporary and should go away in time.

Tomorrow unfortunately in the next town 26km there are no places left to sleep in. Everything is booked because of the holy week. Merida, the only city since Seville, is 42km away and there the albergue has only a handful of beds. I booked a hotel room in that city, because by the time I get there, everything else will be gone already. This holy week tradition in Spain is really starting to have an impact on my daily hikes.