Hospital de Órbigo to Rabanal del Camino 38 km

Sleeping in a dormitory takes some getting used to  and I’m not used to it. It doesn’t help that I get the top bunk. I think people race for the bottom bunk, followed by being near a power socket. The two together would be a dream, which I expect you would need to be queuing at 2pm when  the Albergue opens. I sat in the garden watching BBC iPlayer, wondering whether I could stay awake for The Apprentice final. Everyone was in bed by about 9, and it’s lights out at 10, takes some getting used to. Anyway, the WiFi didn’t reach my bunk (another thing to add to the dream bunk list) so The Apprentice was off. I listened to some Euro football on 5live and was out like a light. In the morning, it says check out is between 6 and 8, with breakfast between 6:30 and 7:30.  At about 5:45 people are whispering and packing away, in the most rustleling plastic bags possible. I dont know why, its freezing outside. Anyway there was a lull between the most eager and the next wave, as the next thing I remember is sitting up at 7:10 and being the only person in bed. It doesn’t take long to pack my bag, and when I went for breakfast at 7:20 I think they were ready to come and find me. I had breakfast and still finished before a French couple. It’s a good system, but just takes getting used to, and completely different to every hotel where the earliest breakfast has been 8:00.

I left about 7:50 and hit the road. Lots of pelegrinos around, and the first choice was between,  the “smiley face” route, or the “sad face” route. The :( route was on my map, so I took it. I can’t risk more miles of these other routes.  It wasn’t too bad, along roads as yesterday but only for a few kms, when I joined the more scenic route.

I didn’t get the same effect as yesterday, but initially on one track, with the really low sun, the stones on  the path were taking a moonscape appearance, and strange shapes which did play tricks on my mind. It was short-lived and I have no further weird experiences to report today.

It was nice walking, it felt like gentle climbing but my watch was saying it was about the 900 metre mark. Definitely more picturesque than yesterday. It’s very interesting how the walkers spread out, and how little difference walking speed makes. I was walking 100 metres behind a guy for hours, the gap never changing (until he stopped for a pee, and then he was 100 behind me). Catching slower walkers is a lengthy affair, and is more obvious when you are following someone. After they pass, it is many minutes before you do, yet the gaps remain the same.

The Camino dropped down into Astorga, a busy town with a cathedral. I stopped at a supermarket for bread, cheese and oranges. Now I have the Swiss Army Knife I can pick more exotic bread. It looks like a really nice town, some of the people I spoke to last night were going to stop there, but after 15km it seemed a bit short. The Cathedral was impressive from the outside, and the grain on the red stone was very unusual. Unfortunately, it cost to get inside and I had too far to go.

It also had a Gaudi Episcopal Palace, next to the cathedral where some Bishop had a great idea to bring Gaudi in to replace a burnt down one.

Walking out of town, I caught up with two (fellow) Irish ladies who were 10 days into their final incremental Camino. They had done other sections on other trips, but at least one of them was determined to make Santiago de Compostela this time. They were from Mayo, and we were able to talk about my ancestral roots in Clare (not really). It was really nice to chat, I haven’t had a good conversation in English since the Camino del Norte, which seems like years ago. We parted when I needed to sit and eat my lunch (and not miss a water fountain), and the conversation ended about Rory Gallagher which provide the name of a town (BallyShannon) I was trying to remember, and some music question they were trying to answer between themselves. Win, win.

Having the nice crunchy bread rather than the weird flat sandwich bread was a real treat. I now need to find a good travelling cheese, the slices I chose started to go slimy remarkably quickly. I caught up with the Irish girls again, and it was really starting to heat up. They were heading 2 km and I was looking at 15 km, so I pushed on. They were not booking ahead and only finding somewhere when they were ready to stop. They’d not had a problem with this, which gave me confidence. Today I was aiming for a little tent symbol in a town called Green Garden Camping. I couldn’t find anything about it, so had little confidence it even existed, never mind be open.

The landscape was changing dramatically, almost like getting out onto the Moors, with gorse and heather. The final leg was clambering up a steep stoney path with wispy trees giving no shade. In a few weeks time it may be quite pleasant, but today it was hot and arduous.

I arrived in Rabanal del Camino about 5 and started looking at Albergues, when I suddenly came across the Green Garden. A little oasis across the road from a little shop. The guy seemed surprised I wanted to camp, but the most neat and organised ledger was filled in with my details, and I was asked to name my price. I said €10 and he seemed happy, I added a beer, and I was happy. Its a very basic site, but it has charm.

Pitched in high mode, as I don’t think it will get windy. I got a bit pestered by Carlos, a highly religious-ised Camino vagabond. His heart was in the right place, but he went on a bit too much. I was relieved he didn’t get his guitar out. The guy in the shop was letting him sleep until 8pm, when he was going to go walking in the mountains all night.

I left him to it, and headed for food. The recommended place was shut “for rest” so headed across the road to quite an upmarket looking hotel and resturant. It still had “Menu el Camino” for €15, three courses and a glass of wine. When I walked in, I’ve never seen so many single diners eating. Almost every table had one person. It’s the nature of the Camino I guess, and i suspect most were hotel guests. I fitted right in when I asked for a table for one. It was interesting listening to conversations between tables of the why’s and where-fores of the Camino. I hadn’t really thought about it, but hotels like this make the Camino very accessible, if, like me you don’t want to sleep in a room with loads of other people. The food was great, and the table next to me was occupied by Gail from Ohio and we had a very good conversation about all things Camino and travel. She was on day two walking.

It’d been great today to have some decent conversation. Something I’ve missed! It’s quite an evolutionary development, going from being unable talk, using only basic croaks on Day 15 walking into Cistierna, to holding polite conversation only 5 days later (I really can’t believe that was only 5 days ago!!! I guess it’s why I blog!)

Walking back to the tent, I bumped into Carlos who was heading up to walk in the mountains in the dark. We shook hands and wished him well. I have no idea what he is doing! Tomorrow I’d my last planned day on the Camino Francés, I will need to decide whether to stay on it or take the Camino de Invierno at some point. I’m beginning to understand the Camino Frances and maybe 4 days isn’t long enough to judge it.