Camino Day 17: San Nicolas del Real Camino to El Burgo Ranero

 Yesterday at Albergue Laganares in San Nicolas del Real Camino I had a lazy afternoon sitting in the sun.  It was a tiny village, there was nothing else to do so that was fine by me, the owner of the albergue was so friendly and helpful I didn’t want to move.  There is also something rather nice about staying in tiny places, it releases one from the obligation of going out to see what there is to look at!  The albergue is fairly new, it didn’t appear in the list of albergues we were given at the start of the Camino that, and the fact that it is at an ‘in between’ village may account for the quietness.  There were only five of us staying, which made for a nice communal meal where we could talk to everyone!  We were one Spanish woman, one German woman, a man from Australia and another from South Korea.  We swapped out Camino tales.  It was the Spanish woman’s second Camino, the rest of us were here for the first time.  

After yesterday’s long walk, today was quite a bit shorter.  I set off early, aiming to have breakfast in the ‘halfway’ town of Sahagun.  You can get a rather nice certificate to say you are half way there - but the office doesn’t open until 9.30am and I knew I’d be long gone by then.  On my walk through the outskirts of Sahagun a man on a bicycle stopped next to me and asked where I was from.  We had a little conversation in broken English and almost non existent Spanish, before he gave me a hug, kissed me on both cheeks and wished me well before we both went on our way.  It is one of the more random moments of the trip so far. 

My glitchy Garmin decided that it would turn itself off while I was having coffee - so I had to faff around restarting it.  The breakfast was good, nice strong coffee, a tortilla with chorizo and, fresh from the oven and given to me free, a little cakey thing that tasted absolutely delicious and was just what I needed to set me up for the rest of the walk. 

Leaving Sahagun I passed the statue marking the halfway point.  I don’t have much faith in the measurement of distances as the markers for 383km and 360.7km to go to Santiago were about 11km apart, but I still posed for a photo because I may never get the chance again.

While walking, I thought about the conversation I’d had with Nanny (short for Incarnation - the Spanish lady from last night).  She walks in one set of clothes, has one ‘evening dress’ (her words not mine!) and washes her walking clothes every day.  It is an easy enough task and becomes part of the routine of life; walk, shower, laundry, eat, rest, eat, sleep, repeat.  A pared down life.  Rich in experience and converstations, but in reality very simple.  This paired with the discovery that I can send kit to be stored in Santiago (at the post office) got me considering what I need.  Certainly far less than I have with me!  IN my room this afternoon I sorted out what I want to keep and what I can live without.  When I get to Leon - the next place with a big post office - I will send the unwanted stuff on.  This means that my back pack weight will be much reduced and will be much easier to carry every day, I will not have to trust my kit to a bloke in a van every day - just to the Spanish postal service.  I am in two minds about my iPad.  With the case it is quite heavy, but it makes typing so much easier.  I will try the pack tomorrow with everything apart from the iPad, then, if that is OK, I will add the iPad for the short walk into Leon.  Of course, if tomorrow is a nightmare, I’ll scrap the plan and go back to doing what I am doing now! 

The pile closest to me is ‘not wanted on voyage!’

In other news, Louise is in town with another friend.  Turns out we both know the South Korean gentleman from last night and he is here too - so dinner tonight should be convivial.  

My leg continues to improve!  I am thrilled as I was concerned that high mileage yesterday might have been a bit silly (and that is why I didn’t go quite so far today).  Normally when I have woken up it has been a bit ouchy until I have done all  my stretches and walked a couple of miles, and I have taken Ibupofen every morning since I hurt it.  This morning I did my stretches (and will continue to do so) but had so little discomfort that I forgot to take the Ibuprofen.