Boadilla to Carrion

Day 15 (Wednesday 22 May) 440 kilometres to Santiago. When I checked into the albergue in Hontanas the day before last, I put my boots, as is customary, in a rack outside the door. The rack was protected from the rain. Although it didn't rain that night, the air was rather humid. When I put my boots on the following morning they were dry-ish, but not arid as I would like them to be. Later in the day I thought that I felt a couple of "hot spots" developing, so I stopped in a rest area and reapplied some lubricant to my feet. That worked well, as I still don't have any blisters. I wonder, however, whether that experience led to the onset of some athletes foot. In any case, I have it in one spot on my right foot, despite the application of foot powder each morning. I have everything that I need to treat it, but I suspect that I can only contain the damage rather than heal it as I'm putting in too many kilometres each day for my feet to really dry out. I'm considering a rest day, as I am 2 days ahead of my flexible schedule.

The rest area where I treated my feet yesterday had a local man selling coffee, cola, and some sad looking fruit from a small table on a cold morning. That must be a tough way to make ends meet, even in a country that has 25% unemployment.

I had a poor nights sleep in Boadilla last night because there was a world-class snorer in the next bed over (head to head). I slept for about 4 hours and woke at 01:30. At that point, this guy would have been rattling the paintings on the wall if there were any. Whoever trumpeted down the walls of Jerusalem could have saved themselves a lot of blowing if they had this character as a member of their army. In any case, I didn't get much sleep after that. I was up just before 06:00 and underway by half past, bound for Carrion de Los Condes, 26 kilometres away. The weather is cool, but, as it has been from the get go, with very light winds, at least at the start of my day. As I did the day before, I put on my MEC jogging mitts to keep my hands warm. For part of the first leg, I walk parallel to the Canal de Castilla.

Passing through the town of Fromista, I spot an ATM and top up on cash. A quick breakfast follows, chatting with Mike from Atlanta. I run into some more Americans on the outskirts of town, including the very polite Coby from Texas. Shortly thereafter I have a choice of routes: stay along the highway or deviate to the right alongside a small river. I choose the latter. The trail has been good so far, with no mud problems, and the river route looks more scenic. This occurrence also explains why there is no such thing as one true distance for the Camino de Santiago. I round mine to 800 kilometres. I should pass the half way point the day after tomorrow. So far, I have been the most pleased with the Meseta. It must be the Canadian prairie in me.

 

The weather holds for the balance of my day - mostly sunny but cool; ideal for walking. There are no public water fountains along this route, so, for only the second time since I started this adventure, I switch to my reserve bottle. I am pleased with my equipment choices, with the sole exception of a polyester pillow case that is too small. I'm keeping it in my rucksack just in case I need a cleaning cloth, but I would recommend a full size polyester or silk pillow case if you plan to stay in municipal albergues. The private ones, which I have come to favour, are quite diligent about providing clean bed linen.

At 12:30, six hours after I started out, I enter the town of Carrion de Los Condes (population 2,400). About an hour before a cyclist going the other way was passing out flyers for a small one-star hotel in town (Hostal la Corte). As I didn't sleep well the night before, I rationalize the expenditure of 40 Euro. They have a single room available and the luxury of it is exhilarating. My own room, with ensuite shower and toilet, cotton towels, and a small balcony for drying my dhobi wash. Gott in Himmel. I don't have to line up for a shower, so I head out to buy a bar of soap, and replace my lost T-shirt and socks. I'm successful on both counts. Life is good. I grab a quick lunch at a nearby cafe with 2 Australian ladies from Tasmania and then head back for a long hot shower and some treatment of my athletes foot problem. No pilgrims menu for me tonight; I'm going to satisfy my craving for a pizza.

 

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