You can tell from the map of our walk below that today was almost arrow-straight to the south west, along the same old road we have been next to for the last three days. Some things never change. That doesn’t mean that it was an uninteresting day. Quite the opposite! I’ll save the best for last.
For example, if you look closely at the route map below and you see the colors of the trail, green means we were slower (it takes a while to get my blistered heels moving properly). Also, we are always slower in the dark which accounted for the first 4km. After about 15km, you should see a dramatic change from slow blue to faster green. That is where we met a French woman, Alexia, who chatted with Melanie all the way into Hospital de Obrigo. We went from averaging 15min/kilometer to 13min/kilometer. That’s 20 minutes saved on the day and we were happy to do the faster pace – we just needed someone to pace us because we tend to walk at a more casual pace.
Another smaller story for people planning to walk the Camino. Ignore the “official” mileage marker signs. Sometimes they may be accurate, many times they are not. As we passed an official concrete pylon, I took a photo of Melanie because we are now below 300km to go to Santiago. Ten kilometers later, we passed another official sign that said 298km to go to Santiago. Boy, was that discouraging.
The walk today started at a chilly 12ºC (54ºF) right at 7:00am. That was according to the pharmacy sign across from last night’s hotel. We finished exactly seven hours later at 2:00pm and a nice 16ºC (61ºF), according to the sign at the pharmacy around the corner. We had stopped at two bars for a total of one hour which I don’t count in our walking time. What the pharmacy signs don’t say is what it really feels like out there. After sunrise, the sun stayed shy and it was still quite chilly, or at least very comfortable when walking. After we left the bar in San Martin del Camino (where I got another job offer for clearing other people’s tables), the sun was bright and unrelenting. The pharmacies abandoned the parts of the Camino with sun. It felt like it was closer to 35º C (95ºF). Then, we would be guided to turn in some places and walk under great shade trees. As soon as we hit the tree shade, we felt like we accidentally walked into an air-conditioned room. It was so stark a difference and we relished every leaf.
Now the set up for THE story of the day. Leaving this morning at 7:00am from a place that is 7km (about 1 1/2 hours walk) after León – where most pilgrims want to spend at least one night, we were pretty sure we would not see many pilgrims walking today. The few that stayed in the Virgen del Camino Albergue were likely faster than us and had left earlier which is the albergue thing to do. We had a 7km head start on the ones catching up from León and even if they were an early riser, they would also likely stop for coffee and some light food in three places before reaching where we stopped for our first stop at our 12km mark.
Sure enough, we encountered only 14 pilgrims walking today. There was a guy who whizzed by us at the 300km sign. I don’t know where he started his day. The second two pilgrims we met turned out to be the interesting pair. As we finally stopped for breakfast #1, a couple walked in just behind us. The man was tall and about 30ish. The woman looked like she just graduated from collage. I believe both are Americans. They looked like a nice couple but their demeanor said they only hooked up on the Camino. That happens and I know several couples who met on the Camino and are happily married now. God help me if they read this.
They sat at the table next to us and were strategizing their day. At one point, they acknowledged us and asked our opinion. They were thinking of walking all the way to Astorga today and wondered if it was a crazy idea. Astorga is our destination for tomorrow but only 16.6km away from Hospital de Obrigo. I asked where they started today – León! I did the math (poorly under pressure,apparently). I said that’s a 42km day today and asked what their longest day was so far and where did the start their Camino. They started in Saint Jean Pied de Port and they had one 30km day so far. I said, yes, that would be a crazy idea to walk to Astorga today.
He didn’t like that answer but I wanted to give him some realistic options, if possible. I asked them if they had some time pressure, like a pre-booked flight. Again, the guy’s answer was completely unexpected. The guy said that he wanted to finish with the girl before October 18th because his wife was doing her first Camino from Sarria (the last 100km) on the 18th and he wants to walk it with her. My mind was boggled beyond repair. I didn’t know how to respond so I just excused myself and went to the bathroom.
When I came back, the non-coupled couple were strategizing again and Melanie was shaking her head. It turns out that the guy had asked Melanie for one more piece of advice. When they came into the bar earlier, just after us, they quietly took turns going to the toilet. His question was, “are we bad people?”. Melanie didn’t understand and asked what he meant. He repeated “are we bad people?” But further clarified that they had only needed to use the toilet. They didn’t want food or drinks. Melanie had the right answer, she said “Yes, you are. The right thing to do is to at least order one drink.” They guy then explained that there were enough people in the bar who are buying drinks so he didn’t need to.
Melanie had enough and said let’s go (before I head about the toilets issue). We got ready to leave and the couple closely followed us. As always, we went to the bar to thank the barman for the service. I was surprised by his lack of response but we left anyway, with the couple close behind. I guess we were used as cover…. “We’re with them and they bought drinks and pastries so we can use the toilets too”. Uggh.
We saw them again at the cafe in next town at 17.5km. I went over and said that I had miscalculated. Their day was going to be 49 kilometers if they went to Astorga. His only response was that they started 2km after the León Cathedral so it was actually only 47km. Oh, that’s better then. When they left, (almost forgetting to pay) Melanie and I did our thing. We cleared the used plates. cups, saucers, glasses, silverware, etc from tables, including the couple’s table in order to show the barmaid that not all pilgrims are bad. Once again, we got job offers.
The thing that irks me the most is that guy is going to have to double up another day too and likely do 50km then in order to get to Sarria by the morning of the 18th. He will force his friend to do this “so he could walk with her into Santiago”. More likely, she will have to stop her walk early because of shin splints or worse.
Now I have to go to sleep with that story stuck in my mind. It’s crazy, man!
Peace y’all.
Goodnight George, Leo and Stella. Please grow up with consideration for other people and humility to ask for AND accept guidance from experienced people.
