Those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that this summer (2018) I walked 190km along the Camino de Santiago, from Burgos to Léon in Spain. This is the third leg of the Camino which I started in 2016 (if you’re interested, I wrote a Q&A post in response to some of the questions people had asked me along the way that year), I’m completing a leg each summer until 2020. This is Day 23 (other posts linked at the end of this post).
Camino Frances Day 23: Sahagún to El Burgo Ranero (approx 18 km)
Ah, a “shorter” day today! The guidebook doesn’t offer much about for today’s route which generally means there is nothing remarkable and that there’s probably not a lot of shade 🙂
Though it wasn’t a long day, I started out early from Sahagún – earlier than most people since I saw very few other walkers on this day…
Leaving Sahagún it felt like a walk in the park, literally…
But it was actually a pretty hot day which meant blue skies and made for a “harder” day than I expected (funny how all of a sudden 18km seems “short” and I’m expecting it to be “easy”).
There were a fair few trees and a bit of shade which made the first 10km-ish pretty do-able…
Just outside my morning coffee stop village (as I had come to think of them – and I especially look forward to them on days when breakfast is light on – this morning I had just had two stale slices of toast – with great coffee – and a bottled juice – not great to set you up for 18km) of Bercianos del Real Camino, I came across this…
(breathtaking, those poppies!)
But soon it was break time! After a long, hot morning, there’s nothing like sitting in an airconditioned bar enjoying this:
(not the best coffee here but bonus cookie and cheap freshly squeezed orange juice!)
Though it’s tempting to stop for a while, I find that if I stop too long, it’s hard to get back at it, especially with 8km to go… With nothing in between the towns. And this…
I did spot my first (and only) sunflower on this day though!
(its always a pleasure walking alongside poppy fields!)
Heading into El Burgo Ranero (pop approx 800), there are signs of life…
but actually it’s a tiny town…
I took advantage of a particularly well stocked grocery store to replenish my snack supplies…
(this is called: fruit salad for lunch and make-your-own trail mix)
I also took advantage of a particularly quiet and cool hotel room to nap most of the day and drank a lot of water. Then went for a short wander and then this happened…
(realised only today that I could ASK for the olives to go with my beer…)
And then the World Cup was on (Belgium vs Brazil) and I moved from the bar to the “restaurant” and had a prime seat…
(also the largest glass of wine EVER).
Forewent the “rations”…
(Ear anyone? How about Tidy Olives?)
I went for the Pilgrim menu which featured some greens and fruit!
(the thing about all these meals is, it’s way too much food just for me and I always feel bad but end up eating 1/2 of what they serve… Determined to get my Spanish back up to being able to ask for smaller serving sizes – happy to pay for the full amount, obviously, I just hate food waste – next year).
Two days to go on this year’s leg of the Camino – stay tuned!
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Disclosure: I researched Camino trips independently and chose the Camino Travel Center based on a number of features such as flexibility to accommodate a couple of “splits” in some of the longer days, price and customer service. They were, in fact the first company I came across in my very first Google search and the one I ended up booking with. From the initial inquiry to the actual trips, they have been a pleasure to deal with and we have been very impressed with the service provided (bag transportation) and the accommodation choices. I was not compensated to write about this trip in any way but I love sharing companies and products I believe in with my readers. I couldn’t recommend the Camino Travel Center more and, in fact, am booking another Camino walk with them for next summer (and every summer until I reach Santiago!).
Read more about the Camino de Santiago
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Nice account of the day, Mardi.