Camino de Santiago Frances
INTROThe Camino de Santiago is a network of long distance pilgrimages throughout Europe, primarily Spain, leading to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Sunrise gifts for my efforts
I am currently on the Frances route which began in Saint Jean Pied de Port, France. This route is roughly 500 miles (800 kilometers). This is different from an other backpacking I’ve done; less wilderness, more showers/town food.
Day 14 - 16 took me from San Anton Ruins, Spain to Bercianos, Spain.
OVERVIEWDAYS3
MILES/kilometers60.6/97
TOTAL ELEVATION GAINED2385 ft
TOTAL ELEVATION LOSS2227 ft
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Plugging away Meseta miles day over day.
Fantastic group dynamic was solidified with the addition of Sebastian.
Enjoyed a Spanish Farmers Market.
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Days were hot and long.
Rude volunteer at Bercianos albergue that made our group terribly uncomfortable.
Quality sleep continued to evade me.
Calzadilla albergue after a long service less stretch
In Depth
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Accommodation: Albergue de Población de Campos
Distance: 19.8 miles/ 31.7 kilometers
Elevation Gain: 995 ft
Elevation Loss: 1082 ft
The night at San Anton ruins was beautiful, but I had some digestive issues that impeded the quality of my sleep. In the morning, I was awoken by the sound of gentle music and candlelight in the dining room. Susan and Joette made French toast which we had by candlelight (as there was no electricity in the place). It was a great way to start the day, especially after my long night.
One highlight from the day prior was that Kim decided to paint rocks for everyone with their names and Camino themed colors on them. She also painted a rock with a long message on it (pictured below) named Dwayne. The goal is to get Dwayne to Santiago - read the message below. It was a fun game.
There was a decent climb out of Castrojeriz onto the plateau so we wouldn’t climb very much more of the day, but it was a bit of elevation gain. But this led itself to many beautiful views as well.
The group, of course, stopped at a coffee shop to grab more caffeine to fuel the day which I desperately needed after my terrible night sleep. We also stopped at a restaurant that Susan recommended to us for lunch and she also joined us! After this point it was a long walk along the canal which was flat fast hiking and pleasurable conversation.
The natural stopping point for the day was Fromista but again because our group like to stay off stage, we continued to push on. The last few kilometers of the day felt like a march more than anything all while we were out running a bit of rain.
This was one of my least favorite albergues of the entire French route. The proprietor was very much intoxicated - primarily with marijuana. He gave inconsistent directions to people, was loud, and just made the overall experience somewhat uncomfortable. I know that Kim and Alex laughed with him a few different points, but his inconsistency and lack of logic hurt the days experience.
For dinner, there was not much available. I just got a few snacks from a vending area after I had such a large lunch.
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Accommodation: Hostel Camino Real
Distance: 20.9 miles/ 33.4 kilometers
Elevation Gain: 564 ft
Elevation Loss: 329 ft
We stopped at the first place open in town for breakfast. And though they said they open at 6:00am, they actually open at 7:00am and we’re very frustrated that their six of us waiting for breakfast when they opened. Oops.
It was slated to rain for the first half of the day so all of us just put our head down and plugged away as the rain came down in buckets. After over 5 miles in myself, Alex and Dmytrii popped into a café to hide from the rain. It is common to chat among pilgrims about your personal life and why you came to the Camino. But while at the cafe, two women from the United States were asking such painfully invasive questions that it made me deeply uncomfortable. It was clear the intent was not to get to know me, but rather to judge me. It was disheartening to know that that is the impression that people from the United States are leaving with others.
Eventually, the rain subsided, and we got into a town where we all went to the grocery store and had lunch sitting in the park. Kim and Sebastian went into sporting goods store and got her new shoes which we predicted was the culprit of some of her foot problems. She was very happy as she walked out in. Her blisters felt slightly better.
The upcoming 17km was the longest stretch on the Camino Frances with no services so we packed snacks and water for this very straight, dry, somewhat boring stretch. Of course the sun was out and stronger at this point, but luckily we got some clouds in her mixed in.
Despite me having done 10 miles with no service as many times before.. this was pretty uncomfortable. Jac and I stopped at one point for a quick reat and I fell asleep on a bench for five minutes which will give you an idea of how tired or bored I was?
Once we reached to the hostel, it was lovely. The group had gotten into a habit of doing push-ups in the evening to try and balance out the usage of our legs while hiking. At 5:00pm we completed some of our push-ups and while giggling, got yelled at by a man in Italian saying that we were acting like tourists and not pilgrims. We unfortunately would continue to see this man for weeks to come, and he never once had an interaction with us again.
I just ate snacks from the grocery store for this meal and chatted with some friends on the phone. Overall, I slept well despite there being many snorers in the room.
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Accommodation: Albergue Parroquial Casa Rectoral
Distance: 19.9 miles/ 31.8 kilometers
Elevation Gain: 826 ft
Elevation Loss: 816 ft
I left a bit earlier than some of the other folks because it felt like a longer day for some reason. I saw a beautiful sunrise and it felt like a gift for getting up early. We all met at a coffee shop several miles in and caught up with each other.
Lunch was in a larger town that had a full farmers market. We hiked in twos this day Jak and Dmytrii, Kim and Sebastian, Alex and myself. We all met up in town and shared lunch and made a plan for dinner. We had gotten to the point where we did like to eat dinner together, especially dinners that we didn’t have to cook– Girl dinner.
We eventually got to the spot for the night. And we’re thankful to be there because the last few kilometers felt like a push again. This was a donativo spot which we had only had positive experiences with thus far. Typically they offer dinner as well as breakfast but because we had carried out so much food from the market, we opted out of dinner. This made the volunteers pretty upset.
There was one Volunteer from the United States, Texas a hospital chaplain, who said that we were “ruining the community of the Camino because we didn’t want to have dinner.” She didn’t think that we could hear this, but her speaking in front of an open window with us on the other side made it pretty clear. This made the rest of the day uncomfortable.
It was a neat building, but that experience had taken away all of the warmth. The six of us enjoyed our meal outside just before the rain came. We were all in the same bunk room and slept pretty well as we heard a huge storm rolling through. The rain was a great sound to fall asleep to.
GALLERY
