CARRION DE LOS CONDES – TERRADILLOS

9 APRIL

26.8km

We woke up very early this morning. It was a restless night with people tossing and turning in their sleeping bags during the night. When we left the albergue at around 6:30, there were only a few pilgrims still in their beds.

Most of today’s walk would be on natural paths and because we are still on the Meseta, the landscape will probably be featureless. But we were walking with our fellow pilgrims today and their company made the flat landscapes a little less unattractive.

Last night, Monica told me that she was using a company, Jacotrans, that transport backpacks for pilgrims and I thought it might be a good idea to transport mine as well for the next couple of days to give my blisters some time to heal. Back home in South Africa, we bought a small bag for when we want to do shopping on the Camino and this bag is now on my back with only the bare essentials (sunscreen, snacks for the day, extra socks and our passports and pilgrim credentials). This made the walk much easier and I only felt my blistered feet towards the end of the day’s walk.

Early morning, just after we left Carrion de los Condes

It was cold during the early morning, but as the day progressed and the sun came out, it turned into a beautiful day.

We saw many pilgrims on the road today and every now and then, we stopped to chat and ask how everyone was doing. There was a wonderful camaraderie between us … I loved every moment of this journey.

Time to take the jackets off and get the sunscreen out. Berto is here with Carl, Brian and Monica, as well as one of the Korean girls

There were no facilities for almost 17km and we were relieved that we cooked eggs the previous night. We stopped at one of the wooden benches to enjoy these and some snacks – also a great time to rest and enjoy the complete tranquility.

The long white gravel road that took us to Terradillos

For the last 9km, we were back on the “senda” along the main road

Eventually we reached Ledigos where we stopped at a small café to have a cold drink – by now the sun was hot and our water lukewarm. Berto chatted with a German pilgrim we had seen on the Camino for a few days now – his backpack was twice the size of ours! Berto told him about Ivar’s office in Santiago that will store your (unnecessary) goods until you get there. You just needed to find a post office and send some of your stuff ahead. We had the information of Ivar’s services stored on my cell phone and shared these with him.

Note: We saw the same guy a week later and he had then a much lighter backpack – he was very happy that we informed him of this service.

Lesson learned: Don’t shy away by sharing information or knowledge with others from which they can benefit

Berto in conversation with a German pilgrim in Ledigos

You would be forgiven if you miss the small town of Terradillos! With a population of only 80, this is a humble little village … but exactly what we needed after a hot day in the sun! The Albergue Jacques de Molay was an inviting place to stay for the night and we were happy to find beds here.

The private garden of Albergue Jacques de Molay

We washed our clothes and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the shade of the big sun umbrellas.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at the albergue and spent the rest of the evening in the company of our fellow pilgrims.

It was a blessed day.