Belorado to San Juan de Ortega May 19

Uploaded: May 19 narrative only - wifi too slow to handle pictures

Pictures Uploaded on May 21

We woke today to cold temps and rain. Not more than a sprinkle at first and it was not too unpleasant as I walked the nearly 5 km to my hoped for breakfast stop at Tosantos. No such luck as the bar promised 50 m down the road was non existent and as well it started to rain a steady drizzle. I put on my trusty rain jacket, which covered both me and my backpack down to my knees. Standard issue rain gear for pilgrims.

I had more luck at my next stop Villambistia, where for a mere 4.80 EUR I got a really nice warm tortilla bocadilla and a cafe con leche. I can only eat about half of the bocadilla, but that leaves a half to stow away for my lunch. This was just what I needed to pick up my pace for the long walk ahead.

 

The towns of Espinosa and Villafranca arrived quickly now that I was keeping a good pace and I fortified with a glass of Zoma (fresh squeezed OJ) at Villafranca as it was the last village for 10.8 km when I would arrive at San Juan de Ortega.

A memorial at a mass grave of men from Burgos from 1938 during the Spanish Civil War.

 

There was Interesting geography in those 10 km. There are two high points (Alto Mojapan and Alto Pedraja both at about 1100 m separated by a very steep sided valley of maybe 100 m descent over perhaps a kilometre known as Puerto de la Pedraja. According to my Cultural Guide to the Camino, this divides the watersheds of the Ebro, flowing to the Mediterrean, and the Duero, which empties into the Atlantic.

There is a monument on the east side to men of Burgos whose bodies were dumped on this spot in the civil war of 1936.

 

We walked a Good 8 km or so on a muddy road through a pine forest, which was a change from the wheat fields. The road was part of a trail system for what looked like 4X4 off road enthusiasts and mountain bikers. In fact one convoy of vehicles passed me twice on the road. I guess they were circling around the paths.

It wasn't long before we arrived at The Monastery and Church of San Juan de Ortega. 7EUR for the bed and 7.5 EUR for dinner so not a bad deal. I arrived just before 2 pm after a good days walk, but wet, cold and tired so crawled into my warm sleeping bag and napped for a few hours after eating my lunch.

 

 

 

The master Hospitalaro who ran it all! Greeting and checking in over 62 pilgrims and seeing to their needs including serving dinner! He never stopped for a moment the whole time I was there an always a smile on his face.

Tomorrow we walk into Burgos, which will be a tiring 26.1 km through the industrial outskirts of town before we get to the nice bit. I am thinking of taking an extra day there to do a bit of sightseeing, and if so will look for a library for decent internet, so I can upload todays pictures.

 

 

 

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Granon to Belorado - May 18

you can see the mist in the valley www past days ago.

Today was a slow day. Started slow and my walking day ended early as I just didn't have much steam. Perhaps, I was paying a price for the huge dinner last night or maybe it was a poor night's sleep but in any case I found it difficult to keep up a good stride today.

The weather today is spectacular. Blue sky's and warm temps really make it a better day for sitting on the patio with a glass of sangria than tramping down the road but no matter, I had a great view. I had better enjoy today, I hear that we are going back to cold and rain tomorrow.

We were warned at the Albergue last night that we were not to get out of bed before 6:30 and that there would be a community breakfast at 7:00. I decided to go with the flow and sleep in and have breakfast at the Albergue, rather than rush off early as is my usual start. Of course, there were some folks who ignored the directive and I was woken to the sounds of 4 or so of my room mates rustling about and getting ready to leave at 5:00 am. I slept fitfully until 6:30 with all the commotion. Then woke up to my breakfast of coffee, bread and jam. I probably should have given that a pass. I was on the road at 7:40.

At the edge of town there was a nice viewpoint of the countryside around and I was able to capture the first photos above showing the way I have come and the valleys behind me filled with mist. I was amazed at the tones of green I saw in the fields around me.

Over the first hill we saw our first coffee stop, a typical little Spanish town with a bar/cafe open early and a bunch of tables and chairs set out in the street for the pilgrims to use. I do enjoy a glass of fresh sqeezed OJ and the bread and jam this morning didn't give me the protein that I craved. A hueve bocadilla (fried egg on a bun) and a glass of zumo and I was back on the road.

We literally followed the road today. The N120 is the highway which goes from Logrono to Burgos and then path paralleled the highway for the most part. We walked through fields of wheat, oats and beans to the sounds of the trucks zooming by. Mostly though the fields were growing wheat.

About 9:30 we passed into the Autonomous Region of Castille y Leon into the province of Burgos. The City of Burgos is now advertised on the highway signage and is about 50 km distant. Two good days walk from here.

Walked through a couple more sleepy towns and then into Belorado, a pretty typical small town with a market in full swing in the town square. It was only 12:30 when I checked into the Municipal Albergue, but I was just not interested in going further. The Albergue doubled as a restaurant and as we checked in, the operator of the Albergue carefully explained that we would get the best food in town here from his kichen. He quickly followed with the note that we were free to eat anywhere and that he was just providing this as information.

Today I managed to put in only 15.7 km before throwing in the towel. Tomorrow I will need to do better as there are 23.8 km (26.7 km adjusted for the ascent over 2 peaks) to go before I get to my intended destination of San Juan de Ortega.

 

 

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