JUST SOME STUFF

In a previous post about old friends, new friends I forgot to mention this little story, a true story.  While walking on the Meseta, I would see this man who looked familiar.  Not that I thought I knew him, he looked like someone I knew.  I saw him several times while walking and at rest stops along the way.  One evening at an albergue bar, he came in and the only seat available was across the table from me.  I offered him the empty seat.  I was looking at him and again he looked familiar, so I asked him where he was from.  He answered, “Mexico”.  I then asked if he had walked the Camino before, he answered “4 times”. Then I asked, “In 2105?”  He then pointed at me and said, “I had dinner with you in Santiago”.   On the Camino in 2015, Emilio lost his money belt.  My Camino brother Alex found it and was able to return it to him.  The dinner in Santiago was a celebration.  Even on the Camino it is a small world.

One of the readers of the blog sent me a question e-mail.  They asked if walking on the road was dangerous.  In medieval times, it was bandits one worried about, now it’s the odd 18 wheeler or a tractor.  Actually most of the paths and roads we walk are are pretty rural.  Today walking on a local road I only saw 4 or 5 cars in 10 miles.  There are places where you are walking a a busy highway, but they are few and far between.  The worst part about walking on a highway is what the pavement does to your body.  If its hot, your feet are burning, not to mention the stress on one’s joints.

Although, as anywhere, there is some crime, but no more than one would expect at home.  Actually probably less on the Camino.  In 2015, an American woman went missing and was later found murdered.  The perpetrator was caught and convicted.  I have noticed a greater police presence on the Camino this year, with officers patrolling the route both in cars and on bicycles.  The Camino is the lifeblood of some of the communities it passes through and the Spanish Government understands this and has taken steps to make it a safe journey.

The Camino remains crowded and in some towns all the available beds are taken.  I continue to book ahead as it takes the worry out of finding a place to sleep.  Strange, tonight I am in a rural hotel about 300 yards of the Camino in the town of Hospital de Órbigo.  The main part of the town is booked solid, but here I am the only guest.  A room, laundry done, dinner with all the wine I want, and breakfast for 50€.  And they did the laundry. Most pilgrims don’t want to walk any further than they have to.

A THREE STORK TOWN

PILGRIMS DINNER

A DIFFERENT KIND OF PILGRIM

NOW THATS’ A BOCIDILLO 

KICKIN IT IN LEON