Burgos to Fromista

Day 17 Burgos to Hornillos del Camino (20kms)

We are ready to walk straight after our 8.00am breakfast and walk out the door at exactly 8.30am and immediately join the Camino route, past the Cathedral, and out through the town gate into the suburbs.  It’s quite a pleasant walk along the river, past the university and a huge sporting complex – athletics track with all events catered for, and a very large building which could house an indoor 100m track, as well as maybe gymnastics and other training facilities.  We have our first break as we hit the end of town, and shortly after, both need a toilet break.  I think I part company with the remainder of the Castellano soup!  But my new shoes are going well.

There are some discrepancies with our map along the next part of the route…both the Camino and the railway line seem to have been re-routed, the railway line upgraded to a VFT line – we see a train (2 11-car trains joined) to confirm this.  We pass a very large penitentiary, by-pass the first two villages, and see a large housing development, street lights in position, road made, but only 2 apartment buildings in one corner…the sales office is looking a bit tired so maybe someone ran out of funds.

At Tardajos we stop in the main street on a park bench for our baguette and jam, collect water from a font, and continue on to Rabe de las Calzadas.  As we start the steady but gentle climb to the meseta, we find a chapel and cemetery on the side of the road.  There is a nice shady tree beside the chapel with a park bench so we decide to have elevenses there, even though it’s actually just after 12.  Our original gas canister is still soldiering on...starting to struggle but manages another boil.

We have been seeing groups of walkers throughout the morning with not much gear, in fact some with no packs at all.  It seems there are 2 groups…one is French, from Paris, who walk a different part of the Camino for one week each year.  They will catch the night train tonight back to Paris.  The other group is Spanish, who are walking just for 3 days.  They walk today from Burgos to Hornillos, a bus takes them back to their hotel in Burgos, brings them back again in the morning when they will walk to Castrojeriz, stay the night, and then they walk on to Fromista where they will stay the night, and then are taken home by bus…a very civilised way to make the journey…but not real peregrinos!or (according to some people you talk to.)  

As we climb – about 150m over 2-3kms – we see the start of the meseta.  This is open farmland, no fences, mostly stubble at the moment apart from a couple of struggling sunflower crops, but not rolling away to the horizon as the guide books say – not yet, anyway. The meseta seems to be the Spanish equivalent of the Alti Plano in Bolivia. We meet a young Dutch girl riding her Dutch bike – with no gears – loaded up with panniers.  This is a great effort, considering that most of the bikes we see are state-of-the-art mountain bikes, or at least hybrids, with all the whistles and bells.  The wind is getting up as we gain height, whipping across the open plain, and we see a sign warning cyclists of the dangers of a steep descent and advising extreme caution.  We have to move off the road for a Civil Protection Service vehicle – both the vehicle and the occupants are reminiscent of the SES. 



Casa Rural El  Molino



The warning to cyclists is well founded – a very steep descent, with loose stones, some quite big, and ruts in the road – a test of skill and you would have no chance of recovery if you made the wrong decision.  Once on the flat, we soon come to Hornillos del Camino and are surprised to find a small shop as well as a bar…and about 50 French and Spanish walkers, all wanting a seat, all wanting a drink from the bar, and all wanting to talk at the same time!  We use our ‘new’ Spanish SIM card to make a phone call to Casa Rural and John thinks that they say they will pick us up…the lady speaks no English at all so the conversation is reliant on John’s Spanish…!!  In the fullness of time, a Mercedes arrives, parks and the man goes into the bar.  A while later (just enough time for a pot, we estimate) he comes out and asks for the people going to Casa Rural.  That’s us, so off we go…it’s about 11kms, a little more than the 6kms we have been told, and certainly too far to walk, and even if we did, the convoluted route would  confuse the most efficient navigator!!



Beer on tap



On arrival, we find that our bags are not part of the pile on the veranda…a phone call to Jacotrans (our luggage transport company) from our hostess finds that they are still in Burgos, not having been collected by the courier.  She assures us that they will be here in one hour – it transpires that someone from Casa Rural drives to Burgos and picks them up…what great service!  We enjoy a walk around the property and beer (on tap), coffee and orange juice. 

An interesting water story...a canal runs beneath the house.  Water is lifted from the river by a water wheel into the canal which is then used to operate another water wheel that originally drove a mill for grinding grain, and then rejoins the river below the house. 

The ducks and geese enjoy the water, the chooks sleep in the dog house, the dog sleeps in the middle of the driveway during the day, obviously conserving his energy for after dark!

The other bags on the veranda belong to 5 French couples, from the Versailles area, who are walking the Camino one week per year, and today is the first day of their 2010 Camino.  They met when their children were in Scouts and some of them were leaders.  They all have 4 kids, like us, and now they mostly have grandchildren!  We enjoy their convivial company at dinner, which was magnificent…after which our host brings out the tray of liqueurs!  Much hilarity as tasting gets underway.  After a really nice chat, we all head for bed.

Day 18 Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz (21 kms)

Most people are kept awake to some degree by barking dogs during the night – they seem to be like the people…sleep all day and come to life when the lights go out!  One of our French friends actually went and knocked on the host’s door to ask if they could tell them to stop!  At 6.30am there is a starry sky but by 7.00am it has clouded over and the wind is intensifying by the time we leave.

Breakfast for 12 is served by one man, with the assistance of one toaster and a double gas ring.  He toasts baguette slices, 4 at a time and water is heated, on request, for tea and coffee.  Needless to say, breakfast takes some time

We are first to leave the casa en route back to Hornillos del Camino for resumption of our journey.  We start walking at 8.20am in overcast conditions with a cold, gusty wind.  We climb out of the village onto the meseta directly into the teeth of the ever-increasing wind…it is enough to unsettle our footing and impede progress.  This section of the meseta is the unending vista we have been reading about.  Grain fields to the horizon with numerous piles of limestone rocks being the only feature…we find these very useful for windbreaks when necessary.  The strong winds make this an ideal location for wind turbines which line the horizon.



Out of the wind into Hontanas



The trail winds its way down to San Bol where there is one lonely little albergue…possibly an old church as there are ruins around the area that could indicate the presence of a village in days gone by.  Back up onto the flat top for another battering until we descend to the village of Hontanas – a pretty little medieval village nestled at the head of a valley…we can well understand why villages were built in the valley around here!  Not knowing where or if we will be able to boil our billy today, we decide to stop at the albergue bar for a coffee and baguette, filled with delicious tortilla.  The church bells are summoning the faithful to 11.00am Mass and we meet more peregrinos here than we see for the rest of the day.

We follow the valley down on a foot track, past San Miguel…one tall stone column standing guard over the valley, possibly the only remnant of a monastery or the like…wending our way down to the road which we follow to the substantial ruins of the Gothic Convento de San Anton.  There is a refugio here where a nice man offers shelter and hot drinks to pilgrims if they need to rest.  A small albergue is next door to the Convento.

When the disease, St Anthony’s Fire, broke out across Europe in the 10^th and 11^th centuries, causing reddened extremities, burning skin boils and gangrene, the saint’s order blessed pilgrims as insurance against the disease as they passed through.



Convento de San Anton



The race with the rain now begins.  Threatening clouds gather to the south-west and we see rain on the horizon.  We are about 4kms from our accommodation, put the “pedal to the metal” and we reach the Hostal El Manzano, right on the edge of town and next to the Church of the Virgen del Manzano, just as the first drops of rain fall! 

After our ‘nanna nap’ the rain has eased, but the strong wind accompanies us as we explore the village.  We have a beer and a coffee at a bar where we can use the internet, sharing the area with 7 card players, 8 spectators, and a cloud of smoke!  We haven’t seen any of the aforementioned Spanish walkers today until we meet a couple who have lost their hotel.  They eventually find their bus, complete with a bin still full of luggage …must be quite a few still on the track…and the driver gives them directions.

We return to the hostal to complete our diary and put on another layer of clothing before heading back to town for dinner.

Rain is falling as we find the nearest restaurant to our Hostal…La Taverner, where the ambience is probably the best we have experienced.  The menu is varied and the young waiter is charming, suggesting a nice Rose instead of the usual heavy red wine that is usually served.  As usual the locals come and go, the ladies play cards, the dog sleeps on the seat below the coat rack and the cat takes up a chair in the bar, tolerating an occasional scratch behind the ear!

The rain has stopped as we walk ‘home’ and we hope for a fine day tomorrow to continue our way across the meseta.

Day 19 Castrojeriz to Fromista (26.5 + 6 kms)

We start walking at 8.25am under a clear sky but still a cold wind, and not quite light.

We called at one of the Albergues to get our Credentiales stamped but when we found the manager, he wouldn’t give  the stamps…all he was interested in was that I hadn’t removed my boots at the door!

Uphill into the wind

Outside of town is an ancient 11-arch causeway, leading on to a wooden bridge which is closed to road traffic because the roadway at the end of the bridge has been washed away and there is a drop of several metres into the river bed.

We start the steep climb to the meseta in the first rays of watery sunshine on a stony, but well formed track.  Great views over the valley can  be had on the way up, and from the top where a reasonably new shelter of stone and timber cuts the wind and allows some comfort as you recover from the climb.  We have a drink and a snack and catch up with 3 young men, one of whom we have seen most days.

500m across the meseta and into a very stiff cold wind…one of our party comments that “it is strong enough to blow the s..t back up your nose”… and we see another sign warning cyclists of a dangerous descent.  This descent is quite a bit steeper than the ascent and leads to more farmland with no signs at all of habitation.  Another shorter climb leads to a picnic area and fuente.  We stop for another breakfast and drink.  An enterprising fellow is handing out brochures for his accommodation – we are seeing this more often as we head west.  We are overtaken here by the first of the Spanish.



7 arch bridge



The tarmac road takes us to the Rio Pisuerga, the boundary of Burgos and Palencia Provinces and the 7 arch stone bridge.

We decide to stop off in Itero de la Vega for a toilet, which has to include a coffee.  Here we meet Bev and Chris from Cessnock – they recognised our Relay tops as they are regulars at their local event.  They are walking about 30km a day, so this will probably be the last we see of them unless we catch up in Fromista at the end of today. 

A booth in the town gives us our sellos and then it’s back to open farmland, and for the first time, we see round bales wrapped in plastic.  Our map book says that across the meseta our only complanions may be a shepherd and his flock – today he found us!  One shepherd, one donkey, two dogs and many sheep wandering across the open meseta.

The village of Boacidilla was the location of our second lunch, and a brew.  Just along this road, I lost my other Fuji bell!!

We become temporarily geographically embarrassed after taking the wrong turn out of town, but after back-tracking, find the correct route and walk along the bank of a substantial canal, once used for transportation but now for irrigation.  After about 4kms we come to a series of locks, cross over bridge and walk down into town.

Again our accommodation is not difficult to find, but we are not happy that breakfast is not included.  Our host takes her duties very seriously, speaks no English, and explains about six times in rapid fire Spanish where we might find dinner and breakfast.  Elaine is very tired and sore tonight so has a ‘nanna nap’ while John reconnoitres and shops.  He meets Jan but not Chris and Bev.

We think we may be the only occupants of the accommodation until Michelle comes along – she is French, and lives in British Columbia for 6 mths of the year and France the other 6.

We have dinner at the restaurant recommended by our host and Michelle joins us there.  She is doing the Camino in stages – she began some time ago in Le Puy in France, has walked over 1,000kms, and this time she will reach Santiago.