Terradillos de los Templarios to Mansilla de las Mulas

Day 23 Terradillos de los Templarios to Sahagun (16kms)

Most of our accommodation in rural areas is in pensions or hostels which have a bar and/or restaurant downstairs. Hence, breakfast is in the bar with the locals who call in on their way to somewhere…it’s often hard to tell if they are, in fact, on their way, or if the bar is the destination! Cupcakes, sweet pastries, sponge slices with the occasional croissant is the usual fare, with a cup (2, if you’re lucky!) of tea/coffee.

We start walking today at 8.25am under overcast skies. We take the scenic route as opposed to the senda from the start. We have remarked on the fact that we haven’t seen many farm animals on this section of the Camino, apart from the odd flock of sheep. This morning we pass feed lot cattle sheds – they are the first we’ve seen up close but now suspect that large barns we’ve seen in the distance may have been the same thing. We meet a girl from Oregon who asks if I am a cancer survivor – Relay For Life top strikes again! She was on the organising committee for the event at University of South Dakota last year…she loves Relay and wanted to hear all about our event.



¨Hobbit¨house



The first village we come to is Moratinos where we see some more hobbit houses – little doorways in hillside with ventilation chimneys which appear to be no longer inhabited, but possibly used as storage areas. On to San Nicolas del Real Camino for our second breakfast where we boil the billy, under cover and out of the cold wind, on benches outside the church, and enjoy tostas and jam. We catch up with a lot of peregrinos who have stopped at a nearby bar for their breakfast.



Brekky #2



From here we make a decision to take the quieter and more scenic route, even though it is 2km longer. It proves to be both because we did not see a building or a single other soul for the entire 7.5kms, not even a farmer in a field. The first section (3+kms) is unmarked so it is good to see the way markers start again as confirmation that we are in fact on the correct route. Across the undulating landscape and we catch sight of Sahagun from the hilltop, still about 5km ahead, before turning onto the road for about 300m then off again via the Ermita Virgen del Puente…a church near a bridge which seems to have been built as a picturesque approach to the church, not to keep anyone’s feet dry, because there is no stream in sight! The church is undergoing serious restoration and we stop for a drink at the nearby picnic spot and watch the workers try to decide whether to continue to work, have another drink, turn up the radio, or maybe go home!

Sahagun does not have the most scenic approach, with a walk along the road and across the railway line outside the bullring, but lunch of tortilla, this time with added cured ham, gives us the impetus to set off to look around town. Our hostal is in the main plaza so we have all the services nearby.

The different architecture here, mudejar style, with small bricks replacing stones as the building material of choice. Sahagun is known for its many different buildings, but both we, and others we have met, find it little disappointing and perhaps a bit overrated.

Back at the hostal, we check out our days ahead for supply shopping as there are limited opportunities over the next few days. At the supermarket we meet Emma (Melbourne), Katherine (Canada), Steven (US) and ‘the Dutch woman’ whose name nobody ever used. They are shopping for a communal dinner at the albergue because “the Dutch woman wants to cook.”

Rather than wait until 7.30pm for dinner, we opt for spaghetti at a restaurant where they couldn’t be less interested, possibly because there is a cover charge after 8.30pm and we are early!! We buy an icecream for sweets and sit in the tree-lined plaza watching the world at play…proud nannas with babies in prams, small boys playing soccer, small girls with their skipping ropes, tiny children running the length of the plaza, all intermingling but without mishap, while their parents sit in cafes all around the edge sipping their beverage of choice and generally chewing the fat.

Overnight rain wakes us a couple of times…it’s caught us at last!!

Day 24 Sahagun to Calzadilla de los Hermanillos (13kms)

Another bar breakfast – 1 choice of pastry and 1 drink…have to pay for our second cuppa!...and set onto the footpath at 8.23am under threatening skies, with pack covers on. Less than 1km down the track we have our rain jackets on and not much further before Elaine adds overtrousers. The showers are mostly brief with not much substance, but a couple are quite heavy enough to make the jackets essential.

A matter of perception about the route to Manilla de las Mulas via Calzadilla de los Hermanillos between Lonely Planet and our map book. Lonely Planet describes the way as “on a rugged, desolate, poorly marked alternative…only Calzadilla de los Hermanillos breaks the monotony” and actually recommend the senda for 32kms along the side of the road! On the other hand our map book describes the same section thus: “Leave the busy main road behind and experience the true beauty of the meseta by following the old Roman road.”

Noisy beast!

We enjoy the solitude of the way, and have just commented on the fact that we have seen no-one except a couple of cycling peregrinos, when a roar from the rear produces a large tractor towing a very large trailer. Shortly after, a red van appears coming towards us, and a little later, a two-tone green mini-van appears!

The rain continues intermittently as we walk through a forest of small trees, many with fruit that look like acorns, which provide some protection from the cold wind. The road has become very wet, of course, and we have trouble keeping out of the red mud.



Fuente and playground



We come to a “park” with a decorative fountain, a small stone shelter and some playground equipment…in the middle of nowhere…before we crest the hill and there before our eyes is the village we seek. As we make our way along the street, the heavens open and an absolute downpour has us trying to shelter along the lee side of the buildings. A sign to the Casa El Cura, our overnight stay, is a welcome sight and we arrive dripping, to be met by our hosts, Gemma and Leo, who produce a hat stand for us to hang our jackets, etc. We change out of our walking clothes, which are not wet from the rain but damp from condensation, and enjoy a lunch of fantastic soup and salad, followed by coffee and a ‘brew’ made by Gemma’s mother…what a punch!

A guided tour of the casa with Gemma, who runs the place with her husband and mother, follows. They have an amazing display of photographs of the family dating back several generations, as well as traditional clothing worn by family members (wedding jacket and veil worn by Gemma’s great-grandmother and grandmother), and artefacts like tools, art work (china painting, stained glass windows, paintings, collages) by her mother, and many other interesting things.

Wash house

John takes a tour of the village while I try to shake off the remnants of the head cold that is still hanging around. He finds a washing shed, where ladies still do their ‘whites’ and hang them in the sun to ensure their ‘whiteness’…not today, though! And lots of frogs, for which this area is famous.

John sneaks off to boil our billy for a cuppa before dinner…all homemade by Leo and La Mama…is spaghetti bolognese, roast beef and veggies, cheesecake, and yoghurt made from sheep’s milk. This is the first evening meal we have had with vegetables and no fries!! For some reason, hosts seem to think peregrinos like/want/need fries!! We are joined at dinner by some folk who are staying at the local albergue where it is cold and dinner is not available. After we all partake of more of mama’s brew, we stagger off to bed.

Day 25 Calzadilla de los Hermanillos to Mansilla las Mulas (25kms)

It is cold and very foggy, but not really wet when we set out at this morning, however we wear our rain jackets to keep out the cold breeze. Our pack covers collect condensation on the inside…body heat produced as we power our way along the trail is obviously responsible for this!!

We have been warned that today “you will encounter no asphalt roads, no sendas, no bridges, and no metal signposts. You will pass through no town, no village, no farmyard and no houses.”

Wet and foggy!

This is the Calzada Romana, the road that originally linked the Bordeaux region of France with the mining region of Astorga, being used by military and traders alike. We leave the village on a paved road which continues for 5-6kms before turning to gravel. We know the going is flat but more than that is a bit of a mystery because visibility is about 70-100m or thereabouts. In view of the previous information, we are surprised to find, about an hour and a half along the road, a new shelter looming out of the fog and we take the opportunity to sit and have a drink, etc. We hear a train only about 1km away but can’t see it.

By 10.30am the first patches of sunlight are breaking through and the mist dissipates fairly quickly. We boil the billy for elevenses on the edge of a culvert which is the only place to sit apart from the middle of the road…no new shelter here! There is a deep ditch right alongside the road, and on the other side of the ditch is either a ploughed field or inhospitable undergrowth. Now we can see the train line and the train as it passes by. The road and train line merge briefly at about midday and we get our first glimpse of Mansilla las Mulas, still about 12kms away

The road continues to be muddy with lots of puddles and we come to the Rio de Valdearcos, with stands of poplars the only shade available for the whole day. Every day we notice a change of colour in the poplars.

As we climb back to the meseta, we come across a narrow fenced section which we assume is protecting a well preserved section of Roman road. A new canal under construction, and a wide, recently laid white gravel road (obviously for access to the canal) takes over from the previous 4WD-style track. It is now a grind along this road, much of it perfectly straight, for the 12km stretch into Mansill las Mulas…the only really boring, soul-destroying section of the Camino we have experienced. We reach the sign pointing to Reliegos, which we decide not to take and it is here that we come to the conclusion that the Camino has been slightly re-routed because of the new road. The one bend, which turns towards the road into the town, never seems to be within reach.

Stone soup!

Two points of interest…firstly, a massive complex of buildings which we can only think is a penitentiary. Other peregrinos have the same thought. And secondly, if you think you have seen stony fields, probably not. We wonder how anything can grow where you can barely see any soil…but the field is ready for sowing.

Finally, we reach that bend in the road and manage the next 4kms into town, entering through the major gateway, part of the original town wall. Somehow we find the energy to stroll around the sights before heading back for dinner in the pension, a shower and bed!