The pre-dawn start was decidedly a chilly one, necessitating use of jackets for the first time this trek. The day’s walking followed the same schedule as the last few days, walking non-stop for 22km to the first major town (Sahagun) for a well-earned breakfast at 10:00hrs.After some minor distractions to send an urgent mail to Dubai and await opening of the municipal Albergue to collect our requisite Pilgrims Stamp, we plodded on not quite knowing when to stop. On the one hand my metatarsals were bruised and painful and Assie’s right knee was a bit ‘squeeky’, and so reaching Leon in 3 short days would be the more sensible strategy. On the other hand, pushing on to arrive in Leon in just 2 days would mean having an earlier bubble bath and 2 whole days respite before Nikki joins us in the evening of the 19th. It would of course also give us more time to visit the many famous attractions in Leon, in particular its Wine bars!
It was the lure of the latter which led us to walk straight through to El Burgo Ranero, along a poplar tree-lined path purpose built for Perigrinos (Pilgrims), with fantastic views of a mountain range to the north. With iPods to add to the majesty of our surroundings we completed the 41km hike at 14:10. After finding suitable accommodation for the night we kept to the daily ritual of prescribing copious amounts of Rioja to anesthetize pain receptors that other medications can’t reach.
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