9am start this morning. The sun rises at around 8am in Spain at this time of year. After a breakfast of omelette with toast and coffee we set out for the day. Today seemed to be particularly difficult. My feet were screaming at me, my littlest toes on each foot the loudest. I was sure there’d be blood when I took my shoes and socks off in the evening and toenails missing but there wasn’t any of that surprisingly.

A quiet street view in a small town in Spain, featuring historic buildings with faded facades, a streetlamp, and a distant church steeple under a bright blue sky. — Setting out from Cirueña

A man wearing a beanie and carrying a backpack takes a selfie on a rural path, with a person walking in the background and cloudy skies above. — Beanie Selfie, Ron in the background

It was 4C in temperature as we left and I guess I was a little ambitious leaving town without my beanie and gloves on. They quickly came out of the bag and off we went.

The walk today took us through farmland and tracks alongside the roads that lead to our destination for the night. Many potato crops.

A stack of wooden crates along a road, with a tree visible in the background under a cloudy sky. — Walking past potato crates on the path into Santo Domingo

A scenic view of farmland and tracks leading towards a distant town under a cloudy sky. — Looking back to Santo Domingo

We followed roads most of the day with diversions off into little towns every now and then. It was good to have a track alongside the road rather than a walking on the edge of the road with lorries speeding close by.

A view of a rural road under a concrete overpass, with a small town visible in the background. The ground is dry and slightly gravelly, and there are some graffiti markings on the wall. — We stopped at the little town to the left for lunch

After yesterday’s little lunch break in the park next to the supermarket where we nearly froze we thought today we’d be civilised and drop into a cafe in the town above and stay warm. We met our first three pilgrims at that cafe too. A couple from Korea and another fellow from Madrid. We chatted for a little while, had lunch and moved on.

The feet were really screaming by now but there was nothing I could do but continue on. On the top of my shoe there appeared a wet spot and I assumed the worst that there was moisture from blood coming in from the inside of the shoe. As I said earlier, thank goodness that was not the case.

Historic church with stone architecture and a bell tower, surrounded by parked cars in a cobblestone street under a cloudy sky. — The church in the little town where we stopped for lunch

Entrance of an ancient stone church featuring a large wooden door with intricate carvings, surrounded by a circular stone arch and steps leading up to it. — Door to the church

Even with small populations in all the towns we passed through today all had an historic church with steeples with bells that rang on the hour. We could hear them in the distance as we walked. A comforting sound.

A rustic building next to a dirt road, surrounded by harvested farmland and distant hills under a cloudy sky. — Rolling fields

A scenic view of farmland with cultivated fields and a dirt track winding through the landscape. In the background, rolling hills and a small village with a church steeple can be seen under a cloudy sky. — A few landscape shots along the way

A gravel path running alongside a highway with a truck driving by, surrounded by farmland under a cloudy sky. — The path was like this for a lot of the time today, not much to see

A large stack of hay bales against a backdrop of rolling hills and a cloudy sky. — These hay castles dot the landscape quite a bit

A hiker walking along a gravel path beside farmland, with a sunny sky and distant hills in the background. — Walking into Belorado at about 4:30pm

At this point I couldn’t get to the hotel fast enough to see what was going on with my feet. We checked in and rushed to the room to unload the bags and get the shoes off. What a relief! What a surprise too that my feet appeared to be in better shape than I anticipated. I lay on the bed for awhile with all the aches and pains when Ron suggested I take a Radox bath. He’s lugging around about 1kg of the stuff and I poke fun at him about it. I dove into the bath with all my aches and pains and it certainly helped a bit. I think with the feet playing up as they did today I didn’t notice the aches in my shoulders from the backpack. It’s good now to be relaxed. We’re off to find food for dinner.

Thanks for reading.

For stats and a map of today’s walk, you’ll find them below.

Adios Cirueña – El Camino Day 3

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