Today was a hard days walk. Rain was forecast for the whole day and it was sprinkling as we left our hotel and set out for the walk. The temperature was also low and the wind was blowing which didn’t help. The morning wasn’t too bad as the rain hadn’t really set in. It was after midday that the rain and wind were at their worst.
Our Puenta la Reina stay was pleasant enough. The hotel we stayed at ended up being a two bedroom apartment which meant I could get a good night’s sleep in my own room away from Ron’s snoring. The woman running the hotel also had a small restaurant downstairs and served us a meal which was reasonably priced. For entree we had a tuna, carrot, beetroot and couscous salad. Main course was a meat dish which we both didn’t go too much on. The meat looked like sliced Spam and served with a couple of baked potatoes and the whole dish was sprinkled with paprika. It tasted okay and from what we were told it was slow cooked pork. The restaurant was warm and friendly and the hosts were very hospitable and welcoming. The beer was good too!
There were about a dozen other pilgrims leaving at the same time as us this morning. Everyone was friendly enough to say hi but that’s as far as it went. Too hard today to engage with the inclement weather happening around us. We do feel that the pilgrims last time seemed to be a bit friendlier than this years for some reason.
Today’s walk was not as mountainous as yesterday but with a few small hills here and there to climb. A lot colder today as well so the beanie, useless gloves, jumper and full wet weather gear were all worn.
Because it was so wet the paths were pooled with water and had muddy patches. It really was a water sodden day. I managed to remain mostly dry and warm for the duration of the day but once the rain really set in in the afternoon the water did begin to seep in and get into the shoes and socks and underneath the clothes. There were times it was blowing a freezing gale and that mixed with the rain made walking quite a challenge. For most of the day I didn’t even bother to pull the phone out to take pictures. Too hard, too cold and too miserable, the weather that is.
We seemed to follow a main road for most of the day and passed through a couple of villages. Mostly farmland and vineyards today.
Walking was okay at this stage of the day. A drizzle I can handle okay. It was in the afternoon when we walked into another town down a path that was unsheltered that I really felt like that maybe we should be looking at getting a cab or taking shelter somewhere as the cold and wind was getting a bit too much. Just being concerned a little for our safety. We did push on though and a guy from Italy did pass us in his shorts and sneakers so we thought if he can do it so can we.
The weather really did just get shittier from here on and I didn’t take many more photos. It was too hard to get the phone out and there really wasn’t anything appealing enough to take photos of when all around was pouring with rain.
There was no refuge from the rain underneath the road. The wind was blowing through and when stopped the body cooled down very quickly so it was in our best interests to keep moving and stay warm as best as we could.
We could see a big town in the distance but knew it wasn’t ours for the night as we hadn’t quite clocked up the kilometres yet. Today’s walk was about 22kms all up and at this point we’d done only 17kms. It’s hard to tell distance out in the open. You can see a town in the distance but it seems to take forever to walk and get to for some reason. Anyway, it wasn’t our town, ours was a bit further on. It was pouring now and the wind was making it all worse. Feeling the cold now too but still mostly dry. The shoes had succumbed to the wet and the water had gotten in and the feet and socks were damp. Keep going!
We could finally see the outskirts of our town for the evening up ahead. Once again it seemed to take an age to walk into town. The path seemed to wind around and around and all I wanted to do was get out of the wet, wind and cold.
I could see the hotel I’d booked on the map and I was on a mission to get there as soon as I could so that we could warm up and get something to eat.
We followed the Camino into Estella. I’d made sure that the hotel I booked was on the Camino and not off the beaten track. I do this for all the hotels as I couldn’t think of anything worse then arriving to a place and then having to traipse through town for miles to get to our lodging. Tonight’s hotel is on the Camino path so we found it easily enough. It means in the morning after breakfast we can easily re-join the path and continue on our journey.
That’s it for me today. A tough and challenging day we managed to get through okay. Thanks for reading.
For stats and a map of today’s walk you’ll find them here.
Buen Camino! 😊
I feel so sorry for you about the weather. Say a prayer for us as we are struggling with the smoke of the bush fires ravaging so many towns around us. I should say, say a prayer for those affected by the bush fires! Send us the rain please.
Take care and I hope the weather improves xx