11 SEPTEMBER - SAN JUAN DE ORTEGA - 24km

Marion told us that it was Jeff's birthday today and as there was only one place in San Juan to have a meal, we would celebrate by having dinner together.  She had asked her friend Ben to make a small stained glass and lead cross for Jeff as a birthday present.

We passed through Tosantos where we had stayed in 2007 with the wonderful Jose Luiz.  The guide book told us to take care when walking through the village of Villafranca Montes de Orca because of fast moving traffic.  With a population of 230 people, we couldn't imagine that the traffic should be too busy!  However, the road is a national one with fast moving trucks and other heavies, and very little shoulder to walk on.

Today started off with a steep, steep climb straight up through a forest on a rocky path.  Thereafter is was a day of fruit - with pears, apples, plums, blackberries and quince in abundance.

We started climbing again and when we thought we would never see civilisation again, there in a clearing was a strange sight.  Upturned cut logs, a couple of hammocks, music coming from the open boot of a small car and three lovely ladies handing out slices of melon and offering cold drinks or coffee. 

After taking advantage of this unexpected stop we continued to San Juan de Ortega - population 20 - a tiny hamlet dedicated to Saint John of the Nettles who was a disciple of Santo Domingo and helped build roads and bridges to help the pilgrims on their way to Santiago.  In 2002 the only place to sleep here was in the monastery, a bitterly cold, damp and mouldy place.  Now the two brothers who own the only café bar have built a modern 10-roomed hostal with en suite bathrooms.  This is where we were headed.

 

We checked in, booked a table for the first dinner setting and went to visit the church of San Nicolas.

Mass was before dinner and we all enjoyed the pilgrim mass and blessings.  Then we went to dinner and surprised Jeffrey with a small cake and candle and Marion gave him the gift.

I would be leaving the group in Burgos tomorrow and it was decided that we would ask the taxi to pick everybody up at Castaares, a small suburb of Burgos about 7km before the central city.

10 SEPTEMBER - BELORADO - 12.5 km

When we arrived in Granon I visited the albergue San Juan Bautista where Marion, Annelise and I had stayed and where Jenny served. 

The countryside was brown and showing signs of the drought and heat Spain has experienced in the past few months.

On our way to Belorado we walked through Viloria where I hoped to pop in and say hello to Acacio and Orietta but the albergue looked closed so we continued walking.

We arrived at Belorado and walked through the middle of the town almost to the other end before we found the Hotel Jacobeo on the main road.

There was some confusion about our rooms so we couldn't check in right away.  We decided to revisit the town.

 

 

 

Once we had checked in we asked the owner if we could use the 3rd floor space to have our get-together and at 6pm we all met on the 3rd Floor. 
Jeffrey was still struggling with the light sling pack I had lent him so I offered him Finn's Jeep waist bag.  He tried it on and looked very happy about giving it a go tomorrow.
On our way to a supermecado we found a nice little outside cafe-restaurant for a meal.

31 May - Hornillos del Camino

Even though we had bed covers and blankets it was cold when we woke this morning.  The temperature was about 4oC and there was a 30% chance of light rain. We took the pink case downstairs at 7.45 and I said goodbye to Kathy. At about 9am I left the hotel. The cold wind still got through my layers of jackets, scarf and chill cheater.
I knew that there was nothing in Hornillos so I decided to have a Cola Cao and then do a self- guided audio tour of the cathedral.  I first visited the cathedral in 2002 and the many gilt chapels - some decorated with gold brought back to Spain by the Conquistadors,  made me feel claustrophobic.  I haven't been back in it since. But, this morning I paid €6 to visit the cathedral again.

Afterwards I walked towards the bus station where the taxis park. The digital clock and temperature reading at the farmacia showed that it was only 10oC at 11.35

I took a taxi to Hornillos del Camino. I was able to hold a decent conversation with the driver, mainly because he spoke quite slowly. The Hostal Sol de Sol is a lovey place with 7 comfortable rooms, a living room, fully equipped kitchen and an attractive outdoor seating area at the back.  

 There seem to be at least 3 albergues in this tiny place and two Casa Rural hostales. Sol and Casa Abuelo.

I knocked on the door of the Hostal Sol and a young man opened it. He said the room would be ready in about 20 minutes so I sat on a bench outside chatting to pilgrims from Colarado.  

It was getting colder so I took a walk along the almost medieval street to the bar then turned back and saw Kathy arriving. We checked in, then went to the bar where I had potato tortilla for lunch and she had an apple, custard slice. A couple from Belgium joined us and once again I could converse with them in Afrikaans. 

There was a notice in the bar that a young musician- Dane Johansen - who was walking the Camino carrying his Cello,  would be playing in the church at 5pm.  We went back to the rooms to shower and rest until 4.30pm.

Every shower in every place is different and in Somerset County places I feel mechanically challenged by the workings of the showers. Last night the shower was like an upright jacuzzi with shwer jets coming at you from all angles. The one in Hostal Sol has an unusual tap. You have to push the head up to get water and then turn it keft for hot and right for cold water.  There is a seat, a mirror (who needs to see oneself so closely in a shower?) as well as a radio!

At 4.30pm we walked to the church and took our seats on the benches. There were notices outside that a documentary crew would be filming and by going inside we accepted that we might be filmed but would not be entitled to any compensation. 

The music was wonderful and for an hour we forgot about the cold and enjoyed Bach and a Spanish composition Santa Maria del Manzano.

We decided to eat what we had left in our rooms so my dinner was a not-so-healthy cheese roll, half a slice of Santiago tart and Rooibos tea. Tomorrow I'll have to take a taxi to Castrojeriz as there are no buses over the weekends. 

All good in Burgos

Hotel Entrearcos
The taxi collected me at 8am. It was the Caminofacil luggage transport and we stopped at many small places along the way picking up bags and packs.  It was a bit like travelling on the old milk train between Durban and Johannesburg in the 1950's.

The driver dropped me off at the emergency door of the hospital in Burgos.  

I saw a very nice young doctor from Peru who spoke fairly good English.  Had to have Xrays and then go back to him. He said I needed a full cast and I asked him not to make it too thick.

(I took this self ie in the bathroom!)
He told me that he would have to apply traction to the fingers and that he might hurt me but it wasnt too bad. I just thought of my son, Mark, and turned my head away!  He cut the old cast off and I was surprised at how purple and yellow the arm was almost to the elbow.

I had to lie on an examination bed and to apply traction,  he first rolled a 'sausage' bandage on the arm down to the elbow. Then he made three loops with thin bandages and looped them over my thumb, index and middle fingers. He tied the long ends of the bandages around his waist.

 He and a nurse tied my upper arm into a sling that was attached to the top of the bed. He then began to pull away and it felt like the fingers might detach from my hand! While it was tight he applied the plaster cast. It is quite flat underneath - not a big round cast.  When it was done I had to go for more Xrays to make sure that the bone was still in the same position.

I asked him if I could walk and he said only in 4 or 5 days,  when the cast had cured and was dry.  I told him I wouldnt walk until I meet my husband abd small group in Ferrol and he suggested I have another Xray there. I got a taxi to the hotel. 

Everyone has been very kind and helpful.
Kathy arrived later than expected after missing the turn to the alternate route alongside the river and walking the long, hard slog into the city. We decided to go on the Chuchu tourist train and spent 40 minutes seeing the sights that way.

 Then we walked back along the Camino route to the Renfe train ticket office where Kathy bought her ticket from Sarria to Madrid.
On the way back to the hotel we went to the bus station to get a timetable for my buses for the next few days.  Because it is the weekend,  there are no buses to Hornilos del Camino tomorrow or from there to Castrojeriz on Sunday.  I'll have to take taxis both days.Kathy went out to find dinner and I tried to negotiate the jacuzzi type shower without getting my new cast wet.
 It is cold in Burgos.  Night temperatures are down to 3 and 4o and daytime not higher than 14oC. 

Sent from Samsung tablet

San Juan de Ortega - 29 may

La Henera

Kathy left quite early and I stayed in the room until about 9am.   I went downstairs for a hot drink but the Cola Cao was tepid - not enjoyable. I booked a taxi for 11am and sat in the cafe updating this blog.
The Caminofacil taxi collected me on time, together with bags and packs to be taken to places along the way.  I arranged with the driver to pick me up at 8am and take me to the hospital in Burgos.
We arrived in San Juan at about 11.45, too early to check in so I sat in the bar, out of the wind and chatted to the young man behind the bar. The table I sat at faced the door and many pilgrims asked me for a stamp in their credenciales,  or to use the toilet!
I decided to wait for Kathy before checking in and when she arrived we went behind the old church tonthe beautiful new La Henera 'hotel'.  It has 10 double rooms (one for disbled people) and is fully accessible.
There is nothing at San Juan and once you have visited the church there is nothing to do but sit outside the bar and chat to pilgrims, a nice way to relax. There is a population of 20 people here and it seems that when an old house starts to fall down, you stake it up and build anew one next to it!

Dinner is served in the tiny bar in sittings so we got there early and sat with 2 German pilgrims. Dinner is 'platos combinados' and there are photos of the 3 plates of food on the back of the menu, no changes or substitution allowed.
After dinner we went back to  our room where the heating had warmed the room and bathroom. Mass is only held three nights a week so we had an early night.

Belorado - 28 May

Hotel Jacobeo

This morning I had a breakfast but decided I wont have their breakfasts again.  They are always toasted slices of baguettes,  cake, jam and maybe a piece of fruit.
Anna was very kind and insisted on buttering and putting jam on the toast.  I don't usually have butter but didn't have the heart to tell her.
The bus to Belorado was at 12 so I went off in search of a Vodafone shop. "There is one down the road, 1st right and on the left side of the road" the man in the Farmacia told me. I saw Sharon from Oregon looking at the time tables at the bus station so she decuded to join me.
When I got to the road and asked a young lady where it was she told me that it had closed 3 months ago.  I then went to a little fruit an veg shop that advertised 'recargar' recharges.  "Lo siento" she said, they were off line.
We went back to the hotel and waited in the reception until it was time to go to the bus.
The waiting room looked like a casualty room at a hospital. There were hobbling pilgrims,  some nursing limb injuries, one in tears and on crutches. My arm in a slingvwas minor by contrast!
It was pouring with rain and we could see pilgrims trudging along the path which runs alongside the highway.  Not a very inspiring stage.  Sharon wanted to be dropped off on the roadside near Villoria but the bus driver said that he couldn't do that.  She ended up going to Belorado and getting a taxi vack to Villoria where she would meet up with Patty.
We parted ways in Belorado and Julie (a pilgrim from California) and I had a Cola Cao before she went off to find the albergue.
Kathy arrived soaked to the skin so she went up to the room to shower and change. We walked into the Plaza Mayor but everything was closed so we went back to the room and got under the covers while we checked emails and discussed the next day.
 At 5pm we went to the square and found a shop, much like Clicks, where Kathy bought a Sim card and I recharged my cell phone. We found a large supermarket and I bought cherries,  a few apricots and a small tray with baby carrots,  artichokes and mushrooms and a oacket of olives.
We went back to the hotel and had a dinner of leftover pizza,  vegetables and fruit.
I found out that the bus doesn't go to San Juan de Ortega so Ill have to take a taxi tomorrow.

Logrono to Navarette- 25 May

Hostal villa de Navarette
 Kathy and I decided not to leave too early as we only had 13km to walk to Navarette and she needed to buy a Sim card.  We walked back towards the station where I had been to the Phone Shop the day before.  Nothing was open so we continued onto the Camino path out of the city.  The graffiti through the tunnel has undergone a great improvement with silhouettes of pilgrims painted on the walls.

It started to drizzle as we climbed the path to the recreational park above the city and stopped at Marcelino Lebato's table. I was going to buy a walking stick but they were all too long.  We watched as a man fed walnuts to red squirrels and had a Cola Cao in the restaurant in the park.

We continued past fields of red poppies and the drizzle stopped.  I took my arms out of the Altus raincoat sleeves and keeping it over the backpack,  tied the sleeves around my waist. We approached Navarette and I told Kathy to stop so that I could take her photograph.  I took 2 steps back and stood on the bottom of the raincoat.  I fell down hard backward, holding the camera in my right hand I put out my left hand to break the fall.
Kathy came to me straight away and tried to take my hands to pull me up but my left hand was screaming!
"Let me sit here a moment" I said and started feeling hips, arms, hands. My left wrist was swelling and I had to turn over using my right hand so that she could help me up.
We continued walking to the village cradling my left hand. We checked into our hostal and the young man directed us to the medico.  Even though it was a Sunday,  the doctor was on duty.  He looked at the wrist and said that I would have to go to the hospital in Logrono for an Xray.
The young man at the hostal called for a taxi and we went back to Logrono and the Hospital San Pedro.  2 hours later we left the hospital with my arm in a half cast. I sustained a clean fracture of the radius.   The doctor's advice was that I see an orthopaedic specialist in Burgos to check if the fracture had displaced or go home and see my orthopaedic specialist in South Africa.
I called home to tell them the news and we agreed that I would not go home but would visit a hospital in Burgos. Kathy and I decided that she would walk alone and I would get a bus from one place to the next.