A 1000-Kilometre Pilgrimage Route Across Spain – Part 4

People from all over the world meet on the El Camino, but it seems most tend to stick to their habits like a drunk man clinging to a lamp post (and the two of us were no exception). While Mitja was adaptable, in a Ghandian way, I eventually started missing the comfort of our home every now and then (!) and was quite vocal about it. We left Embalse de Alcántara and headed to Grimaldo in the rain.

There was a town along the way (we had got used to long walks with few stops by then) where we stopped to escape the rain, had a coffee and then continued silently in our raincoats. There’s not much you can take away from the landscape in the rain, tough walking in poor weather conditions is quite a unique experience and, at the end of the day, you’re grateful for it. We arrived relatively late in Grimaldo and the donativo hostel (donativo meaning a voluntary contribution) was almost full and we got the last two beds that were above the beds of a lovely Canadian couple. We were tossing and turning in the room the whole day, visiting the bar next door to get some tea while stealing the bar’s Wi-Fi and contemplating the moments of the previous day. We managed to dry our shoes by putting them next to the radiator, so we continued our way to Galisteo wearing dry shoes at least for two kilometres, when the El Camino branches off the road and then leads through soaking wet terrain. After 10km, we came to a rushing river and there seemed to be no other way than crossing it at its lowest point. Two cyclists caught up to us and we crossed the river together, fully dressed and soaked to the skin but working with team spirit. We arrived in Galisteo, completely drenched. Mitja had some trouble with his leg, while I was anticipating another stomach flu. Due to circumstances, we decided to book a room in a nearby hotel. The town of Galisteo was enclosed by walls and you could walk along them and peek into people’s homes. The town had a pleasant atmosphere and a small, well-stocked shop, but most importantly, it was sunny.

All this gave us the energy for another day and another town called Carcaboso. A town full of superlatives, in our book. The weather turned against us and the path led along the road, so we it took us longer to reach our next stop. When we finally got there, we booked a room with a bathroom in a private albergue, and for the same price as everywhere else. It was Mitja who got sick this time, so we spent the day inside, lying in bed. We didn’t regret wasting the day, since it rained, but we did often daydream about sunny days and our plans for the upcoming days.

We left Carcaboso early in the morning for our first 40km long walk all the way to Aldeanueva del Camino. Once again wet shoes, problems with leg pain, and endless paths that became even longer due to swollen rivers. The landscape was amazing; we walked through forests and past tree plantations, gazed at the mountains in the distance and kept on walking, just walking. I came to the conclusion that personality traits tend to stand out more clearly on the El Camino; you are faced with yourself and with your readiness to adapt. If you’re scared, you’ll often be afraid on the El Camino, at least until you reach the point when you’ll have to decide whether to continue in this fashion or become more trusting. And this is what happened to me.

We had to look for the key to the albergue in one of the bars. They keep sending you back and forth, and once in the albergue, you’re welcome to help yourself. All this was followed by a quick shower and dinner, where we met some familiar faces that relayed to us a story about bed bugs in one of the albergues that we’d visited, and we seriously contemplated the thought of bed bugs in our home for the time being. We searched high and low and then peacefully slept through the night, without any bed bugs and without trouble. The next day, we entered the Castille and León region. I wasn’t feeling well after eating the dinner of the previous day, but I got better after 10km of walking and we continued on to Calzada de Béjar, the world’s smallest village. There, we spent the afternoon in good company on the terrace of our temporary home. We were eagerly awaiting our next destination, Fuenterroble de Salvatierra because we heard that the town had a lovely albergue where the kitchen staff would cook dinner for all pilgrims. Once again, we got a room in the said albergue that was run by a priest, and there was a large wooden cross above our bed. The priest held a prayer before eating, which we sit out silently, awkwardly staring in our plates. We also met a few interesting people with whom we forged close bonds of friendship until our ways parted. The path that we took the next day was nice – green landscape and a climb up to a viewing point, the Cross of Saint James. Four kilometres before our next stop, we decided that we’ve had it and changed course for Morilla, a town on the way to our daily destination. We met Rainer, a Bavarian and an avid beer lover. It just so happened that we lost the track of time and headed home at 10 p.m., slightly staggering to our feet.

Our next stop was the lovely town of Salamanca which we mostly looked forward to because of all the culinary possibilities that awaited us there. We arrived early, put all our stuff down and headed out for a walk to explore around town. We all met up at a tapas bar in the evening. The hamlet called Huelmos was yet another one of our stops and we were once again accompanied by bad weather. We shared our room with Anton, a German man, and were later joined by old friends of ours, a German man named Dennis and a Canadian man named Mark, both of whom later accompanied us throughout the whole journey. The next two days, we made some more stops, namely in Villanueva de Campeán and Zamora. I celebrated my birthday in Zamora and, by combining our forces, we made dinner for 13 people. We felt at home and having dinner together got rid of the feeling of homesickness. The path to Riego del Camino was a bit more difficult and it took around 37km to get there, walking in dry heat, but when we arrived at the albergue, we decided to go back to Zamora for a check-up and to make the best of the long day. The day in Zamora was characterised by errands (vaccination, post office etc.), writing articles for the last exam and enjoying delicious food.

If we had learnt anything in the past month, it was that you can’t always stick to the plan on the El Camino. Our plans were thwarted either by our health or simply by our will, so we adopted a convenient saying of a Dutch couple that goes, “The advantage of making plans is not to follow them”, and closely stuck to it.