Let’s just say the day didn’t start out as I had planned. Since Bill and Bruce are flying directly back from Spain to the US, and I couldn’t fit everything I thought I needed into my pack (I’ll let you know later if I really needed all I packed), so we are having the postal service take our suitcases from each destination to the next. I highly recommend them. They have been great…as long as you are staying along the Camino de Santiago in a hotel, or hostel. However, one cannot stay multiple days in a hostel, so on the days we are staying two nights, I booked a VRBO that would fill all of us. I decided to do that so we had a washing machine to use.
The problem with the bags arose because 1) it was Sunday, 2) the woman who let us into the apartment was out of town on Sundays and therefore would not be available to meet the correos for the bags. So, we had to wait until they showed up instead of leave at 8am. They dude I was emailing back and forth could not have been nicer, but he couldn’t guarantee the pickup until the afternoon. Ugh, really? We had 13 miles to hike and there was no way we could wait until after noon to start. So, we tried to find other solutions. Maybe the camino albergue next to the cathedral will take pity and let us leave our bags there to be picked up. So, went to the albergue right next to the cathedral, but they were closed. So, we thought, we would take an Uber to drop the bags off at the albergue, and come back and start the walk. We tried to call anUber, but the area we were in was not ‘serviceable’. Same with the taxi service. So, Bruce went to the taxi stand near a hotel, but the taxis don’t work on Sunday mornings. Now what do we do. Right about that time, the correos showed up to pick up the bags. Yay! We finally walked out the door at 9:45am.
Normally, about 2 hours into our walk, a cafe magically appears. So, we all skipped breakfast thinking we’d be able to eat soon. Also, because it was Sunday nothing was open. No worries, something will appear. It didn’t.
It was hot. No shade. No water sources. We were all hot and running out of water. I was lagging farther and farther behind. Completely out of gas. We saw two trees and some benches near a cemetery where we stopped, that had a bit of shade. I found a couple of fig newtons and an apple. Bruce and Bill both had something similar.
Finally, a town appeared about 2pm. There was only one place to eat, they were out of everything except salad. It seems that there were a larger number of peregrinos that day. Like maybe 10, but because its been so slow this year, they weren’t prepared. I can’t fault that. So, we gratefully ate the salad, drank a lot of water, filled up our bottles, and had to reach deep inside to head out into the heat and finish the final 3 miles. Those final 3 miles took us 2 hours. I had filled up my 750 ml Nalgene, but sucked that dry about an hour before we arrived in Urgerga. I was completely wiped out.
The Albergue Casa Baztan was a simple affair. One giant room with about 12 sets of bunk beds. Two showers, two toilets, and 3 sinks. And…..a washing machine. Thank goodness there were only 5 of us. We arrived before anyone else, and they arrived at different times, so we didn’t have any issues with waiting for any of the facilities.
The host, Christian from Venezuela, was excellent. He was VERY welcoming and hospitable. He brought us 3 glasses of water right away and a bowl of olives to munch on while we checked in. He also made an excellent dinner for us that consisted of, in my case, fish, rice, fried egg, fries, salad, and bread. Bill and Bruce had chicken instead of fish. And, as always, a bottle of wine. Needless to say I scarfed every last bit of it and went to bed by 8pm.
Not one person snored. I heard not one peep outta anyone. I was surprised. The lights come on around 6:45am. Breakfast is served at 7, and you are kicked out around 7:45. Bruce and I sat outside waiting for Bill and there were around 5 cats/kittens hanging around. We amused ourselves watching the kittens play with the straps on our backpacks. And then one cat caught a mouse and proceeded to jump up onto the table and eat it in front of us. The same table the Italian guy drank a beer at the night before.
And yes….I know that my days on my video titles are off. They should be correct from this point forward.
13 Sep 2020 ~ 29,089 steps ~ 11.7 miles ~ 89º F
Goodness. What a day. But great pictures. I’m enjoying it from here. Lol.