Day 16 - May 23rd: Trifecta
Reliegos to Sahagún: 19.7 miles / 381 total
While my stage yesterday was uneventful, Christina was on the move, knocking out a lot of tasks—including laundry and the big one: a broken windshield. It took two to solve this one. Monica, from home base, called Hertz in Portugal and was told that because we were in Spain, she should call Hertz in Spain. Logical. In Spain, they told her since the car was rented in Portugal, she needed to call Portugal. Logical again. Back in Portugal, they told her to call Spain. Finally, after a few hours of holding and shuffling, she found someone to help: drive to the Hertz in León, about 20 km from our auberge. Christina picked me up as I finished about 15 km from our place, dropped me off, and then drove into León. They didn’t have a windshield repair person, so they just swapped out the car. Problem solved! This was a big logistics decision that paid off. When renting a car for 4 months, go with a big player like Hertz. Their network saved us here. Hopefully, that’s the last of it.
Last night, we found our lower threshold for auberges. We’ve had so many great experiences that I guess we were due for a reality check on the €60/night tier. El Delfin Hostel sits in a pass-through section of the Camino along a busy road, with no restaurants, no stores, and just a few homes. Our room smelled like backed-up sewage from the bathroom, so we kept the door shut at all times. By 8:30 p.m., the cook hadn’t arrived at the restaurant downstairs, so no menu del día. I went with a safe pick: a hamburger. I got a raw burger and cold fries. Sent it back, and got the same fries and a hockey puck. Breakfast? Just a cup of coffee. Oh well, onto the next town.
The one bright spot was that while they didn’t accept pets, they made an exception for Jax, which gave me a chance to give him a much-needed bath.
The beds could only be separated by a few inches, so Jax’s bed had to go on my side—near the door to a shared veranda we kept open for air (and to help with the sewage smell). But the locals were out smoking and drinking, so Jax couldn’t relax. We moved his bed to Christina’s side. No good for him, now he was too far away from me.
With the lights off, I felt something nudging between the beds... Jax slowly burrowing his way forward. I looked at him—he froze. A few minutes later, his front paws were up on Christina's bed while she slept. I looked again—he froze again. A few minutes more, and he had conquered the mountain and was curled up beside her.
I left from Reliegos, where I had stopped the day before, and rejoined the Camino. The route was pancake flat, running through agricultural land on both sides of the country road. The trail was set slightly off to the side, and mature trees provided shade much of the way.
Early on, during a cool and sunny morning, I came across a woman walking toward me with a big, bright smile. She was clearly up for conversation. A farmer and nurse from Australia, doing the Camino solo as a 40th birthday present to herself. Tons of energy—you’d think it was day one, not week four.
Christina and I have seen many Asian pilgrims on the Camino, mostly from South Korea. Most of the ones we've met don’t speak English, like the two who stayed in the room next to us at L'Abilleiru Albergue Rural and were smitten with Jax, or the ones who stopped us at the Roman bridge to take a photo with us. None spoke English.
A few kilometers ahead of Rosie, a small South Korean man ran up to us and asked if he could take a photo with Jax. “Of course,” I said. I asked if he spoke any English. In broken English, he explained on camera that while he’s not religious, he believes taking care of mind and body is key to a healthy life.
Not far after them, I spied two women walking with staffs that looked just like the ones used on the Caminho da Fé in Brazil. I’ve run that route six times with Amy Costa and know it well. The bracelets on their staffs matched ours exactly. I had to ask. Sure enough, they were from Brazil and had done the Caminho.
Jax and I arrived in Sahagún after 31.5 kilometers, crossing the Cea River via the Puente Canto—Bridge of Songs. Originally Roman, it was rebuilt in 1085 by Alfonso VI to aid pilgrims on the Camino. Sahagún marks the geographical midpoint of the Camino Francés, and we’ve reached it in 10 days. I’m hopeful we can move faster in the second half—Amy and I ran the entire Camino in 2022 in 15 and a half days.
My shin has stabilized after a few days at 30 km. I’ve now been cleared to ramp up—slowly—by 3 km a day, but still just walking since it's not fully healed. Patience is the name of the game. I’m now 34 miles behind schedule.
Jax is loving the cooler temps. Today’s high was only in the mid-60s °F (about 18°C). That won’t last—90s in the forecast for next week. One day at a time.
All for today. Thanks for the support.
Cheers,
David
