39.4km

We decided to push for Sahagún today even though it’s so far, because the next possible stops are either Calzadilla de la Cueza (too short at 17.2km), Ledigos (23.3km, but looks like a very small and quiet town), or Moratinos (29.7km, but the only open space is expensive). Sahagún seems like a nicer place to be with more facilities. The only limitation is that the albergue only accepts pilgrims till 7pm. So we have to make it in time. If I walk too slowly, I’ll have to settle for one of the earlier stops.

When I go down for my breakfast, Ji Sung is already gone, and I progressively say goodbye to Areum, then Samuel, thinking it might be the last time I see them. Ingrid has some things to handle so I hug her goodbye and leave first.

It’s 7.45am when I step out to rain. My fingers are tingling with cold as I walk out into the dark town, with the occasional illumination from street lamps. It feels like my pre-sunrise departure alone from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port again. I’d gotten used to leaving with light in the sky.

I cross a pretty bridge over the Carrión river, go past a monastery, then pass a roundabout with a statue. After I walk past a gas station, the rain slows to a drizzle, then stops. It is dark without street lamps now, with the faint outlines of trees around me. At the next road junction, a man stops his car to make sure I know the way, en frente! Road walking isn’t usually fun, but it’s easier when it’s dark.

It’s a long straight road, full cloud cover in the sky, with the slightest violet in the clouds when the day starts lightening. There is no dramatic sunrise today.

Ingrid catches up, then goes ahead when I decide to stop at a picnic area for a second breakfast, and also take the chance to hang my laundry on my bag.

I leave behind some of the cloud cover, and see the half moon in the sky. Birdsong accompanies me. It’s a beautiful day, and somehow the landscape’s colours seem more saturated, almost glowing.

There is a majestic mountain range on the right in the distance and I wonder what it is (I find out later that it is the Picos de Europa (peaks of Europe), and it’s really far in the north in the Asturias, which means that it is very big, and the landscape must be very flat in that direction to not obstruct it).

Sun suddenly comes out of the clouds, illuminating the land brightly. Dry my clothes por favor! I start to notice sparse swarms of hovering insects in my way, which look suspiciously like mosquitoes, and I try to avoid them. It’s getting hot, so I take my rain jacket off once I can.

When I find some benches I take another break, this time with a pan con tomate, but constituted in the mouth with alternate bites of bread and tomato.

I continue on. It’s the flattest, the straightest path. There are no particular landmarks to mark your distance, and I get the sensation I heard the Meseta can give you, warping your sense of space and time. You don’t know how long you’ve walked and how long it has been. It’s also a crazy thought that I might be the only human within a one kilometre radius of me. Something that’s impossible in Singapore.

Calzadilla de la Cueza reveals itself less than a few hundred meters away, being hidden in a valley below the horizon ahead. It’s the first town after the start of the walk today, and it’s the 17km mark. It’s a welcome sight.

I see a few Koreans leaving the bar at the town’s entrance as I go in. I get
coffee and a sausage, which comes with a piece of bread. A big group of Spanish pilgrims from Navarra walk into the bar and say hello, delighted that I speak a bit of Spanish. They are section walking the Camino across a few weekends. They offer me some leftover Christmas snacks, and I pick out a mantecado de coco (a kind of coconut shortbread I had at the albergue in Roncesvalles and really liked).

I then follow the path which goes parallel to a road. Things stop being so flat, so there’s no more Meseta fugue. There’s a rest area across the road meant more car stops, but I cross the road for another break. It is peaceful, with the shade of trees over the tables. I eat a mandarin orange and some salami with bread.

A Winter Camino Food Loadout

One benefit of the cooler temperatures of a winter Camino is the ability to bring around more kinds of food. If I’m going on stages with less available food stops, some good things to get at the supermarket are:

For breakfast

• a mandarin orange
• a banana
• yoghurt
• some bread from a barra de pan (baguette)

To go

• a small pack of cured meat—chorizo, salchichón, or jamón
• a tomato
• hard cheese
• the rest of your barra de pan
• a bar of dark chocolate
• nuts
• potato chips
• gummies

I reach Ledigos, the 23km mark, at 1.40pm. There is 16km more to go. I stop at an open bar, where the Koreans I saw earlier are having a smoke break outside. The bar is bustling full of locals, and the bar keep looks like Pedro Pascal. I get a quick café con leche and leave before 2pm, conscious that I’m on the clock.

There’s an alternate route offered that doesn’t follow the road. I take it instead, walking into wide fields, the twittering of birds, the breeze, and puffy clouds. Just me and no one else. I wear my shades as the sun shines on me. I see another pair of footprints in the mud, and wonder which of my friends it might be. I feel strong—café con leche really is the fuel of the pilgrim. Ok, some faith too.

I reach Terradillos de los Templarios, the 26km mark, at 2.30pm. Even though it’s 6°C, it feels warm because of the sun and my physical activity, so I take my fleece off, leaving my T-shirt, and my rain jacket as a windbreaker.

I continue on to green fields under open skies with Pixar clouds. I start to feel a bit of weariness in my legs.

The sight of Moratinos is exhilarating. It’s 3.05pm at the 30km mark. Less than 10km more to go. At the open restaurant, the Koreans I saw earlier are paying their bill. Turns out it’s also one of the albergues, and it seems they are staying here, so this albergue is actually open although the resources said it wasn’t. But I feel a solid momentum, the weather is good, and I text my friends to ask them their plans. They’re all pushing towards Sahagún also.

It’s out of the usual meal hours, so I get an Estrella beer on tap. The owner then tells me she has tostas (toast) if I want, and I get a tosta aceite tomate (toast with tomato and olive oil). On the TV, there’s news of a Spanish village, Salto de Castro, being sold for €260,000. That’s wild.

I leave the albergue at 3.30pm. There’s a mound visible nearby which I decide to visit. It has doors and caves built into its side. It’s a traditional, no longer used bodega (caves used to store wines for its lower temperatures). There’s a small metal chair at the top of the hill and I scrabble up, take a seat, and enjoy the view. Although quiet, Moratinos seems like a charming small town.

The way onwards is sunny and windy, the path is smooth gravel, so it’s good to push my pace. It’s more hilly and curvy, and I feel good as I walk.

A flock of birds fly past as I enter San Nicholas del Real Camino at 4.10pm. 32km mark, 7km more to go. I walk past an open restaurant but decide to push on.

I walk through more fields. There’s the sound of distant cars on a parallel highway in the distance. The sun and wind are both in my face. The clouds are gone, just the fields, the muddy path, and electric lines for company. It’s the last lap.

About 4km away, Sahagún appears on the horizon. I eat the mantecado de coco for strength. It tastes like a butter cookie with the texture of a tau sar piah. I continue walking, with a strong wind blowing against me, my calves aching.

Seeing the sign for Sahagún makes me so happy. I walk past another hermitage, this time of “La Virgen del Puente” (The Virgin of the Bridge). There are some metal sculptures/seats there, and I sit down for a bit.

As I push on, the sun is low in the sky in front of me, and my shadow is long behind me. The last two kilometres of each day always feel the longest.

I enter Sahagún, past a railway station and railway tracks. It’s quiet, and I haven’t seen anyone (turns out because it’s Sunday).

I arrive at Albergue Cluny at 5.55pm sharp, happy that it was with time to spare, and with some light in the sky. It’s a modern large albergue in a converted church, and costs only €6 for the night.

The rest are already here, and we go for dinner at a restaurant open at 7pm (early for Spanish people). The Korean couple, Chang Hyun and Hyun Jung have reached here too and are eating together with us. I get pinto beans with cod stew, braised beef with fries, and a “chocolate pudding” which tastes more like caramel cake.

There’s a stand outside the restaurant in the plaza for churros and hot chocolate. It’s cold and we all want some, so we play a game that draws lots on someone to treat the rest. Areum buys churros for all of us.

I’m not sure where all the other Koreans that were staying in Carrión de los Condes went to. Apart from the five of us, it’s just Chang Hyun and Hyun Jung here. I guess we shall see. The two of them are taking the train to León tomorrow because they don’t have as much time to finish the Camino.

39km is the most I’ve ever walked in a day. I walked across Singapore for 36km before, and my legs really felt it then. Today I’m just a bit achey. The Camino does give you your trail legs after a while.