Day 13 – Ages (funny name for a 3 street village)
Left Tosantos this morning knowing that I had a bit of a hike today.
The worst part were 2 peaks of about 500m to climb later in the day and they were part of the final 8.6km walk thru to the next village.
Turns out that the next village had one albergue and it was full. So I ended up with another 3.6km walk to reach “Ages”, a larger village with about 3 albergues.
Free enterprise is alive and well on the Camino. It’s not uncommon to go around a bend in the trail and find a table set up with some fruit, bottles of coke, beer, wine, and baked goods. Usually it is offered donativo but the tired thirsty pilgrim is generous.
The prices and character of the alburgues described in the literature are gradually giving way to the laws of supply and demand.
Many old timers talk about the challenges they faced on unmarked paths and the hospitality of the primitive “peregrino refuges” where they ended their day. It was a hardy soul that followed in the steps of the early pilgrims.
Today’s ascetic contends with mountain bikers, buses of tourisegrinos, and long lines at the coffee shops.
I stopped to reflect on this monument. The guidebook explains that it marks the shallow graves of those who were summarily executed during the Spanish civil war. A reminder that the peace I enjoy as a visitor to Spain was not always so.
Tomorrow is a reasonably short and mostly flat walk into Burgos, a city of 180k souls. At that point I will have covered 310km and still have 490km to Santiago de Compestela.
I have decided to check into a cheap hotel there and recharge a bit. It will be nice to have Real laundry facilities. I currently handwash the days clothes in a laundry sink and hang them on a line hoping they will dry before evening. It will also be nice to have no contention for the shower and a night without 10 other snorers in the room.
One day of unabashed hedonism and then it’s back on the Camino.
-jgp
