May 12, 2023

It was a short nights sleep after taking the bus back to Burgos from Porto.  I was up by 5:00 and back out on the Camino by 5:50 after finding the night manger at the hotel to unlock the front door for me.

I was back at it and it was a beautiful dark morning.   I quickly found a coffee shop open so I picked up a banana and an omelette sandwich, the surprise was that it had tuna salad in there too.

It was a long walk into Burgos a few days back, but the cathedral is on the west side of the city.  Soon the Camino opened up and I was out of the city.

I came across some small villages and walked along the freeway for awhile.

I was ready for second breakfast and saw a little bar in Tardajos.  Walking in the side door I met Dianna Lee, a woman from Southern California.  We had breakfast and talked about our walk so far.  She came with a friend that was totally unprepared for the walk physically, mentally and financially; she now does her trip alone, he went home.

We decided to walk together and did so for about 10 miles when she got to Hornillos del Camino.  Some of the scenery today was so beautiful, it was some of the pictures that are on the fronts of the guide books.

Walking down into the town where Dianna Lee would be stopping, I took this picture.

10 minutes later the sky opened up and the 50 plus people on the trail were scrambling to cover their packs and get their rain gear on.

The rain was short lived.  I said my good byes to Dianna Lee, fully expecting to see her over the next few days as I have with other pilgrims.  I continued on towards my destination of Hontanas.  I had 7 more miles.  Today would be my longest walk at 19 miles, it turned out to be over 20 miles when all was said and done.  I have now gotten accustomed to the long distance and I could have done 25 if necessary.

But……4 miles out of Hontanas, I tripped and did a full on face plant on the Camino. I was walking alone, but within a minute I had 10 pilgrims helping me. I have 3 cuts on my face that bled profusely from my use of blood thinners and ibuprofen for my knee. I was a mess. I got patched as good as possible, then hobbled on. A group of 3 older Italian men walked at my pace and kept an eye on me. But I still had 4 miles to walk to the next village where my hotel was. All I can say is that pilgrims help pilgrims. As I walked into town many that helped me came to greet me. I lucked out with my choice of hotel. Louise got me to my room and offer transportation to medical clinic if needed. I didn’t feel that a doctor was needed after a phone consultation, but it took me hours to get the bleeding to fully stop due to my blood thinners.

I was able to secure a room for a second night. They say the Camino provides, it provides me a black eye and 3 cuts on my face. But I was fortunate with my choice of hotel.

I got a sandwich to have in my room, the can of Coke is there to provide scale and eventually got to sleep.