Remy’s 2023 Travel Notebook

Today we walked very early in the morning. We had an amazing view of the starry sky for the first 3 hours of our walk. Naturally, we took a much slower pace. We were still glad to get our 35km done by 1pm, saving maybe a couple hours of walking in the intense heat. We stopped for a breakfast at a nice cafe and took a group picture in front of a flower mural. We passed over Sehagun, a rather large town and the first store/pharmacy we had seen in 40km. No problem, we all had enough supplies.

Our albergue today turned out better than expected. We rented out an entire place for €5 per person. Very clean, new and we had laundry and a kitchen. The town had only one bar open, with no grocery stores, restaurants or a place to get breakfast for the morning. This may be why it was so cheap in the end, because the actual albergue was quite nice. It’s really a ghost town by most standards. That is another reason I plan to walk later, so I can get food closer to the beginning of my walk tomorrow.

We made dinner together (cooked by the Italian Michela) and enjoyed it together in the living room. It was quite interesting what happened when we wanted to get the food to cook dinner. A few from the group went around town and knocked on the door of the church to see what we could do about food for the evening. They were led to a person’s home, who brought them in, opened their pantries and fridge, and insisted we take whatever we need. They didn’t expect any payment but €20 changed hands anyways. I did not tag along for this food gathering experience and I’m wishing I did.

In the morning one group will walk at 4:00 am again, and I will go at 5:00 am with anyone else who wants the extra sleep. I am planning for a potential rest day in Leon, which we will reach tomorrow after a 30km walk. The group will stay together in a hostel for the night and likely split into two the following day. I will try to update on my stay in Leon as soon as possible. Buen Camino!