As I read the guidebook (John Brierley 2022 edition) each evening to see what lies ahead tomorrow, I notice an alarming trend in these rural areas. Behind the population of a town are the words “(and declining)”.
Like small rural towns in Australia, I imagine the children leave for the city for education and employment and never return.
What does this mean for the Camino? Will the smaller villages dwindle away to become ghost towns, making the distance between amenities greater and greater as the years go by?
I hope not, as these little places add character to the walk and often unexpected and not looked for gold. Today, for instance, in the tiny village of Villarmentero de Campos, there is a small oasis, a cafe that serves great coffee and food. The village is so small that the sign announcing you are entering is only 150m or so from the one saying you are leaving.
Manny joins us for coffee. “The Meseta is so boring,” she says before taking a drag on her e-cigarette.
After a breakfast comprising one slice of toast, albergue coffee and a muesli bar, we wonder if we have enough fuel for the day ahead. Mads goes to ask for more toast, but the hospitalero has disappeared.
The way follows the road to Carrion de Los Condes in an almost straight 18km stretch. Today will test the body and the mind.
Despite the sun, it is a cold day. A chill wind often blows across the Meseta making us even colder. Our feet crunch in the gravel. We check out cars as they pass – VW Golf sport, old Fiat, sounds good, Seat, Seat, Seat, Kia, BMW, Mercedes. Crunch, crunch, crunch.
To make today’s 18km even worse, someone decided to include kilometre markers the whole way. So now we can count down each kilometre. Pilgrims don’t need this!!!
We arrive in Carrion de los Condes around midday, both beat up by the wind and the hours on the soulless senda. I’m still fighting a cold and James is tired. We decide upon a nice little hostal for the night – Hostal La Corte. We have our own bathroom, comfortable beds that aren’t bunks and I won’t annoy anyone with my coughing; other than James.
Carrion is a cute little village with multiple plazas, bars and cafes.
We have some pinchos at a local bar for lunch and then walk the streets. It’s hard to get a read on these villages. Some areas are run down whilst around a corner you’ll find brand new Porsche and Mercedes parked on the street.
The square comes alive closer to 8:00pm, the time at which most restaurants seem to open, but by which time we pilgrims are tired and very hungry.
We meet up with Mikael and Mads, then run into Marios from Germany. The bar on the square is full of peregrinó, Ellen & Lisa from the USA, Stefan from Canada, Dazza from England (looking very sunburnt after two 30+km in the Meseta sun), Jasmine (also looking sunburnt) and others. later we run into Maria and Mats, also looking sunburnt after some long days on the Meseta. That gang decided to stay in Burgos for two nights for the partying.
The five of us circle around Carrion trying to find a restaurant that is open and that looks like it has a chef ready to cook. After our experience in Fromista, we’re a little wary.
We eventually settle on the Carrion Cafeteria. After a beer, we settle in for paella and pasta.
Marios has terrible blisters on his heels and has decided to spend another day in Carrion. Hopefully we can meet up in Leon.
Mikael and Mads are staying at an albergue that they say is as cold as a freezer. I hope they have a good night. We have agreed to meet up for breakfast in the morning. The forecast is for a wet and cold day, maximum of 9 degrees. We can only hope the rain falls overnight and we wake to dry skies.
The Long Camino 