Friday 12 December 2014

Leon to Astorga . . .

. . . nearly 50 km if you don't get lost . . . which I did, briefly.

Last night I saw three options: stay another day in Leon; walk 20 or 30 km; push past my known limits and go for Astorga.

Since I woke early, fresh, alert and legs ready to go, I set off at 5.30 with options 2 and 3 still open. Walking out of a city in the dark is not as easy as walking in. All roads go to the centre. Following the yellow arrows from the cathedral was fine for a while, but I soon lost them. A helpful local put me right and I plodded through the suburbs in the clammy cold mist. No moon to light my way, stars to enchant me,sunrise to amaze me, nor sun to warm me.
Following the N120, which the camino does all the way, I came to a junction with the Oviedo motorway, having missed the yellow arrows taking me round and under. After a while I realised I was heading north, on a local road alongside the motorway. To turn round or cross the motorway and pick up the slip road back to the N120? The safety folks had built a shoulder high fence to prevent option two. I climbed it anyway. The motorway was quiet and I was soon back on route and soon after the camino emerged, then invited me to cross the four lane and busy N120. Do they think I'm crazy? I stay on the hard shoulder, my reflective vest tied to my rucksack letting the traffic know I'm there.

That was about it for excitement. The path was straight and mostly flat and it was a question of one foot in front of the other for ten hours. I took four brief rest stops, got into my head, plodded on and arrived at the beautiful city of Astorga around 4.30.

Collecting a bag of vegetables from the supermarket and a bottle of red for €0.75 (drinkable for someone with my rough palate and a great addition to the cooking), I made a tasty stew, shared with and appreciated by three Korean women, who seemed surprised that vegetables chopped up and cooked became dinner.

A sign at reception opens opportunities I have considered, to be a hospitalero . . . now I have a contact . . . all those pilgrims with their stories . . .

Tomorrow looks like a half day, 20 km, uphill . . . finally off this interminable plain.
And some tourism in Astorga before setting off a little later than the last few days.

No comments:

Post a Comment