Day 14/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Tuesday 16th April
Weather: Sunny ☀️
From: Aldeanueva del Camino
Start time: 9am I needed to start late as I needed to wait for supermarket to open
To: La Calzada de Béjar
End time: 3pm
Accommodation: public albergue - bottom bunk
Terrain: roads, roads, gravel, sandy tracks, rocky tracks.
🥾Km: 25.5
🥾Miles: 15.8
🦶Steps: 32,734
💰Costs: €10 snacks - 2x snickers, 3x protein bar & an orange drinks
€7 apple, orange, crisps, chocolate, peanuts, pear
€12 accommodation
€12 food - lentil soup - some sort of meat and salad 🥗 , followed by a yogurt.
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 6/10
Fatigue: 4/10
Ease of terrain: 5/10
⭐️Highlights: To be honest, even just being able to walk feels like a highlight. I’m really impressed that I’ve managed to do 25 km. I’ve checked in at the Albergue by 3 pm and sat down at the bar having some sort of food by 3:15 pm. Now I just need to eat as quickly as possible and then get back to the albergue and get into bed and rest my feet.
🏔️Challenges: very little choice at the supermarket. I bought some fruit! To tide me out to the next town. I’ve also switched back to my inov8 trainers. As they have more padding and are more comfortable for the underpart of my foot, which is where I’ve got blisters at the moment. So even though they are too small for my feet. they are more comfortable than the other shoes!
💭Thoughts: It feels like my body is rotting from the inside. Probably because of all the sugar.
Some of the small towns have zero choice if you are gluten-free. Half the isles are empty. And the majority of food I can’t actually eat. which is proving pretty challenging. there is only so much chocolate, crisps and sweets I can eat.
Day 15/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Wednesday 17th April
Weather: Sunny - a little colder in the morning
From: La Calzada de Béjar
Start time: 8.45am
To: Fuenterroble de Salvatierra
End time: 1.35pm
Accommodation: municipal albergue - bottom bunk.
Terrain: sandy, gravel, roads.
🥾Km: 23
🥾Miles: 14
🦶Steps: 29,313
💰Costs: €10 accommodation
€6 salad 🥗
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 7/10
Fatigue: 4/10
Ease of terrain: 4/10
⭐️Highlights: stopped at 11am for some food - salad with boiled eggs & cheese - drizzled with olive oil. The albergue tonight is also providing dinner and breakfast.
The dinner with the other pilgrims was really fun. Lots of people from all over the world. (🇳🇱, 🇮🇹, 🇨🇭, 🇰🇷, 🇺🇸, 🇪🇸)
🏔️Challenges: dinner was at 8.30pm and I’m so hungry!!!! I devoured all the food I could. Omelette for starter then rice with tomato sauce and boiled eggs, with an orange 🍊 for desert. I had some coconut desert thing - but I’m not sure if it had gluten in or not! I’ll find out tomorrow 🤣
💭Thoughts: I keep wishing it would get easier!!! Which I know is silly - it’s not going to get easier - I need to get tougher and keep putting one foot in front of the other!
Can’t believe it’s already been 15 days on the Camino! 30k day tomorrow - I should start around 7.50am after breakfast.
Day 16/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Thursday 18th April
Weather: cold but sunny
From: Fuenterroble de Salvatierra
Start time: 7.50
To: Morille
End time: 2pm
Accommodation: municipal albergue
Terrain: roads and more roads. I took the blue route on the Buen Camino app.
🥾Km: 31.2
🥾Miles: 19
🦶Steps: 40,032
💰Costs: €10 albergue
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 6/10 - a very chilled, beautiful day.
Fatigue: 4/10 - so much more energy after a good breakfast
Ease of terrain: 3/10 - very flat but roads.
⭐️Highlights: starting the day with a proper breakfast- omelette 🍳. Plus I’ve got fruit as snacks for the day.
🏔️Challenges: I’ve got no cash left! I spend my last €10 on accommodation- so I’ve got some oats, peanut butter and an apple to eat. Before I get to Salamanca tomorrow (where I will do a bigger food resupply).
💭Thoughts: i’m so grateful to Frank Slootmans for sharing my posts in a lot of Camino Facebook groups. Because of that I’ve had a huge amount of engagement and there has been loads of comments and well wishes for my Camino walk.
It’s amazing the difference one person can have. As a small creator. It can be so hard, for people to see your content. Thank you Frank 🙏
🙏Thank you to everyone who is following along on this journey.
❓If you do have any questions, please put them down in the comments and I will do my best to answer them as quickly as possible.
Day 17/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Friday 19th April
Weather: colder!
From: Morille
Start time: 7.45am
To: Calzada de Valdunciel
End time: 4pm
Accommodation: municipal albergue (small only 8 beds) - top bunk
Terrain: roads, sandy track, small gravel tracks, country roads.
🥾Km: 37.2
🥾Miles: 23
🦶Steps: 47718
💰Costs: €5.36 - 2x snickers & gummy sweets (bought from the garage at the start of the town. If I didn’t eat before the supermarket shop. I’d spend a lot more money)
€22 2x ibruprofen & 10x compeed (compeed is expensive!!)!
€36 supermarket shop - 4x tangerines, carbonara sauce, 2x crisps, large bar of chocolate, 2x gf biscuits, eggs, peas, tuna, cheese, 2x packs of babybel, 2x dried food - just add water.
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 6/10
Fatigue: 4/10
Ease of terrain: 3/10
⭐️Highlights: crossing the bridge over into Salamanca - stunning. 😍 the cathedral!! Wow! What a building!! Well worth visiting.
The endorphins are kicking in today! Or maybe it’s the pain killers!
🏔️Challenges: nothing particularly challenging today. I was slightly concerned about whether I’d get a bed or not as it’s a small albergue and you can’t book. But decided not to worry about it - as there was nothing I could do, until I arrived.
It’s 9.30pm no one has been to check us in - so no stamp and no payment. (Never happened to me before!) very strange.
💭Thoughts: the person in the bunkbed below me is obviously a very heavy smoker. He came in and the whole room now stinks of nicotine and smoke. Which I’m very allergic to. At one point I thought he was smoking in the bed! He wasn’t it was just the smell coming off his body and his clothes. Not pleasant at all. 🤢🤢🤢
Day 18/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Saturday 20th April
Weather: Sunny ☀️
From: Calzada de Valdunciel
Start time: 8.10am
To: Villanueva de Campeán
End time: 4pm
Accommodation: private albergue - bottom bunk
Terrain: farmers tracks, abandoned road, road.
🥾Km: 34.9
🥾Miles: 21.7
🦶Steps: 44798
💰Costs: €12 accommodation
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 7/10
Fatigue: 3/10
Ease of terrain: 3/10
⭐️Highlights: a very relaxing and chilled day. Walking & thinking. Very zen. 🧘🏼♀️
🏔️Challenges: none really. I ran out of water a few kms from the end. But it’s not a massive deal.
💭Thoughts: so glad I’m carrying more food with me. It takes the pressure off when you arrive somewhere and there is no supermarket or bars open.
Day 19/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Sunday 21st April
Weather: Sunny ☀️
From: Villanueva de Campeán
Start time: 8.10am
To: Montamarta
End time: 3.30 pm
Accommodation: public albergue - top bunk
Terrain: country lanes, roads, small gravel tracks.
🥾Km: 37.1*
🥾Miles: 23*
🦶Steps: 47,654
*please note I walked to the old bridge to cross into Zamora. It was closed for refurb, so I needed to walk back on myself and take a different bridge. I came off the Camino line in the city to find food. I walked around a shop. I went off trail to pee. I scrambled up a bank instead of walking around to cross the railway. I came off trail to get resupply at a garage. Plus the accommodation isn’t on trail. I hope that answers any questions about the distances shared.
💰Costs: €10.60 - 4x snickers, coke cola, 2x. Crisps.
€5 albergue (cheapest accommodation so far!)
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 7/10
Fatigue: 2/10
Ease of terrain: 2/10
⭐️Highlights: making progress and feeling really positive. Staying in the present moment and not worrying about the future.
🏔️Challenges: Sunday is always a hard day trying to buy food. I thought Zamora would have more supermarkets open. But Spain is very traditional still. I managed to find one small shop to get some resupply. It had limited options. So it wasn’t the healthiest choice!
💭Thoughts: someone’s opinion of you - does not need to become your reality. If you want to walk a Camino and you have people who doubt you. Ignore them - do it - do it for you. Take the time. Be proactive. Believe in yourself. Take the first step.
Make yourself proud. Don’t let anyone steal your dream.
Day 20/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Monday 22nd April
Weather: Sunny ☀️
From: Montamarta
Start time: 8.45am
To: Granja de Moreruela
End time: 1.30pm
Accommodation: public albergue - bottom bunk
Terrain: country roads, dirt paths
🥾Km: 24.2
🥾Miles: 14.91
🦶Steps: 31,093
💰Costs: €6 accommodation
€14.50 lunch - lentil soup and chicken salad with ice cream and Coca-Cola & hot chocolate
€14 - same again - but with a water not hot chocolate
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 8/10
Fatigue: 2/10
Ease of terrain: 2/10
⭐️Highlights: today was like a half day for me as I stopped walking at 1:30pm. I also had some good food at lunchtime - which always helps.
Tomorrow I will be turning left and heading towards the coast and to Santiago. I will be also moving onto a different Camino called Sanabres Way.
🏔️Challenges: no wifi in the albergue
💭Thoughts: can’t believe how quickly this challenge has gone! I’m almost at the end of it - 12 days to go!
Time flies when you’re having fun!
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