Days 19-20 Mad Dogs and Englishmen

The meseta in all its glory

Day 19
Castrojeriz to Boadilla del Camino 11.78 miles; 430 km. to go


Sunrise while looking back at Castrojeriz

A geological twist in the otherwise flat meseta comes from ancient rivers that have sliced right through, creating vast valleys in which little towns are hidden away. It also means an occasional and surprisingly steep climb and descent for the walker.

At the foot of another 2-hour up and down, I am on my way across a bridge and must stand aside for a caravan to cross. The window is open and a lovely British accent cheerily wishes me a good morning:
"Are you English?"
"No, American."
"Have you had breakfast yet? Would you like some morning coffee?"
Done.

Meet John Francis, a retired English TV producer who sailed to the Mediterranean 16 years ago and traded his boat in for a caravan. He has spent the last several years as a knight of the Camino, assisting pilgrims with their various injuries, delirium, sunstroke, or offering water as they set off across 12-km shadeless stretches without supplies. He has become quite the star on people´s blogs, newspaper articles, and books about the Camino.

His caravan is full of books. He asks if I would like some muesli. Mozart is playing. This is fantastic. He offers to drive my pack to the next town, but as I travel light no assistance is needed, and off I go. The muesli is excellent.

If all this weren´t surreal enough, the next albergue features a crystal-clear swimming pool surrounded by grass.

Pilgrims paradise

Day 20
Boadilla del Camino to Fromista--3.72 miles; 424 km. to go

A lovely walk along a tree-lined canal this morning, and I decide to call it an early day and check into a hotel. After all, it´s been three weeks non-stop, and I´m almost to the half-way point.

The canal


The famous Romanesque church of San Martín in Frómista

So, for entertainment´s sake, here´s a little about the pilgrim hierarchy on the road:

On the top of the list are those pilgrims who literally go out the front door of their homes and start walking. I have met four people who have been walking since Holland, another from Paris, and a wonderful French couple who began in Clermond-Ferrand in the middle of France. There are those who don´t have the time to walk continuously, so they come back the following year and pick up from the spot where they left. A couple from Belgium is on their fourth year and will finish the pilgrimage next year.

Many pilgrims begin farther back in France at one of the many traditional starting points: Vezelay, le Puy, etc. The usual place in France from where to begin in St. Jean Pied de Port, from where I began.

You can begin anywhere along the route, and walking the last 100 kilometers will give you the Compostela, 200 km. for cyclists.

Down the food chain a bit, you have what I call the "holiday pilgrims." They pick and choose just the pretty parts and do not walk a continual route--maybe they´ll do part of Navarra and then skip the whole way across and do the last 100 km. I guess that´s fair, but it´s not really experiencing the "Camino."

Down some more are those who have their backpacks transported. I think I´ve spotted a few of them; you can tell because they freshly prance by with Santiago shells hanging from their necks and their backpacks are about the size of a Hello Kitty tote. And rockbottom are the taxi pilgrims who surreptiously arrange to travel from town to town in a taxi. They´re let out where no one is around and pretend they´ve walked the whole thing when they enter the albergues. I haven´t spotted one of these yet, although I do know some injured people who have taxied to the next town. Some people have regular support vehicles, which seems kind of cheating also, but whatever.

Another species altogether are the cycle pilgrims. They usually swoop into the albergues like a swarm of brightly colored insects around 7pm. Walking pilgrims always have first dibs at the albergues, and the cycle pilgrims are not allowed a bed until the end of the day. Generally, I like the cycle pilgrims; they are always very polite on the road.

This guy's backpack is way too big.

I should mention that pilgrims may also travel by donkey or horse. I´ve met a donkey traveler, but he was going in the opposite direction.