Injuries: Linda has a blister which forces her to alter her gait which grinds her hip; Rob’s Achilles heel is stiff; Mats ankle is ok but he doesn’t want to push it; and I chaffed my inner thighs while hiking yesterday in the heat for so long in a pair of shorts I hadn’t used before that were too stiff. While fine for colder wet days they proved less than ideal for hot sweaty days. Thomas was fine and being Norwegian, anxious to keep going so he pushed on while we decided to walk 5k along a canal lined with trees in the autumn colours, then we would take a taxi to our destination and have a rest, repack, respite day.
Rob’s friend Dee had a similar idea and waswaiting to take a bus to Carrión, our destination as well. Rob said he would share a taxi with her. I wondered if that meant we were going to lose Rob.
We ran into Brian and Zosia from Victoria and had coffee with them and they pointed out a peregrinos equipment store. I was looking for a lightweight inexpensive windbreaker and new pants/shorts to replace the stiff ones that caused the chaffing.A windbreaker would have been perfect for misty days or days when a Gortex jacket is just too hot to wear while walking in the rain. I had seen a very lightweight, as in hardly-any-grams, jacket back home for $100 and thought, who in their right mind would spend that kind of money of a flimsy lightweight water resistant but not waterproof, jacket? I would now!
Mats gets a Facebook message from Steffen’s girlfriend asking for info on Steffen who apparently has forgotten how he ended up in hospital. Apparently, Steffen isn’t too clear about which hospital he is in and Burgos has at least four hospitals. It was a good thing Rob had written down the address from the ambulance attendees. We find Rob. Dee has booked into an albergue, right downtown, but Rob wants to stay with us.
We book into a convent that hosts an albergue. You have to ring a doorbell and they will come to the marble-floored grand entrance to let you in and register you. Once settled in, you use a door in the courtyard to exit and re-enter. It is a very pleasant albergue with friendly nuns who only speak Spanish but we understand: mass at 7, laundry room over there, kitchen here, clean up after yourselves, doors locked at 10, silence at 10:30. Our nun guided us to our room, no bunks, just 12 single beds. We are soon joined by Brian from Ontario, who lost a big toenail today and 6 Germans in their twenties.
As I am lying in bed surfing the ‘net, I look over at Ingrid’s (from Germany) bed next to me with and I spot a bug. Not a fly nor a mosquito but a crawling bug on the side of her mattress. I point to it, and she sees it. We look at each other in horror. ‘Is it a bedbug?’. I shrug ‘I don’t know’. I use my stylus to try and poke it, and in a flash, it runs under the mattress. In an instant, she is out of bed and taking the sheet off looking at the mattress. Rob enters the room, and I motion him over. ‘Rob, we saw a bug.’ While he professionally investigates, the German girl is googling images. We describe the bug to Rob. ‘Doesn’t sound like a bedbug, too big. And I don’t see any indication of blood or bugs in the seams. I think it is fine.’ Both the German girl and I are very relieved. Anyway, nuns wouldn’t allow bedbugs!
Time on trail: 2 hours
Weather: just right
Distance travelled: 20k
Distance to go: 420k
Food: café con leche, Napoleon (think croissant stuffed with chocolate), spaghetti, veal stew, mousse.
Lesson learned: I know that I know nothing.
Feeling: relaxed
Aches and pains: all OK.
Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa 
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