Overnight - Hotel Rural En El Camino
Another early start for another long day. The first part of today's journey was quite flat and pleasant to Castrojeriz via the ruins of an ancient convent at San Anton.
After a quick tea stop at Castrojeriz, there was a stiff climb out of the place, with road signs describing it as a 12% gradient for just over a kilometre. Parts of it were reminiscent of the first day up the Napoleon Route with plenty of shallow breaths and the heart pumping away. But it was worth it. The view at the top down to Castrojeriz and the surrounding countryside was most impressive.
The rest of the walk was on endless, gently sloping, and mostly straight, country tracks with good views of distant walkers. The long stretch into Boadilla del Camino with the sun beating down remorselessly and no end in sight tested the sanity somewhat. The dry winds forced lots of drinking and with the water bottles nearing empty, it was a relief to finally see some buildings come into view.
My pre-booked hotel here is quite modern and something of an oasis in this town. And I spent most of the afternoon in it watching Le Tour (Froome continued his stranglehold in the mountains while Porte made up a little time with a strong showing) and catching up on some sleep. It was very warm late into the night last night at Hontanas making it difficult to get to sleep.
After a short wander around town (it’s impossible to have a long walk around this place), I had a snack at a nearby cafe and then spent some time watching Camino clips on YouTube.
Weather - Most of the morning was reasonably cool in largely overcast conditions. But once the clouds burned off, I really started to feel the heat, especially during the last 8 kilometre trudge into Boadilla del Camino, where the hot wind and road dust made for fairly unpleasant conditions.
Health - A couple of right foot issues late in the walk on the heel and, later, on the outside of the foot, but nothing serious. They fixed themselves after a good lie down.
Food - Banana; Pot of tea at Castrojeriz cafe; Big salad and Pot of tea at Itero de la Vega café for brunch; Gel; Banana; Orange; Pot of tea + Slice of cake + White chocolate mini magnum ice-cream at the nearby albergue café in Boadilla; Pots of tea x2 at hotel
Expenses - Accommodation - 35.00; Food/Drink - 14.40 Total - 49.40
Walking time - 6 hours, 40 minutes (start 6:25am, arrive at accommodation 1:05pm)
Brierley distance - 28.7km (total 343.4km)
Daily Steps - 41,350
Total Camino steps - 562,106
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