Day 27 Carrión De Los Condes to Ledigos

Today was a serious walking day.  I walked almost non stop from 7:15am to 13:15 completing 23.5km's.

I set off from the beautiful town of Carrión De Los Condes at 7:15am due to other early risers. Once I am awake I tend to get up and get ready with the rest of the crowd but only after a muesli bar or two.

As I walked out of town I walked past the Real Monasterio San Zoilo, now a luxurious hotel. I met an American lady today who spent the night, she said it was beautifully decorated to preserve the past.

It's apparently a National Monument, dating back to the 11th century connected with the Order of Cluny.

I knew today was not going to be particularly exciting from a scenery point of view. The route ran practically parallel with main roads.

One very interesting part of the journey was when I got to the start of the Via Aquitana.

The Via Aquitana is an original Roman road still in use after 2000 years. The first thing I thought about was just how many millions of pilgrims had walked this road. 

I met a few people as I walked and we chatted a little.

A German man caught up to me, I met him last night in the Convent. He and his brother were walking the Camino together as they both now retired. He asked me why I was walking the Camino so I told him. He told me he was 57 years old and it was a dream of his to walk the Camino since 1985. He then burst into tears, I could just see what this journey mean't for him. 

The long dusty road in the cold wind felt somewhat easier knowing I gave a man some time to tell me a few things from the heart.

After 17km's I stopped at Calzadilla de la Cueza briefly to change socks.

I realised I had some momentum going  so best I push on to Ledigos another 6.2km's away.

Those last 6.2km's tend to feel endless. As I walked I met a Dutch lady named Gon, she was sitting on the side of the path eating fruit. She kindly offered me some but I declined. I carried on walking for about 15mins and Gon caught up to me. We had a lovely chat and she walked ahead into Ledigos. 

I looked for the first Albergue I could find and there was Gon checking in.

We found out they had private rooms for two people with 2 single beds for 9 Euro each, our money was out quicker than the passports. Gon and I decided to share, two in a room is far better than 25 people.

After my cold shower I walked around the town, there was absolutely nothing going on.  The rest of the afternoon was spent in bed resting as the wind was just far too cold for my liking. 

Enjoyed a lovely dinner with Gon.

Wifi was also non-existent hence this post is a day late.