Day 22 - Foncebadón

Walked 14 miles today and still feel great. The antibiotics are either still working or the sickness is gone. My feet are still very happy too. I have some sunburn though, in spite of all that sunscreen, but that's the least of a pilgrim's usual problems. I'm just glad it's not as hot as it was last year, only around 20 degrees Celcius (70 F).

After about 10 miles, around 1 in the afternoon, I walked though a town called Rabanal del Camino. This place is famous among pilgrims and is really beautiful. I would've stayed there if it wasn't only 1PM and I wanted to walk some more, also to cover more of the moutain ahead so I won't have to do that in one day. So I decided to just take a break here instead. Had a lengthy discussion with a pair of Irish pilgrims who seemed amazed at the fact hardly anyone beyond the borders of their country, and the UK's, uses milk in their tea after a certain age.

I eventually stopped at Foncebadón, near the top, about 2 miles from the Cruz de Ferro (the Iron Cross - another famous site on the camino). This is one of many ghost towns in this section of the Camino Francés, almost completely deserted until the revival of the Camino in the early nineties. There are three refugios here, a rebuilt church and a small store. The rest of the town is filled with empty houses and damaged buildings, no one actually lives here anymore except the hospitaleros. It's surreal.

There are three hostels here, and they were all full when I got here with a bunch of others. At the third hostel we arrived at, the owner improvised by opening a few of his sheds and putting matresses on the floor. The water used in the shower is heated by solar energy so there may not be enough hot water for everyone, but a cold shower is better than no shower.

I originally wanted to stay at the regufio of Manjarin, which is known for the Knights Templar rituals the owner performs in uniform, but a hospitalero I spoke to earlier advised against it. Apparently the owner never cleans the place and pilgrims are sure to get bed bugs, and there's no shower either. I may stop there for a bit tomorrow to check it out, but I sure won't sleep there.

140 miles to go to Santiago.