Day 6:September 26

The icons come together, finally

Villatuerta to Villamayor de Monjardin

The morning was superbly sunny. Today’s target of Villamayor was only 8 miles away so there was going to be a complete reversal of pace compared to yesterday’s dash to the albergue. Hence the lateish departure time of 09:30.

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Villatuerta has over 1,000 inhabitants which makes it one of the more sizeable communities that the Camino passes through. The picture of the Camino shell waymarker in its yellow and blue livery above prompts me to say a few words about route finding on the Camino (Frances). Like so many other prospective peregrinos I was quite concerned before setting off about route finding whilst walking the Camino. There is a vast amount of information on the Camino from those that have already walked it which give reassurance that route finding is very straightforward. But many of us still feel somewhat uneasy if we had to set out on this venture without some kind of map, guidebook or phone app to guide our ways. I took along with me the almost universal Brierly guidebook and the Buen Camino app. To cut a long story short I did use both quite extensively, but the question is could I have found my way without them? The answer would be Yes. It is very good for almost all of the 500 or so miles to Santiago. The yellow arrows and the scallop shells indicate the correct route. It was a very pleasant surprise and was fully in accord with what others had said about it. I did get lost twice, the first one near Cirueña, and the second one was by the canal before the Camino enters Fromista. None of these were irrecoverable though that first one did involve an extra 20 minutes slog uphill to regain the Camino on what was already an extremely hot afternoon. On another occasion I had started heading down a farm track when I was aware of a hail of whistling and shouts from a group of people that had been behind me and who were frantically indicating the CORRECT route of the Camino at that point. Further details of these three incidents will be given when I catch up with the blog postings, so keep reading!!! I found the biggest problems occurred in the large urban areas. The scallop and yellow arrows are there, it’s just that you have to be very observant to spot them amongst all of the other road signs that are also present. I also found that it could be confusing when setting off from your overnight accommodation trying to pick up the route from where it had been left the day before. But in the mornings there are usually several others leaving the accommodation at the same time so I followed them for a little while. There is an excellent ‘rule of thumb’ which states that if you’ve walked along for more than five minutes without seeing a waymarker then you are probably NOT on the correct route. This is exactly what I noticed on the two occasions that I took the wrong route.

So following the waymarkers within the hour I arrived in Estella. The sun shone gloriously all the way. I felt beautifully relaxed because of it but at the same time I was ready for a break…ideally in a nice quiet shaded corner with a drink and something appetising to eat.

So with this noble objective in mind I passed through the Plaza San Martin and crossed over the quite steeply arched bridge that leads into the main town. Just as I was about to get onto the main calle a couple of ‘elderly ladies’ accosted me with a greeting of ‘parroquial???’ They assumed I was looking for one of the town’s albergues but after I replied ‘Gracias, pero estoy buscando un sitio en la sombra donde puedo sentarme y comer y tomar algo‘ they led me a hundred yards back up the Camino and then onto a side road and into a quite nice cafe/bar. The two ladies seemed to know everybody and so I felt quite privileged by the fact that they had taken me there. So ok it’s not EXACTLY what I had in mind but it did the job, and that’s what counts ultimately. The ‘Spanish omelette’ thing was gorgeously interlaced with strips of ham and cheese.

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It was about 11:00 when I finished this nice little break. Estella is quite a sizeable town in the world of the Camino Francés. So it was a good opportunity to catch up on a couple of things that I thought would be useful. Because the weather had been so hot and sunny which didn’t look as though it was going to change in a hurry I decided I’d buy some salt, to add to the drinks and water that I had been consuming in great quantity. In addition I decided to stock up on some more peanuts and raisins or at least something similar. To maintain social niceties I also added more deodorant to the shopping list….the smallest and lightest one that was available. So with the aid of Google Maps it was off in search of the nearest Eroski supermarket. The journey took me through the centre of town. It was a busy and bustling place and obviously hosting its own market day.

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So as I was in the supermarket I was drawn over to a section of it where I couldn’t help but notice a product bearing the label ‘Yorkshire Terrier’. Significant because (a) Yorkshire was my county of birth and (b) Yorkshire Terriers are cute little critters as the pictures above hopefully demonstrate. Fate, Destiny and Evolution have blessed them with all the spirit, courage and pluck of a Bengal tiger but has unfortunately packaged all of this inside a fragile little body about a tenth of the size and that bears the sweetest and most unmenacing little faces you could imagine. Their bark is definitely much worse than their bite. By the way I did manage to find a bottle of salt crystals that came with its own little grinding mill set into the top, a reasonably small bottle of deodorant, and a packet of various dried fruits and nuts…..all of which ensured my chances of surviving the next phase of the Camino as a fresh-smelling, well-hydrated and well-nourished peregrino had been significantly enhanced.

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The next phase of the Camino on this particular day would eventually bring me to the iconic spot where you can dispense wine out of a tap (or as some say – spigot!) in the wall of one of the bodegas. To do this ‘properly’ you are supposedly to dispense the wine into one of the average-sized Camino scallop shells that peregrinos normally have hanging from the back of their mochilas. But being ‘Mr Different’ I still didn’t have one of these and so it was top of the priority list for the very next purchase. Fortunately shortly after having rejoined the main Camino track the opportunity presented itself, in a gift shop where a couple of the aforementioned shells were hanging by the entrance. So another opportunity to inflict my Spanish on the natives presented itself…and this time I must admit it went really well. I had a very successful rapport with the lady in there who wished me well for the rest of the Camino. I was now the proud possessor of my very own and very iconic scallop shell or La Vieira as it is otherwise known.

I almost got lost leaving Estella as you have to follow the main road for a while through a featureless suburb and then bear right at one of the two main roundabouts that are encountered. I think I went straight ahead at this point but I was lucky to observe other peregrinos away to my right walking on a parallel course so it was an error easily recovered. Once back into the countryside proper the Camino passes along a very dry and dusty track through lush vineyards that belong to the Bodega Irache.

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I soon came upon the iconic spot where wine is dispensed free of charge from the tap set into the wall…. the ‘Wine Fountain’ as it is known ….see below.

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A rough translation goes as follows…. Pilgrim! If you want to get to Santiago in good shape and full of beans drink a little of this good wine and make a toast to Happiness.

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When I first arrived I was alone, in some respects no bad thing, though for a few scary moments I wondered whether it was because the wine fountain had run dry. But I found it was working ok, phew!! The other problem was that there was no one to take the classic photo that everyone has taken here….but, as I’ve hinted at all the way through this Camino blog, there was no need to worry as things just seem to work out for me in life….and lo and behold along came a French peregrino, the one in green in the right-hand caption shown above. So captured for evermore is the shot of yours truly imbibing the vino from the recently acquired scallop shell and in so doing this iconic item and this iconic spot finally came together in the equally iconic photo. My watch indicated a time of 13:00…precisely. Ahead was a straightforward walk of less than 4 miles. just as well because by now it had become very warm indeed.

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Not far from the Wine Fountain there is a divergence of the Camino route. The track that goes straight ahead is the ‘scenic’ but fairly hilly route to Los Arcos that passes through the small habitation of Luquín. The ‘main’ route which passes through Villamayor bears sharp right at this junction. But before I arrived there a helpful local was walking towards me and proceeded to inform me of this split in the route. I thanked him and indicated that I was heading for Villamayor so I told him I’d already decided to take the right hand fork in the track. As they say, the Camino provides. Who needs a guide book when you have such friendly locals? The track passes through some oak trees and down into the small settlement of Azqueta before making the final ascent of the day through wheatfields and vineyards heading straight for the unmistakable conical hill upon which sits El Castillo de Monjardín. Close to Villamayor lies the 13th century Fuente de los Moros with its characteristic Mozarabic double arch.

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The pictures show how glorious the weather was that afternoon….in fact very warm indeed. It was 15:00 when I entered Villamayor. Population = 115! That’s no mistake. Many of these places are seriously small. All part of the charm of this venture. And so to the albergue that bears the imaginative name of Albergue Villamayor de Monjardín! Thereafter came the ritual of the welcoming personal shower followed by the washing of today’s walking clothes. The albergue gradually got a little busier. Amongst those arriving were two Italian girls – Sandra and Carla – who were keen to inform everyone that they were on a bit of a crusade to rid the Camino of plastic – which I’ll describe a little more in the next posting in this series. I went for a short tour around the tiny but hilly little place.

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Upon return to the albergue in readiness for the communal evening meal it was really good once again to see that the German music group had also turned up. Amazing isn’t it! Just a week ago I never knew they existed. Today it was as if I’d known them for ever. The biggest surprise though was reserved for the arrival of my Brit colleague Dan with whom I’d travelled to St Jean from Pamplona and then passed by each other on both Days 1 and 2. (see previous postings). Dan had suffered quite a bit in today’s hot weather so we got him a cold drink to commence the process of recovery. Dan did admit that he wasn’t a great worshipper of the Sun so not only had the Camino been quite a taxing experience for him so far, the weather forecast suggested it was going to continue in exactly this same manner for quite some time to come!

At the table above, starting with ladies first and then going around clockwise is Rachel (Alaska), Steve (USA…don’t know which bit), Pierre?(Montreal, Canada), Dan, and Jan (Holland). Steve was quite a character. He’d done the Camino several times and so had PLENTY to say. He would have been at home with Hogan’s Heroes. Every time I saw him I couldn’t get the image of the Stones’ Keith Richards out of my mind:-

Thought for the day.

Arrival at Villamayor meant that I had completed just over 79 miles of the Camino. That’s averaging a fraction over 13 miles per day. Just slightly less than I had originally planned for. I felt absolutely fine. I could still very much taste and smell everything. Destiny had now put me together with Dan who I met on the way out to the Camino. Dan had said that he really wanted to keep out of the sun for as long as possible (so he should have had a week or two in Scotland). Because of this he said he’d like to set off the next day quite early and certainly before sunrise. So if I was going to accompany him it would be the first morning in the Camino that I’d set off whilst still dark. Together we decided to make Torres del Rio the next destination, a walk of 12.5 miles (20 km). After a check of where the headtorch was located, it was off to bed with everyone else at the god awful early hour of 22:00.