Day 12: Polientes - Aguilar de Campoo, ?? kms
When the barman in Sanpatiel understood I would be walking from there to Aguilar de Campoo, and not drive, he must have taken pity on me. He prepared a thermos with café con leche and gave me a bunch of muffins for the next day. I could have breakfast in my room before leaving! I really liked Sanpatiel. Basic bar, run by mom-dad-and-son. I got roof over my head, a tuna sallad in the evening and a little breakfast: what more could I ask for?
This morning I had no choice but to start walking the 40+ kms to Aguilar de Campoo.
@WestKirsty had warned me about tricky places on the GR99 so I stuck to the CA-272 all the way to Villanueva de Nía, 13 km on the road from Polientes. A Saturday morning, there was almost no traffic.
In Villanueva de Nía everything was closed. I continued on the road, knowing that I would leave it shortly after Santa María de Valverde. But when I got there I lost reception. The Centro de interpretación de arquitectura rupestre (information center) was open so I went to have a look, and to mooch off their wifi. Their wifi didn't work either. But the kind lady let me use the bathroom and fill up my water bottles. She told me Aguilar de Campoo was only 11 kms away if I continued on the carretera. I knew I should turn left and leave the road if I was to follow previous pilgrims, but I wasn't sure where. And I had no time to spare on such a long stage. What if I got lost, then had to backtrack, without a map... So I kept to the CA-272 (it changes names but it is the same road from Polientes) knowing that neither
@Caminka or
@WestKirsty went that way.
It was incredibly boring. I went through small villages without any services. Reception gradually came back. Before Quintanilla de las Torres I veered left over the fields, through the village of Villajimena, trying to find the simplest way to Aguilar de Campoo. Easier said than done. Sure, I had Google Maps handy when I approached town. But I had to navigate through the industrial suburbs and its maze of motorways which separated me from my hotel. On the map Hotel Los Olmos was a stone's throw away; as the crow flies. In reality I had the N-627, four roundabouts and the fleet of Spanish truck drivers in front of me.
I had to walk next to heavy traffic to get closer to the hotel. Finally I got so tired of the motorway that I crawled under the fence of one of the factories. I escaped a chunk of the suburbs and could walk in a straight line to Los Olmos.
I must have looked torn at my arrival. The barman offered me water, café, Coca Cola, tapas, peanuts and finally charged me only for the café. I spent an hour in the bar just staring at the TV screen and relaxing before I went to my room. It felt so good to sit down...
I think I walked about 30 kms uninterruptedly on asphalt today, before the relatively short stretch in the countryside. Then back to pavement in the suburbs. I said I like asphalt in general, but today my feet seem to have a different opinion. On Wikiloc it looks as if I "mirrored" previous pilgrims' trail from Santa María de Valverde. Just that I reached Aguilar from the north, not the south. I think no pilgrim will be so unlucky as to walk the same way as I did. Well now you know how to get to Aguilar in case you would lose reception and end up on the carretera...
This is the end of my Camino Viejo. I will make a summary with practical info as soon as I can! Tomorrow I walk to Cervera de Pisuerga on the Camino Olvidado. 28 kms sounds like a vacation compared to the past few days...
I may or may not start a thread about the Olvidado from Aguilar. Either way I am glad so many of you read my posts on the Viejo!
Bye for now!
Thanks! Oh, and one minute ago I got hold of Los Olmos, where you stayed in Aguilar de Campoo! It wasn't on Booking (?) so a pleasant surprise... I thought I would go broke in Aguilar de Campoo because the other places were ridiculously expensive 
!
So comfortable right now! I might have said this before but... I will sleep like a log tonight!! 
