Re: Leon to Astorga (we made it!)
Day 2: 19th September 2008 - Arrive in Astorga
I learnt 2 things today;
1. 6am exists - really... I had forgotten, and at this time of year it´s still dark but at least there was a moon..
2. You can break both legs while sleeping, they heal but you are left with the pain (or so it seems) - I guess this is what comes as a result of 5 minutes of preparation walking from the house to the car each day :roll:
Anyway, we went to sleep really early (around 9pm) and woke well before the birds or sunrise, sufficiently refreshed to continue... Maybe I exaggerate about the broken legs a bit - ok, some aches but after 20+ Km on day 1 and little preparation (I didn´t joke about the house to car) I guess that´s what you should expect....
We left Villadangos about 7:45 ish, not quite the last to leave, and it was still dark and chilly but the stars were out (a good sign). At the end of the village it´s a bit confusing - there is a cross roads and an arrow (yellow) pointing right to follow the canal to a camping - it didn´t feel right, and it wasnt, we should have gone straight on, fortunately not far along was a track to the left which joined the road we should have been on so no problem.. it was dark after all...
After a long (and I must admit a bit boring) treck along the side of the N120 we arrived at San Martin del Camino, at the local Alberge - breakfast for 3 euros.... by the time we left it was light but still chilly..jumpers and shorts/trousers.
Another long treck following the National until we split away (at last!) to Villares de Orbigo - great place for photos of the somewhat impressive and long bridge that crosses the various courses of the river Orbigo. The municipal Alberge is closed at the moment (not sure if this is temporary?) but there are several others there). As you walk through, you come to a crossroads where it is signposted to the right for camping/Alberge - of course we wrongly went down there... and ended up being redirected by a local to the right path... (I knew we should have studied the map more).. anyway, little time lost...
At the end of the village you have the option of follow the National or take the scenic route - we took the scenic one... a case of ´Follow the Yellow brick road´ very well signed in numerous places with copious blobs of yellow paint... well done to the ´Amigos´...´. It´s a long route, no fonts to refill your water bottles etc. but well worth it for the scenery and to see how well the Spanish grow stones in the fields, I´ve rarely seen stones grown so well.....
The last descent fron the ´Vista de Astorga´is a bit steep if you have dodgy knees, but not too bad as it´s all concreted so no problems slipping on loose stones. Just a pity that at the top where the cross is it appears someone(s) have emptied the rubbish bins all over the ground
The last bit is always the worst... the 4Km or so to arrive at Astorga and some joker has decided to build a damn steep hill at the very last 200M or so... just what stiff feet, sore backs, aching legs want....
Anyway, we arrived about 3:15 which wasn´t too bad.. we opted for an Alberge more in the city than the first one we came to (which is small and has limited places). The price, a hefty 4 euros for the night - not bad at all. It´s well equipped, clean, has everything you could want (including 2 internet pc´s) and a well equipped kitchen. It´s a 5 minute walk to the shops and there is a supermarket that is open all day close by.
The weather today; lovely. The sun came up and stayed out all day. Sun cream was an essential - we´re going to have to walk the Camino in reverse to get even sun tans
My feet are fine (a surprise as I only bought my walking shoes 2 days ago) but Arancha has a couple of blisters - we are hoping they don´t cause too much of a problem. We bought socks that reduce the risk of blisters and plaster copious amounts of vaseline on dry feet each morning, hopefully this is enough.
It´s a fair treck from Villadangos to Astorga - 22Km according to one map, 36Km according to ours (certainly feels more like 36 to me).
Tomorrow Rabanal del Camino (or less) we´ll see...
For interest, so far we are spending 15 euros each per day on Alberges, food (we are cooking our own meals, well I´m cooking and Arancha is washing up
) and drinks..
Nigel