I did not think it would take me such a long time for my 2nd post on this thread but I have had some real problems finding places with internet access - either there is nowhere, or if there is access (in a Casa de Cultura or biblioteca etc), it always seems to be CLOSED when I happen to be there!!!
Right then. Day 28 of my camino and I´ve only just reached the half-way stage - Salamanca! It´s therefore taken me nearly a month to do one half of the VdlP
First two weeks I found really hard - my lack of physical fitness a great handicap during days where the temperature sometimes reached 37 degrees centigrade. I sweat A LOT and therefore needed to carry 3 litres of water (at least) each day. I started having problems with my feet from Day 3 (going down THAT hill just before Almaden de la Plata). Mostly heel pain and toes swelling up and going black.
The day I walked the 21.5km from Aljucen to Alcuescar (Day 14), my feet got so painful that I had to take off my shoes and walk in my Crocs - I got to the albergue around 4pm, with 4 toe nails having turned black. I felt so despondent and fed up that day that I seriously thought about giving up once reaching Caceres. A small group of 7 French pilgrims whom I had met the night before bullied me into going to the Medical Centre in Alcuescar and seek help, which I did. The doctor there just seemed to think my shoes were too tight (those are the same shoes I wore on the
Camino Frances last year and did not have any problems with!). He took a needle and pierced through one of my toenails (the one that looked the worst), squeezed some blood out and sent me on my way.
Thankfully there was a good atmosphere at the Alcuescar albergue that evening and the French pilgrims were very supportive of me, this encouraged me to carry on and not throw in the towel in Caceres as I had planned. It´s now 2 weeks later and as I was getting changed last night and putting on my trousers, I felt one of my large toenails coming off :shock: There is a podiatry clinic here in Salamanca which the hospitalera at the albergue referred me to - I went there this morning. The podiatrist totally removed my 2 big toe-nails - I am already missing one small toe nail, that one turned weird and fell off a week ago. I don´t yet have new nails growing on those 3 toes but the podiatrist is adamant it is not a problem for me to continue walking like that (I am mainly concerned about infections but I´ll just keep them bandaged).
A lot of pilgrims I have encountered are only walking part of the VdlP, or skipping parts (by taking buses etc). Salamanca seems to be a popular place for people either to stop their camino, or start it.
On the whole, I am enjoying the quietness of the VdlP. I spent 7 nights in a row alone in albergues (in Embalse de Alcantara, Grimaldo, Galisteo, Carcaboso, Oliva de Plasencia, Aldeanueava del Camino and Calzada de Bejar) but that is not a problem for me. In Fuenterroble de Salvatierra we were 5, and in San Pedro de Rozados only 2.
My favourite albergues so far: the old olive oil mill 4km before Villafranca de los Barros (am I the only one who actually likes the fact it was in the middle of nowhere?), the convent in Alcuescar (peaceful and welcoming atmosphere), Embalse of Alcantara albergue (brutalist? architecture), Alba-Soraya in Calzada de Bejar (very warm, friendly and lively hospitalera) , the parroquial albergue in Fuenterroble, and of course the albergue here in Salamanca.
My only bad albergue experience: in Aldeanueava del Camino. As I stood in front of the albergue with my rucksack on my back, the old lady hospitalera, without even saying hello or giving me time to say hello, asked me aggressively what I wanted. Once I explained I needed the albergue, she reluctantly allowed me in. Once I had filled in the register, she violently slammed a wooden box on the table and simply said "Donativo!". I asked how much other people donate and she said "5 euros". I paid up. She said "If you are cold during the night, just shut the windows!" and stomped off back to her house 2 doors down. My feet were particularly painful that day otherwise I might have gone off in search of a pension or hostal. As things were, I just took a quick shower and got into bed straightaway, feeling slightly miffed but on the whole also bemused as I just could not believe how unpleasant that lady was :shock:
The positive thing is that in the past week I have clearly felt my fitness improve. I managed my longest day (29km from Fuenterroble de Salvatierra to San Pedro de Rozados, including that section up the hill to Pico de la Dueña) in 9 hours, which for me is very good, believe me! and the best thing is that when I did get to San Pedro I was still able to stand up and walk normally without too much pain :mrgreen:
So on the whole I´ll conclude by saying that I am glad I have stuck with this. This camino is physically much harder for me than the
Camino Frances but, because of that, much more rewarding - black pigs, one escaped bull, majestic birds of prey, olive trees as far as the eye can see, Roman bridges galore, reservoirs of the most beautiful colours, Galisteo (how amazing is that entirely-walled town!!) - those are all memories I´ll keep for ever. Am hoping to make it to Santiago by the end of November at the latest (the slowest pilgrim ever, I think!) and hopefully with some toenails still left.