Stage Nineteen –Terradillos de los Templarios to El Burgo Ranero

30.9 km

October 26, 2011



Root cellars in the hill
Scallop shell decorations.
Looked like little
people might live here.



Always a nice sign to see



 Where’s the Bar?

Wow, another day of just walking in wind and light rain again. It was a cold day for walking as well. Kim and I decided to follow the real Camino and not go an alternate route through the forest, as we were hoping to not end up in the same albergue as the noisy Koreans or the snobby French people. We walked on a muddy trail today, the kind of mud that sticks to your boots. Every once in a while I would stop and clean the bottom of my boots and then carry on.

We arrived in Sahagun (pop. 3,000) around noon and we were starving. We had a long walk ahead and needed to get some food. We had to walk off the camino into the town square to find a bar serving food. We got a little creeped out sometimes going into bars cause the old men would just stare. It was like they had never seen a pilgrim before although thousands pass each year, or else we were interrupting their “man” time or maybe they were checking out the beautiful blue eyed Kim. We felt much better and welcomed when the  nice bartender gave us nice hot soup to drink. I got to drink Kim’s cause it was beef based.  

 We arrived at Berciaos de real Camino after walking 24 km and were not impressed with staying there. There were no facilities what so ever, so we decided to walk another 7 km to the next albergue. When we arrived in El Burgo Ranero, we were very damp and very cold. The albergue was an adobe structure and the smell of the wood fireplace was strong as we entered. There were many pilgrims, all sitting in a small room, trying to warm up and get dry by the fire. I believe it was the only source of heat. Wet rain coats and boots were everywhere in the cramped space. The hospitalaro showed me upstairs to my bed but as I started to get unpacked, Kim found herself without a bed for the night. The hospitalaro had made a mistake as they were registering people. I already had a bad vibe from this place, even though it was highly recommended in the books. It may have been nice in the summer but it was crowded and noisy and cold this day. It didn’t take me long to decide to go with Kim across the street to our own room with bathtub. I soooo needed that soak in the tub and a little bit of privacy, to avoid more frustration and get a restful sleep.

Another familiar face arrived on the scene. Nick was staying the albergue next door and joined us for a really nice pilgrims menu. We got to share Kim’s wine. He pushed his curfew and we weren’t sure if he would be back to sleep on our floor, but he wasn't.