Stage Twelve – Villafranca Montes de oca to Atapuerca

Walking in the footsteps of early humans!

18 km

October 18, 2011

I had a comfortable sleep and the legs were ready to go again. I doctored my blister, which was not going away, but was not getting worse and I gathered some clothes I had left out on the line all night.  I ate some yogurt, an orange and made some tea in the nice little kitchen, and then headed off. It was an immediate uphill from the get go. The first hill of the day always seems to be the hardest and this was a good climb. The sun rose behind me and shone orange through the bush. It was a pretty cool morning in the valley but as I climbed in altitude, there was a warm wind. The wind got warmer the higher I climbed. Usually it is the other way around.



Church  of San Juan de Ortega,



It wasn’t long before I had to stop, get the pack off, and get my jacket off. I also had to decide what layer to strip down to as I was wearing four layers. I ended up doing this three times by the time I got to the top of the hill.   As I got readjusted, for the third time, the two girls and Hans arrived. I walked with Martina for a while today and got to know her a bit better. I was walking slower than Gerti today. Martina had a little slower pace and that suited me today.  At some point we stopped for a rest.  It was getting hot. There was another pilgrim coming up the path now and who would it be but.. Nick. Nick from a week ago. The night with all the drunks in the albergue. It surprised me because I had been telling Martina about meeting Nick and our fleeting conversation, and how I would like to have talked to him more about some of his perspectives. Who knew if I would see him again? I really thought he would be ahead of me, but there he was, walking with his two big walking sticks that he had picked up many miles ago.

I was happy to walk with Nick (51) after we all took a break in San Juan de Ortega and visited the church there. (San Juan was a disciple of Santo Domingo)  He hadn’t remembered our conversation in the albergue the night of all the drinking but he did remember me. He said, in his English accent, he was now trying to keep his distance from “that crazy lot of pilgrims"  as he was trying to stay away from the partying. It is too hard to walk if you are hung over and that was not his purpose for being there.



Nick



Along The Way today, Nick and I were approached in the middle of nowhere, by a man with flaming red hair and beard. He was French but could speak English, and was headed backward on the Camino. He said he was on his way home but had run into money problems. He showed me a 5 Euro bill that he had found. It did have a serial number on it but the back of the bill was washed out. He said I could exchange it at a bank but he needed money now and shops wouldn’t take it. I didn’t really know what to think but I gave him a 5 and took his 5. Nick gave him a can of beans he was tired of carrying. After we parted Nick said it was a good thing I took his 5 because if he is scamming he just lost his best tool. Hard to say but I am sure he must have needed the money and it was his idea to exchange it. If nothing else, I have a conversation piece because I did not take the bill to a bank. 

 Earlier that day, when I was walking alone, I had a thought about finding some white quartz as I watched the ground under foot. I am just learning about crystals and the white quartz has a protective energy. It couldn’t hurt to be carrying some. Every once in a while I would stop to see if there was any around. My eyes were playing tricks on me cause I would think a stone was quartz but it would turn out to be just a plain rock. Then, when walking later that day with Nick , he bent down and picked up a rock. It was a piece of white quartz. I was so surprised and told him of my thoughts earlier. He gave the crystal to me and I carried it for the rest of my journey. I was starting to wonder if I was manifesting some of the things that were happening around me just with my thoughts. It was something to be aware of as I had heard an Asian woman talking about manifesting things on her first Camino and she talked so naturally about it.  

The Camino flattened out for a bit and lead to Atapuerca, which was home to early man. There are caves nearby where our ancestors hung out, dating back 900,000 years and apparently we were cannibals. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which, unfortunately, was closed for the season. I got pictures of the replica dolmen erected recognizing the earlier inhabitants of this area.

In Atapuerca, I went to a nice private albergue with a nice garden area to sit in. The town was small but Nick and I managed to find a place that would serve us a pilgrim’s dinner before 4 pm but would be closed after that.  We had a great afternoon feast and great conversation. It was nice to have a good English conversation. I had been missing it so I think I talked his ear off.

 I got a chance to walk up a hill to an old church to read and take pictures and look over the expansive valley and the town. I watched an  elderly Spanish woman, walk up the hill and then she gazed over the valley for several minutes. Then she came over and sat on the other end of my bench. We greeted but couldn't communicate, so just sat in silence for many minutes, looking out over the town, then she got up and wandered back down the hill. It was just one of those moments. I got the feeling it was her routine and I happened to be sitting on the bench this day.

Martina, Nick and I , were the only ones assigned to our cramped little room. Two bunks and two single beds and a narrow space between them. I opted for the single bed by the door, although Nick would have traded if I wanted by the window. Martina always picked a top bunk. She didn’t like to sleep on a bottom bunk. Martina and Gerti are both 53, like me, but Martina didn’t seem to have any problems getting up and down the bunk.

 Nick and I continued our conversation later that evening, drinking wine and eating munchies in the room. Kind of a “no no”  in albergues but we felt like being rebels. We didn’t need to go out for dinner as we had had such a big late lunch. I was very interested in some of Nick’s perspectives on life and some of his life experiences. I won’t get into them as I don’t want to share personal stuff but he recommended a few books and gave me the book “The Four Agreements” to read along The Way. He was sure we would see each other again and he could get it back.

Nick also told me about Vipassana meditation. He had been to a 10 day retreat and said it was the hardest thing he had ever done. He had to be silent for 10 days and had to endure long sessions of sitting in certain positions. Turns out that Martina does this type of meditation too, and goes to a retreat every year. She had gone to India at one point in her life to do this. It was interesting to listen to their discussion about their experiences. 

Reflection:

The Camino is a funny thing because if you have made a connection with someone along The Way, even a very small connection, when you see them after not seeing them for a few days, you get very excited. It is like old friends meeting almost or because you never know if you will see someone again it is so wonderful when you do. Then there is a lot of sharing of the camino experience and a closeness develops quickly because everyone has the same goal...to arrive at Santiago.



501 to go