June 18: Winding Down with new friends

We had another easy day today – a little under 18km. We are enjoying the wind-down (for us) to Leon. Our final 2 days are also under 20km. Randy, Michelle, Peter, Mary and Josie (an extraordinary Dutch woman, walking alone, constantly mindful of the needs of her “very sick” son and/but consistently upbeat, outgoing and cheerful), all found ourselves at El Burgo Ranero by midday. This was despite all of us taking leisurely breaks in cafés along the way. Carey and I stopped in, again, at the Auberge La Perla on the outskirts of Berclanos del Real Camino. It’s a huge, barn-like complex, open 24/7 with a good bar and great coffee. Every year I take a photo of their mural – a 4-stick-figure progression: from slumped walker, through upright recovery, to spritely athlete to be-hatted pilgrim. Everyone who has made this journey, knows this is a fundamental part of the experience: the mental and physical realisation that, by God’s grace, everyone can do (and love to do) hard things.

We settled into the courtyard garden for beer and burgers while all of us (except Josie) waited for our pickup, back to Sahagun. It was a loud table in the best way: friendly, boisterous, generous. I even read the rough draft of today’s poem to them (2 beers in). They were very kind. We feel very blessed to have shared these few weeks with these unique, open people. I sincerely hope we hear about their successful entry into Santiago in 2 weeks’ time. I don’t want to sound patronising (because both Carey and I are spent and tired), but as I looked around the table, I noted the faces, tanned, shining, “honed” somehow by 60% of the journey with companionship and growing physical strength. Everyone looked different from the first time I saw them. I can’t see that in my own face, or Carey’s, because we are together all day every day and the subtle changes simply slide by us. I found myself hoping that we also have that same energy.

Our host was a real character. When Josie ordered a “small beer”, he brought out a thimble sized stein for her (before pouring her a “real” small beer). He “cheers’ed” with us all after serving the round and creating a shared table for 7 was a delightful slapstick of tessellating garden chairs, sunshades and hands thrown up in the air.

Carey and I took the first ride back – we arrived first and were well through our beers, while the others had just ordered a bottle of wine to share. Our taxi driver covered the 18km that had taken us 3 ½ hour to walk in about 12 minutes. He’ll drop us back in the morning, to continue on our way. Back at the hostel, we showered and washed our kit in the sink for the last time on this trip. We only have 2 more walking days. We will simply pack dirty until we get to London and Gareth’s washing machine.

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Inspired by our 2024 Camino Francais, Karen has a periodic podcast called "I sent you a bloody boat", personal thoughts on faith by a person who believes in thinking. Also, known as "The Reluctant Christian". You can listen to it on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts at: