Day 11 - Santo Domingo to Belorado - 24km

This was a longish day, but not too strenuous. The hills were fairly gentle and there were several villages on the way where I stopped for short breaks. Leaving the first, Grañon, I was caught on a high exposed path in a thunderstorm. There was constant lightning overhead and I was the tallest object for miles around, so I was actually quite scared. They say you are supposed to lie down until the danger passes in a situation like this, but as it was raining very heavily and also hailing I didn´t fancy lying in the mud, especially as there was no sign of the storm passing any time soon. I kept going and hoping for the best and trying to console myself with the thought that if I did get struck by lightning it wasn´t such a bad way to go, especially in the middle of a pilgrimage. I also consoled myself with the thought that my walking stick was wooden, not one of the high-tec metal ones which could have acting like a lightning conductor!

I eventually squelched into the next village just as the storm was passing. My poncho had kept me beautifully dry except for the bottom of my trousers and my feet. My trainers and socks were absolutely drenched, but since the socks were not rubbing I decided not to change them, although this is recommended practice. By the end of the day when I did take them off my feet were very wrinkled but there was no harm done. One advantage, by the way, of having trousers with zip-off legs is that when they get wet and muddy you can unzip and just wash the lower part instead of the whole garment.

In the village of Villamayor del Rio there is an albergue run by a Brazilian couple. I called in there hoping to say hello, but although it was open and you could help yourself to coffee etc for a donation, there was no-one around. There were assorted baskets of gifts and goodies you could buy and an honesty box to pay for them. It looked very nice and welcoming and I was tempted to stay, but it was a bit too early to stop for the day.

Most of the way from then on to Belorado was beside a busy road. Easy walking but not very interesting. At one point I passed a large group of Canadian tourists going for a stroll, presumably a coach party. It was strange to be considered part of the local colour "Oh look, there´s a pilgrim"! Further on a car came driving slowly down the path and the driver gave me a business card for an albergue in Belorado. I decided to stay there as it said they also had single rooms. Of course, by the time I got there there weren´t any left but the dorm wasn´t too large and it had started to rain again so I decided to stay anyway. The private albergues are usually more expensive than the municipal ones but also usually that little bit better.

It was still raining after I had showered, so I decided to relax in my bunk (a top one this time, but at least there was a ladder). Imagine my surprise and pleasure shortly after to see Mick, Yvonne and Robin come strolling in. We caught up with each other´s news and when it stopped raining went for a look around. There was a ruined castle up on a hill that we went to see, and from there there was a good view of the church belltower with its stork nests. Later we went for our third farewell dinner, definitely the last one as they were catching the bus to Burgos in the morning and from there going to Barcelona.