Day 14 - Burgos to Hornillos del Camino - 19km

In the morning I stopped for some breakfast before leaving Burgos, and bumped into Lisa in the bar. She was a German pilgrim I had met on my fourth day and who had suggested we walk together. We´d managed to lose each other in a village within the first half hour and I had not seen her since so it was nice to bump into her again, especially since I seemed to have lost touch with all the other people I had met. We never did walk together (she was too fast for me) but from then on our paths crossed most days until Santiago.

It was very cold leaving Burgos, 5C, and I was wearing all my layers which were proving to be just about adequate enough to cope with it. I was really pleased to note that I was feeling no ill effects from the long haul the previous day, no aches or pains or stiffness. The way out of the city was somewhat complicated but I managed not to get lost by using a judicious mixture of following the signs and any pilgrims I could catch sight of.

After a coffee and sandwich in Tarjados, where I bumped into Lisa again, I was finally on my way to the meseta. This is a relatively wild isolated area, where you walk long distances on stony earth tracks between crop fields. It is pretty flat after you have climbed up to the plateau, with no water or shade and there are long distances between villages. It can be extremely hot in summer but also bitterly cold at other times especially when there is a strong wind blowing. The path stretches before you all the way to the horizon and it is easy to get lost in your thoughts.

I enjoyed walking there and didn´t find the way up too steep. With the sun out it became much warmer and as usual there was a constant chorus from birds all along the way. They don´t seem to do a dawn chorus , in Spain it is an all-day event lasting well into the evening. Since my back started playing up badly (ironic on a shorter day) I decided to stop in Hornillos instead of carrying on to Hontana, the next village which is supposed to be very special.

Hornillos itself was very nice, an unspoiled medieval pilgrim village. Although the albergue was full I managed to get a bottom bunk in the annexe, a smallish dorm with only about 20 bunks. I bought some food and ate in the kitchen, where I saw the quiet French couple I was always meeting, and shared my wine with a Dutch pilgrim.