Day 6 - Estella to Los Arcos - 22km

I was up early in the morning after a night disturbed by aching legs which woke me up every time I turned over. When I got up they felt fine though and after a communal breakfast supplied by the albergue I was on my way before 7:30 despite nearly setting off without my glasses. They had slipped under my bunk and I was in the street before realising they were missing. Because I was basically wearing and carrying the same things every day I had developed a routine to make sure I didn´t leave anything behind, and I´m sure this helped me as I never lost anything. Whenever I set off I would run through a mental checklist - camera in bumbag, bag round waist, map in pocket, glasses tucked in neckline, stick in hand and rucksack on back. After patting myself in sequence I was ready to go. Observers of this ritual may have thought I had some sort of problem...

A few kilometers from Estella the path passes the Fuente del Vino (the wine fountain) installed by the local bodega for pilgrims. It is an actual fountain with free red wine flowing, albeit slowly, and traditionally pilgrims stop there for a drink. I didn´t really fancy it at about 8 in the morning, so I took a token sip but kept some in a water bottle for later consumption!

The first part of the path was through lovely oak and pine woods and it was very pleasant walking in the shade, but then there followed a long hot climb to Villamayor de Monjardim. There I made sure to stock up with water as the next stretch was a solitary 12km with very little shade and no water fountains. I kept meeting up with Kari and Sandi, and also the young group with April. Since there was so little shade along the way from the now very hot sun, we tended to share what there was, squatting on any convenient log or stone. I had a picnic lunch with Kari and Sandi where I arrived just missing the excitement of their being overrun with goats and sheep.

On the way I passed a very interesting old building which apparently had been a shelter for pilgrims in medieval times. It was built of stone, and when you entered there were steps inside which you could go down to a pool of water. I could well imagine the pilgrims in those times sitting there resting with their tired feet in the water. It was lovely and cool in there out of the sun and would also have been an excellent shelter from rain or snow.

The path was fairly level after this, and good underfoot, but seemed to stretch forever in the heat. It ran mostly between vineyards or fields full of crops, with wildflowers along the verges. I was getting pretty tired by now, and my back starting aching for the first time. It was a strange ache, quite sharp and just under my right shoulder blade. I tried adjusting my rucksack every way I could think of, but the pain only eased when I took it off, so I was having to stop more frequently. Unfortunately this problem continued in varying degrees right up to the end of my Camino, so The Beast really lived up to its name. At least I never had any trouble with blisters and although my legs got tired they didn´t hurt during the day.

I was pretty worn out by the time I reached the albergue mid-afternoon, where I was lucky enough to get a bottom bunk again. When I wrote up my notes I found I´d broken the 100km milestone, which cheered me no end, I began to believe I was going to make it after all. I decided to eat in that evening, and had a nice potato tortilla with some beer. You can buy ready-made tortillas in the supermarkets, and they are quite tasty as well as filling.

One advantage of the hot weather was that my washing dried very quickly. Every day I´d wash my top, underwear and socks and by evening they were all dry so that I had fresh clothes to put on after my shower next day. Most pilgrims do their washing every day as soon as they arrive, so you have to be fairly quick off the mark to make sure you get some space on the washing line. My safety pins worked really well as pegs, but six weren´t quite enough, eight would have been better.

I had a pretty good night, except once about 4am when a snorer woke me, but I didn´t mind because when I looked out of the window there was the most incredible night sky full of stars and I lay watching them for a while before dropping off again. When I woke at 7 I was surprised to find the dorm still full of people, all sound asleep. Breakfast was again a communal one provided by the albergue, and during the meal there was some classical church music playing which was a nice touch. I believe the albergue is run by an Austrian church.