To Reliegos

We are nearly out of the wheatfields and flat country, hiwever the path continues along quiet roads and lays before us as straight as a ruler.

Kudos to the local councils who are beautifying the path with shade trees; and Morgan noticed a number of pucnic spots which werent there last year. 

A shame no toilets are put in at the same time though. The picnic areas are littered with toilet paper and behind any low bush or mound is ... A rather smelly mound of.. Well.. Yep..but if you have to go. You have to go.

I have a small backpack which I carry on my front containing a first aid kit, water and a growing collection of food things for our picnic lunches. It doesnt take much to have a few Kgs there, and boy do you feel it. 

Its still pretty cold with that icy wind blowing straight through you. At least, I say to the kids, itsnot raining or snowing. 

I know our 6 kg each is a little heavy, but we have been thankful for thermal leggings, beenies, scarves and gloves; where we see other pulgrims blue with cold. Nothing more miserable than being cold and wet.

Reliegos is one of the towns that the Martin Sheen movie "The Way" was filmed in. No doubt as its close to Leon but still has that grubby unkept rural look. 

As we walk through some of these tiny towns, its evident they are only here because of the Pilgrims. So many vacant homes, crumbling walls and homes slowly returning to dust. The economic crisis is glaringly apparent even in the big cities.

A quick selfie here when I got into our Albergue. Very windswept. Once again I am so glad I have dreads. I wash tmy hair and just leave it.. Bung it up in a pony tail or behind a scarf.. No worries..

Our budget

I thought I'd report in on our budget, given that we are a halfway.

Am super pleased to say we are at 39% of our budget..which means that we can splash out on a hotel in Leon as well as in Santiago when we arrive ( given we continue on our great budgeting skills) its been good to have a run of Albergues charging 5 - 8 Euros each as well as cooking our own dinner or having picnic lunches along the way.

I am usung a super awesome app called travel wallet, which allows you to set a trip budget and then keeps a daily spending record. You can see by category where and what you are spending, and it generates graphs and pie charts ( ok.. Am I the only one excited about this?) anyway.. I love it! 

I have one hundred euros a day between the three of us - which as I've said before is not extravagant but we are also not penny pinching or denying ourselves in having an icecream or yummy snacks everyday. We have homecooked meals when an Albergue has a kitchen ( rare to have one) AND if I find a corner store nearby..and we do take snacks ( muesli bars etc) and picnic lunches from time to time - but things weigh so much.. We honestly dont have the space to take much extra. Additionally, as crazy as it may sound, there really arent that many supermarkets around - think of the things ( and prices) you may get in a corner store.. And thats your range. Barely any fresh anything- so when I see fruit I nearly knock down old ladies and throw children in front of cars to get to it!  

Broken down, our budget looks like this: 

Breakfast 15 (fresh squeezed  orange juice or a hot choc, a slice of tortilla - a sort of omlette or a boccadillo - a French stick with cheese or ham or scrambled eggs in it)

Lunch 17. ( similar - orange juice and hot choc or coffee, boccadillo or a fish slice thing or some pinchos - small plates of... Things...)

Snacks and drinks 8

Dinner 24 ( two pilgrim menus between the three of us- its a three course meal with water)

Alburgue ( the hostel) 30

Medical/ bandages, bags forward and washing - 7 ( obviously we dont use that every day but its there to bank up in the kitty.  We used the Bag forward service for the first few days, but quickly decided that we wanted the flexibility of stopping when we were tired and not being tied down to having to get somewhere.)

So.. There it is, in case you were looking at walking the camino somtime... Something to guide you a little at least.

Trudging in the rain and wind to El Burgo Ranero

The medieval bridge on the way out of Sahagun.

Below, a shepherd leads his sheep ( which looked more like some scraggy looking goat cross) to greener feed.

Everyone reaches this day. The one they think.. "You know.. I might just not bother today".

Yep. Tough day today. It was the first morning I've had that I seriously didn't want to get up and had no wish to walk. Lillys ankle is hurting, as is mine. We have them strapped and take fairly regular stops ( every three km) 

We had planned a 20 km day tomorrow but the 18 today in the rain and freezing cold nearly finished us. I know it wouldn't have been so bad in the sunshine. Its flat and the paths are straight - so not difficult by any stretch of the imagination.  I do understand that this is one stretch that many people skip. Its monotonous with villages of little redeming features.

The bright point today was huddling in a new bar in Bercianos and meeting the owners. They met 5 years ago walking the Camino, fell in love and gave up thier city jobs to buy a run down 200 year old farmhouse along the way. They converted and built the bar onto the house and seem blissfully living thier dream. Gorgeous couple whose very apparent love for each other, and the service they gift pilgrims, made my heart warm.

Our Albergue is another donativo one - run by volunteers where you donate what you can for your bed. Its a mudbrick house with bare rafters and the wind whistling through cracks. But its a bed, which we are grateful that we didnt need to walk a further 10 km to get.

Lilly in her bed.

The ceiling..

Sadly, its our second night without hot water and showers... Not fab when its so cold. I'm very grateful for blankets and a pillow though. Our sleeping quarters are upstairs and the place is warmed by a wood burner, crackling in the dinning room. Makes for a very cosy space.

The kids are asleep in the Albergue as I write this. Its tough on them too, but I think we are doing well. There is a bar across the road which I intend on ducking over to, to access the free wifi and perhaps get a good coffee.

I've been very fortunate to get bottom bunks most of the time so far. I will normally try and get one in a corner so that I can create some private space. I have my Aussie flag up to both cut the light, but as a privacy screen. I can see out, but people cant seen in.. Its pretty useful in the mixed sex dorms for getting dressed etc.. Not that anyone cares by this point.  I don't..( not that I walk round naked --- urggghh )

We are planning on getting to Leon in two days time and staying in a hotel with sheets and towels for two nights.. I think we deserve the luxury and time to properly rest.

Thanks everyone for messages of support as we go.. They are appreciated.