Day 19 Hospital de Orbigo to Castrillo de Los Polvazares

Woke up  this morning and my room looked like a bomb had hit it,how I could make the meagre contents of my rucksack make such a mess is beyond me,I was so tired last night I had just chucked everything everywhere,gone out for dinner come back and went to bed,even by my standards I was shocked.

Enough of that,just to be different I had a shower tended to my feet and met the team for the final time at 0730 by the time we had breakfast it was 0830,I must say I was worried that I would be walking in the noon day sun,I had lost valuable early morning walking time.

We  headed off towards Opcion.

I suspect this little chap had seen it all before.

We cleared the village and moved on towards Santibanez,by now the sun was already beginning to make its presence felt.

After half an hour the village came into sight.

We decided to stop for a drink it was 0900 and the sun was already biting.

Andrew was really suffering his shin was really hurting I recognised the symptoms though I suspect Andrew already knew himself he had shin splints which is the same injury that Jeremy had suffered .

He was out of the game and wisely decided to call a cab to take him to Astorga.A good friend of mine said to me on the phone the other day I have to man up if I am going to finish the Camino ,unless you have attempted this walk you cannot begin to imagine how punishing it is,if the blisters do not get you, sore bruised feet will and if that fails you will get shin splints,if the Camino fails on that level it will attempt to ruin your knees and damage your hips,I really thought all the training I had done would prepare me for this,I now realise that no training can prepare you for the hammering your limbs and feet take, sadly we now have the scorching heat to contend with as well,I have seen  so many people in a poor way,I feel very lucky that I am in a position to continue and I take each day as it comes.

We said goodbye to Andrew had a final photo and walked onto Astorga.

It really was treacherous underfoot,loose stones everywhere just waiting to assist you in spraining your ankle.

By now it was so hot and we stopped in a wood for some shade and a drink of water,note the back of my shirt,it is drenched in sweat.

We continued to climb .

We came upon this fellow who was offering pilgrims water and food for a small donation, I must say I was loathe to take anything,as I was worried the effect the blistering heat was having on his juices etc

By the time Astorga came into view we had only done 10 miles and I was exhausted,the heat was really taking its toll on me.

We entered Astorga, and had a drink on the outskirts of the town, it was not long before we walked into the old town

We bumped into Lindsey and Maria and had a drink then found somewhere to eat.

Sadly lunch was the time for me to say goodbye to my firiends,I will miss my Camino son Jason we had become very close over the last 4 days ,Mariet I had become very fond of,she is a real Dutch character and Andrew who joined us for lunch is a top man and I have a feeling he is going to produce a superb documentary,Maria and Lindsey are lovely people.Martin the Dane joined us last night,a really nice fellow.I will miss you all it has been a real joy to walk with you laugh with you and share so much with you.Buen Camino and get to Santiago safely my friends.

I left the team with a heavy heart but I knew I had a job to finish,I headed out of the town towards Somoza.

I bumped into Martha the lady we had helped yesterday,she held me and cried saying that yesterday was her Camino moment and pinned a ring onto my rucksack as a thank you,another great moment for me.I was now beginning to understand why the Spanish have a siesta,after half an hours walking I could not go on I sat next this church in the shade and cooled down.

I drank the best part of the contents of my flask and walked onto Polvazares,what a lovely surprise I was in for.

This village is just beautiful.I will take more photos later.I am now back after a much needed snooze so here they are.

I just love this village if I was to live in Spain this would be the place,so here are some more photos.

This little gem is off the beaten track,do not come to Northern Spain without coming to Castrillo de los Polvazares.Afer my rubber necking round this delightful village I returned to my hotel and had the best meal since I have been in Northern Spain,the life of a pilgrim is not all bad.

This is a wonderful hotel and is Michelin rated and I am not surprised we got this one right Jeremy.

Today has been a sad day saying goodbye to the team,but I have made a decision as I had not allowed for this heat and if I am honest I got caught out this afternoon,It was all I could so to go on,if I am not at my end destination by 2pm I will get a cab or bus as I am not prepared to make myself ill,I will be honest if I have to take a shortcut ,I think if I get up at 0530 everyday I should be alright.

Time for dog on a blog or two.

And this little beauty who ran up to me this morning rolled on his back and gave it his all.

Tomorrow I start to climb back into the Pyrenees .

Stats for today

Walked 15 miles

Av speed 3.0 mph

Walking time 5 hr 2 min

153 miles to go

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