Day 9 Viloria de Rioja to San Juan de Ortega

The saddest news today , Jeremy's ankle has taken a turn for the worse,I took one look at his damaged swollen red ankle this morning and I realised that the game was over for him and there is no way he could go on,this was shatterings news for us both we had worked so hard over the months to train for this.

How he managed to walk on that ankle yesterday is beyond me,I know better than anyone that he is a scrapper ,just look at his toes,most would have given up long ago.I would like to thank him for being such a wonderful companion and chum over the the last 9 months,I think with hindsight we have taken on too much with the huge distances we have been covering over the last 8 days and it has taken a toll on both of us,

I left him this morning with a heavy heart and a tear in my eye if I am honest,for some reason my rucksack felt much heavier than usual.

I waited outside for the taxi to take me back to VIloris de Rioja to start walking again, the journey was at brake neck speed and I am sure I pulled a bit of g on a couple of corners .

I got out of the cab and once the blood had returned to my extremities I put my rucksack on and it was  business as usual, to say I felt lonely is an understatement ,after 20 minutes I came across these two tents I am sure I had seen them before about 4 days ago.

The dog moment came about 5 minutes later ,this one greeted me with tail wagging pleased to see me.

The one in the middle of the photo charged at me flat out and decided to take me on,thankfully I drew upon my fencing lessons of old to use my walking pole as a sword to fend the beast off,after a minute or so of doing battle the owner came to my rescue,when you look rabies slick in the eye as I did you fight hard.

The third dog just slept as I passed him by,though I had my stick at the ready.

The rest of my journey through Villamayor was uneventful,just the usual interesting houses.

I eventually arrived at Belorado and came upon this sign ,it could have been me.

As always there were interesting bits of history to feast upon.

After 4 miles I entered the village of Tosantos, the name worried me a bit as I entered the village thinking to myself  what do the people of this lovely village do to amuse themselves.Then to my relief I discovered .

They grow bottles to put all that RIoja in.It was not too long before a I met a Frenchman  called Patrick we talked for about an hour and a half,covering most subjects,

When we eventually parted company I reflected on our conversation he could not speak English nor me French what we had been talking about god only knows but he really lifted my spirits.

We parted company in Espinosa del Camino and I sat down had a cake and a beer and got chatting to this lady from Holland she was walking 8 miles a day,I think she was a lot wiser than we had been,when I told her about the distances we had been walking she looked shocked to put it mildly.

It was not long before I came upon the old  ruined Monastery de San Felices.

Next stop was Villafranca de Oca, then I would be climbing into the Mones de Oca.

There are Auberges everywhere,there is no doubt The Camino is big business.

Having seen all the churches and the power of the church I was beginning to wonder if the church of old was viewing the pilgrims of old as big business and were the bones of St James just a myth to draw pilgrims,someone had to pay for these huge churches .

It was not long before I was climbing into forest and mist.

This was a huge forest and I was going to walk 8 miles through it,I have to say it was one of the best parts of The Camino so far.

There were slugs everywhere and they just kept getting bigger.

On I went .

It felt like I had the forest to myself ,I did not see a sole,up and down I went it was stunning.

Took this just to prove it is still me.

Needless to say it was raining ,I have been in Spain now for 9 days and I have had one day of good weather.Back to the forest it went on and on and on then eventually I enterd this beautiful valley and saw San Juan de Ortega my end destination in the distance.

Good to see friendly faces again as I entered the village.

My hotel is 3 miles off the way and I went into the local auberge to see if they could arrange a taxi which they could not next thing this chap ushered me into his van and after pulling some more serious g for 6 minutes I arrived at my hotel which is absolutely ghastly to put it mildly.

Sadly I have got to walk back to the way tomorrow which is going to add three miles or so to my journey,I shall be leaving here very early I want to get out of here.

How do I feel today,well my feet feel so much better ,I think the sandals gave my trotters some much needed breathing space,they are still covered with plasters etc,I had a nasty moment with my calf earlier,my left leg is a nasty colour beneath my knee it looks all bruised yet I have not bashed it.

Do I want to go on alone ,I am not sure as yet, I am a team player,not sure I like my own company,I will take each day as it comes.thankfully I have got a day off in Burgos after I arrive tomorrow.

If anyone would like to join me at any stage I have now got a spare bed at each hotel,but be warned you have a huge act to follow.

Have a safe journey home Jeremy Buen Camino you gave it your all!!!

Stats for today

Walked 20 miles

Average speed 3.00 mph

Walking time 6.35 

Total distance covered 171

309 miles to go