Fri 2 Oct - Day 18: Hornillos Del Camino to Itero de Vega 31km

340km walked. 445km left to walk.

This morning at 7.30am it was another cool, almost cold, morning. No clouds, no wind. Beautiful of course. A couple
of predawn / sunrise pictures follow:


It was all meseta for the first 10km and then the town Hontanas appeared down in a valley. 
A close up view of Hontanas. 
After a morning cuppa in Hontanas, some wonderfully wreck of a building appeared. In "downtown".
More meseta followed. 
Suddenly this interesting looking ruin appeared. You couldn't tell what kind of building it once was. And how the remains could be this vertical "tower" was a mystery to me. 
The meseta despite all the noise was very pleasant to walk. Sure, not that much to look at, but with a cool breeze and not very hot, it felt like Australian summer without the heat. Maybe the harsh reputation comes from Europeans who are not used to this kind of environment. 
Suddenly the track followed the main road and the pilgrims were due to follow the instructions on this sign. Can you read it?
The speculation behind the graffiti on this sign went to somebody who had enough of Americans inspired by the movie and just had to do it. 
The small settlement of San Anton had this extraordinary ruins of an old convent. 
Just look at the size of this arch. 
Very impressive. You could walk around the complex and check it out but time, a planned 31km walk today, didn't allow it. 
The next town Castrojeriz was soon visible. Note the ruins of the castle at the top of that hill. The views from there must be fantastic. 
As soon as I walked into Castrojeriz, I noticed this sales spiel. Pay attention to
the email address. Yes, an Australian email address. In fact, I use the same internet provider. 

Wild speculation of how a local con artist had sold this land to a stupid Aussie who got carried away with the Camino. 
Because this is what the Aussie purchased. In a town, Castrojeriz, which apparently had a reputation as the town that always sleeps. 
Me and my walking companions had a bit of tortilla lunch at this Castrojeriz establishment. Pleasant district view from
that outdoor setting. 
Leaving Castrojeriz. Hold on, the Camino
doesn't go up that hill, does it?
Yes it does. 12% angle for more than 1km according to a traffic sign. 
Once at the top, of course the views were lovely. There was this memorial
for an unknown reason. It is often difficult to figure out why these things are were they are as many have both graffiti and a variety of junk laid on top of them. 
The ever present wind turbines in the distance. 
Up there on the ridge, it looked flat for a while. 
There was a wooden signboard of sorts up there which had another inscription after my visit. 
This Asian bloke was the first pilgrim that I have seen on the Camino who was carrying a child. As there isn't enough to carry anyway and enough hardship to get to the next albergue. I wonder what his story was...
Moving on and what goes up mush come down...
More meseta to conquer...
I'm on the road to nowhere... Hold on, that wasn't quite right. To Santiago thank
you very much. 
Puente Itaro provides the border between the Burgos province and the Palencia province. 
Quite a lot of water under Puente Itaro. 
And on the other side of the bridge and behind the water there was a tree plantation of sorts. I think that we are exiting the meseta. 
This sign on the other side of Puente Ivaro confirmed that we are now in another province of Spain. 
A lovely stone monument of the Camino was erected on the Palencia side. 
The night was spent in a private almost upmarket albergue called Hogar de Peregrino. I shared a twin room with Win. No bed linen provided so had to use the sleeping bag but very private and comfortable. 

I joined a group of Peregrinos for an almost pub dinner. I had beef "schnitzel"
with rice and veggies. First time rice since arriving in Europe. 

The sun set outside the pub as we left and provided this fantastic light. 
The night finished early with a cup of tea and we were all in bed by 9pm. 

31km of walking took its toll. The first time since commencing walking the Camino that I have walked more than 30km in a day (I think that I have done 29km 4 times) 

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