San Juan de Ortega to Burgos 28km

Very exciting leaving this morning knowing that by days end not only will we have reached Burgos which looks nice and central on the map, but we will also be under the 500km mark!

The day gets off to a very spooky start as we walk through an eery forest, a bit too Blair Witch Project for our liking. We pass through Atapuerca (home of a prehistoric man - well his remains anyway) and then on the way to the next village out of nowhere up pops this big hill, how rude. Some very rocky paths on the way back down, and along the way Isabel manages to get lost and ends up in someones farmyard, her adventure moment for the day.

Both back on track we set off to do the last 10km of the day which are the most scenic yet. To combat the pollution issue of this endless stretch of motorway we come up with an ingenius solution.

We eventually arrive in Burgos city centre and find ourselves staying in a very snazzy hostel indeed. just newly renovated and only 3 euro. Bargain.

A little sightseeing, (and yes,we took the tour bus as we couldnt walk another metre!) then off for an early night.

Belorado to San Juan de Ortega 25km

Today is the day of mountains..yes, more of them!

Lucky no one told us how many there was going to be before we left for Spain or we surely would have found an alternative route to walk!

We meet a lovely oldman from Sydney who very kindly shows us a topographic map at the beginning of one of stages. Turns out that we both prefer living in ignorance of whats ahead.

We knew we were going to over 1300m, however, we did not expect to be dropped back down to 700m no less that 3 TIMES, and have to climb back up every one of those 3 times to 1300m..

The scenery is very pretty though, as we get higher and higher there are some very steep ups and downs, before a never ending dirt track through a forest.

Suddenly we leave the forest behind and emerge into San Juan de Ortega which translates to St John of the Nettles. This turns out to be a very tiny little village with a church, the hostel and a bar to its name. Nothing else. Fun fun, afternoon in the bar we decide.

With absolutely nothing to do Isabel becomes increasingly distressed about these disasterous tan lines that are developing, and how to combat them...any suggestions welcome?

The hostel woman informs us that dinner is Garlic soup, a local speciality she tells us. yum. .

The onlyplace to buy food is a vending machine..

After a long search we thankfully find that the local B&B do some food - we dont care about finding it or walking there, the shoes are back on and we are two very happy irish girls knowing we escaped a dinner of garlic soup. Black pudding and salad.. very gourmet!

Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado 24km

There are most amazingly bright green fields as we make our way out of the Rioja region and into the Castilla y Leon region. Pleased to be out of the Rioja region, an awful lot of smelly factories and motorways..not what you would expect!

The last part of the day is mostly along the main road and very windy, which actually makes for some nice walking, when trucks arent whizzing by you at top speed that is.

A lady is handing out leaflets for a hostel on the way into town , so decision made off we set. The town has a lovely community feel to it, everyone is sitting in the square from young to old, and very friendly too - especially with regards the state of our feet!

Azofra to Santo Domingo de la Calzada 16km

Another superbly early start..which we both seriously struggle with this morning..

Theres an anazing early morning sun as we leave Azofra behind and you´ll never guess what we spy on the horizon... yes, that oh so famous pillar, especially for you Dad - enjoy.

Second highlight of the day is the dead fox head that we practically trip over, which we duly photograph for posterity.

After climbing another ´delightful´ hill, we find the funniest English man plonked at the top with his caravan, and his first aid kit.. his life entails being at random spots along the 788km, and bandaging peoples feet and legs, just beingkind and jolly! A rather odd pastime, but Im sure appreciated by many!

When we get to Santa Domingo theres a big festival going on for the 900th anniversaary of its Patron saint, it really would be rude not to stay and celebrate.

After being told it was an entertaining one, we went on a visit to the church, revealing one of the strangest of local traditions, a live cockrel in a cage INSIDE the churh at all times. As you walk around the air is filled with the sound of him cock-a-doodle-dooing. Bizarre..

Navarette to Azofra 24km

Today we are the first up and we were so nice about it too, tip toeing around the room so we dont wake anyone.. unlike what we experience most mornings!

Starts drizzling as we set off, on with the trusty poncho/raincoat. Weather clears upshortlyafterwards..

Highlights of the day include a very cool gravel factory which Isabel was rather facinated by..

Arrive in Azofra to another ghost town, but the hostel is this fantastic chip board construction with our own room (no snoring tonight)! Feels very luxurious which is highly ironic considering the meal we are about to experience. I think we can both safely say it is THE worst meal, not only of the camino, but perhaps of our whole lives. We spent most of the meal torn between laughter and grimacing at just how bad it is.

Do a tour of the village, which takes all of 5 minutes but cant find this PILLAR that Daddy AK is insistant that we find...

Logrono to Naverette 14km

Today we started walking late, defnitly a mistake not to be repeated, as we found ourselves walking through the hot midday heat with neither a cloud or shade in sight.

We did have a gourmet lunch though. In this case I think a picture says a thousand words!

In true camino style we walked right AROUND a very large lake, though it was the prettiest part of the day. The next stage took us along a motorway where the fences on either side were adorned with hundreds of crosses from all manner of materials. çgot a little creepy after about a kilometre of this..

Tired and grumpy we arrived in Navarette and found our beds for the night in El Cantaro hostel. Following the recommendation of the hostel man we had a srcumptious dinner in Bar Deportivo with the jolliest cook/waiter woman ever. She rang this big bell when we left her a whole 1 euro of a tip. Tomorrow we´re getting up super early so not to have such a painful day!