Mansilla de las Mulas to LEON 21km

Cant quite believe that we are arriving in Leon today, the walk itself is very much on the average side. A lot of lovely tarmac roads with some factories thrown in for good measure. Though there is a pretty amazing sun in the morning to get us going.

Stop at a very exciting fountain just before Arcahueja which tells us that we have only 307 km to Santiago - a doddle.

Finally Leon is within sight though it takes us another hour to actually arrive, not as bad as Burgos though. With the cathedral in our sights off we keep marching on, now officially at the 300km mark, one reason to love Leon...

We may have also possibly just checked ourselves into a rather nice hotel... bath, fluffy towels, bed with sheets, no snoring.... wow.

For those of you who dont like gorey.. dont look further... but this is the result of too much walking!!

Bercianos del Camino to Mansilla de las Mulas 27km

After a rather entertaining (or not) departure, where we managed to do a 20 minute walk and find ourselves back at the start, we headed off for what we expected to be a nice short day.. bruised feet and very tired minds we meandered along at an extremely slow pace to the next town 7km along, paid an expensive visit to the pharmacy for more of the amazing Compeed bandages for blisters, and pottered further along through rambling fields where an awful lot of slurry had just been spread.. funny for about 5 minutes, not so funny for 10km´s!

Eventually arrived in ´Reliegos´ where we had planned to spend the night, however with not a word between us we both kept walking, we could not hack another night of nothing! It was quite an ugly village, with again nothing but a hostel and a bar.. some civilisation was needed... Found one of our most entertaining pilgrims, Helmut from Austria to accompany us on the next 6km to Mansilla de las Mulas where we found some empty beds and had a good feed in a restaurant next door. Some wine and poker and off to bed.. Vanessa taking pleasure in photgraphing Isabel wrapped up like a mummy..

Ledigos to Bercianos del Camino 26km

Today was our 20th day of walking and boy are we feeling it when we set off.

Highlights of today include discovering another random stone spiral on the side of the path, somebody is taking REALLY long breaks.

As we walk along start to see these doors in the hillsides, turns out theyre called Bodegas and are wine cellars.. Walk through Sahagun where Isabel and her apple have a photo moment...

Arrive in Bercianos del Camino which is basically the middle of nowhere.

Turns out to be a really funny night though, the Hostel does a communal meal and we lend a hand to the lettuce cutting though Isabel observes some serious health and safety violations.

The meal gets off to a rocking start, quite literally, with some very enthusiastic clapping and table banging involved as all 70 of us are packed into the dining hall for 30. With alot of 2 euro spanish wine flowing the evening just keeps on going. Tomorrow should be interesting.

Carrion de los Condes to Ledigos 24km

WORST DAY OF THE CAMINO... this was the day of tears, tantrums and blood! Horrible, no other way to describe it.

Although the land was flat, we set off early with no idea what was coming our way. Sore feet already, we were oh so pleased to find ourselves on extremely rocky pathes, and what turned out to be a 17km, completely straight road, with NOTHING, and meaning nothing, the whole way. No villages, no people, no bars, nothing. After 8km the pain was unbearable, we had a small break beside a ditch, and then continued on the brain numbing, foot stabbing path for a further 9km. By the time we arrived in a small village called Calzadilla de la Cueza we had decided we needed to purchase some hip flasks to fill with whiskey for any further days like this one.

Continued to Ledigos, another rather non existent village, the hostel was in the pub, as was the shop.. and nothing else in the whole place.

Had dinner, in the pub, removed bloody socks and made an escape for bed, decidedly over it and hoping for a better day tomorrow...

Fromista to Carrion de Los Condes 21km

RAIN RAIN RAIN! We thought we had escaped it but after a night of thunderstorms the raincoats were out again! Walked a straight road for 20km, rather boring and quite cold.. happy to arrive at a hostel in Carrion where we can warm up again..

Isabels ipod and camera both gave up the ghost after all the dampness, 24hours of drying and they seem to be back on form.. fingers crossed!

Castrojeriz to Fromista 26km

Beautiful sunrise to start the day... the only good thing about getting up early..

What a shock at 6 am to walk out of the village and be faced with the most unpleasant looking of vertical hills in front of us! Now not just a normal hill, we are talking `going up 200m in about 1km, VERY STEEP! After a few sighs at the bottom, we both found it to be suprisingly ok to get up, and without stopping that is! Impressed?! We certainly hope so!

Another very hot day, no shade, had a break at 19km and decided to continue. After a long walk along the canal we arrived at Fromista, a small town with a cheese museum that had Isabel very excited! Got 2 beds in a hallway of the hostel, but no complaints, they were beds and we slept well!

Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz 22km

Another extremely hot day with no shade, not very scenic and a lot of very hard roads! Feet feeling a little bruised from all the roads, and very hard mud.. very much looking forward to getting back on softer ground..

Passed through an ancient monestery that was built over the road..

Stayed in a very ´rustic´hostel in Castrojeriz, along with about 500 flies.. Tried to update blog here also but the internet took about 20 mins to open one page.

Burgos to Hornillos del Camino 20km

After being awoken by some crazy walkers leaving at 4.45am, we set off nice and early out of Burgos. Leaving the city was certainly a lot more pleasant than arriving, and we were soon back out into the countryside. Lots of steep ups and downs, with an extremely dry straight road. It seems to be characteristic of this region to have absolutely no shade - desert like conditions when you find yourself still walking at lunchtime!

Did a serious sprint on the last 8km to do lots of overtaking, knowing that there were only 30 beds available in Hornillos.. arrived to get the one of the last.

Headed to the nearby river and soaked our very pained feet for a few hours before going for a nice dinner in the one and only option being the local bar. Remarkably good compared to what we have gotten used to!

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...