We’ve been walking now for 24 days (plus 6 rest days) so we pretty much have the daily routine sorted out – it goes something like this (slightly abridged)…
Sometimes the location of our hotel, posada, casa rural or what ever else we are staying in that night is really obvious, other times not so much. If it’s the latter there’s usually a robust exchange of ideas on how to get there but so far we haven’t lost a hotel and we’re still walking together!
We check in – sometimes they want two passports, sometimes only one so the routine is to give them mine and see how we go. We’ve also learnt to get our Camino credencials stamped at the same time so we can make a quick get away in the morning! We’ve got everything in packing cells, so out come the bags with our “dinner” clothes, non-walking shoes, tomorrow’s clothes, toilet bags, my iPad and the charger. Today’s clothes get washed and hung out, tomorrow’s clothes put out, dinner clothes put on – by now the room looks like a Chinese laundry with half filled or empty packing cells everywhere (at least mine are everywhere, Al’s a bit neater).
We relax for 3 to 4 hours, catch a couple of zzzzs, read, I do the blog, plan tomorrow’s trip (work out where the bars are!) then head out for drinks and dinner. Come back to the room, pack the dinner clothes into their cells, pack the non-walking shoes back into my pack and then crash.
In the morning the reverse happens: pack yesterday’s clothes for tomorrow (usually they’re dry, if not they go on the back of the pack to dry), put on today’s clothes, pack the charger and iPad cells, have breakfast (more on that in another blog perhaps), refill the hydration packs, pack the toilet bags, pack food if we need it for tomorrow (i.e. I discover there are lot enough bars), pack the passport and credit cards – miraculously the room now looks completely uncluttered again – have a last look at the guide book, check the room and off we go!
The Camino route is marked by a combination of shell markers and yellow arrows painted on footpaths, signposts, walls, lampposts or anything else. Sometimes our hotel is right on the Camino or very close and sometimes it’s not. If it’s the latter, the day starts with a game called “find the first marker”. This can also involve a full and frank exchange of ideas!! Usually once we find the first marker we’re away but sometimes, especially in the larger towns, it can be tricky picking up the route even once we’ve found the first marker…
Then the bit that you’ve been reading about happens!
steelewalking 