Santa Marta de Tera to Mombuey (20.64 miles / 33.23 k)

Today was an uneventful day but I did go over twenty miles. I started out of town this morning at my usual 8:00 AM. I had looked at both the Camino app and Goggle Maps program and noted that road N-620 ran fairly parallel to the Camino all the way to Mombuey and decided again to stay on the highway. The distance on both were fairly equal. It was a slight uphill most of the way to Mombuey, with a few short uphill climbs. The scenery was nice as it is in the start of the mountains and the vegetation is fairly thick with trees.

The weather looked like rain in the morning and it was cloudy until noon when the sun finally can through. It stayed sunny after that and I had to get down to just a shirt, but it never got over the mid sixties. Good walking weather.
I came to the town of Rionegro del Puente and considered staying there as there was a nice alberque there, but I would have had to go a long way tomorrow as there aren’t any places for another twenty-two miles after that.

I continued on the Mombuey and got there close to five. I saw a hotel about a half mile on the outskirts of town and wasn’t sure it was the one noted in my list or if there might be others closer in town.

I stopped in the first super mercado in town as it is an automatic chore everyday now to make sure I have breakfast and lunch food for the next day. Finding a mercado, and then hoping it is open, is a daily chore, so when I see one open now I make sure to buy my food.

After buying food I asked the clerk if she knew of any hotels in town. She said the only one was the one about a kilometer out of town. The same one I had seen. She said there was an alberque but it wasn’t real nice, but those were my only choices unless I wanted to take a autobus (bus) to Sanabria.

I didn’t like the thought of walking back to the hotel, and the clerk on her own said she would call to see if they had rooms. This is what I had mentioned in yesterday’s blog, that most Spanish people are very friendly and always want to help.

She called and the hotel was full! Wow, that saved me walking and obviously some frustration. 

So, I started off to the alberque and ran into an Irish man, Michael, that I had met a few days before. He was staying at the alberque along with one other Spanish man that had stayed at the hostel at Santa Marta. 

The alberque was very basic, with no kitchen or even a shower curtain. There was a mop and bucket that you surely need to use after a shower because water goes everywhere. The mattresses and pillows were cover in a rubbery plastic, which might possibly be cleaner than sheets? There was one electrical outlet that was used for the only electric heater radiator. And since it was a municipal alberque the fee was only 5€ or a donation.

It place really wasn’t that bad and I appreciate that there are places like this or pilgrims would be stuck without a place to sleep. And as I mentioned, I use my silk sleeping bag liner that has a built-in pillow case, and then use my Sierra Designs down quilt over that, so I really don’t touch any of the bed surfaces.  

I went to diner with Michael, who is seventy! He doesn’t look it because he is in great shape. He lives in Dublin and has never had a driver’s license. He either walks or rides a bike, and has done so all his life. I thought Mikio was a fast walker but Michael makes him look like he is standing still. Interesting, but the older people on the Plata, the better condition they seem to be in. 

There are of course people of all ages, but this time of year many are older as they are retired and have the time. But I have to say that I miss seeing the much younger people in their teens and twenties that I saw on the Camino Francis. Sorry Paul, there are people in their thirties on the Plata too. 

Today wasn’t my short day that I have been promising myself, but tomorrow might be that day as it is only about 15 miles to the next big town. After that it another 13 miles to the next town, so I won’t go there. 

Best wishes,

Ted 

Leaving town at sunrise

Crossing the Rio Negro 

Church in town of Rionegro

Plaza and church in Mombuey next to the alberque 

My alberque for the night

The alberque was basic but a place to sleep for the tired pilgrims