Camino de Madrid/Camino Francis, Day 17, Sunday, May 27, 2018

Leon to Villadangos del Paramo (13.00 miles / 20.93 kms)

I wanted today to be another short day for me, and to be on the safe side, I booked a room last night in Villadangos del Paramo. Funny, but I feel guilty a little funny staying anywhere other than an alberque. I do think it gives me a little more of the Camino experience, but getting a room makes it a bit easier. I would prefer a private room at an alberque but people booked them well in advance and they always seem full.

The forecast today called for rain but it was clear and fairly warm this morning. It didn’t rain all day, until about an hour after I got to Villadangos del Paramo.

As soon as I started out of Leon memories of my last Camino here came back to me, and that memory was of the immediate uphill out of the city and then a few miles through the city’s industrial area.

I always joke about every city in Spain was required to be built on a hill, and it’s no exaggeration. You finally get to the edge of village or town, and your are pretty beat and you’re excited because your are finally there, but wait, you have to find the alberque or lodging. And of course it’s another long walk there, and it’s usually uphill at the highest point of the village or town. And for some reason the extra walk seems like the hardest part of the day. Then too, it happens when you leave a town, like today out of Leon. I just want it perfect!

Once out of Leon, and over the last hill, the Camino actually continues on a roller coaster up and down some smaller hills to Villadangos del Paramo. It is fairly wide and well maintained with a packed light gravel road and trail. It parallels the highway all the way and at times you have to move onto the highway for short distances. Fortunately the highway has a wide shoulder and I prefer to walk there since it’s easier with the Wheelie, but the Camino in this section was fairly smooth and easy to walk on and I stayed on it most of the time.

The Francis is so much different than the Camino de Madrid as I don’t have to think about bringing something to drink or eat as there are so many bars along the way, sometimes in the middle of nowhere. I stopped at two bars today and chatted with a couple that I had walked with earlier in the day. They were from Vancouver Canada and didn’t have a Canadian flag on their backpack like many I have seen. Canadians are obviously proud of their country, but I don’t think they like being confused as Americans and I don’t blame them.

The day was uneventful, yet pleasant because the weather was fairly cool and great for trekking. I left around nine and got to Villadangos del Paramo by 1:30 in the afternoon. I try not to walk fast but today it seems that I found my rhythm and I walked a little faster without thinking about it. I have found that it usually takes me around two weeks to find that rhythm, and that usually happens after hitting a wall many, many, times throughout the day during those first two weeks.

Once I got here I was surprised by how early it was. I checked into my room and was given a room facing the road and I actually like listening to the traffic going by. I am excited because I can see a supermercado and a tattoo shop directly across the street, two of my favorites. Unfortunately it’s Sunday and both are closed.

I was just going to end my blog at this point but I went downstairs for dinner and that changed my whole plan! It’s an interesting and funny thing that happened at dinner and telling this story will probably keep me up late.

Today about a mile outside of Mansilla de las Mulas I passed a man on a the Camino and he was limping very badly and he was using an umbrella as a walking cane, but it was so short that he was hunched over. At first I thought he was a local and I said ole to him and he replied in well spoken English hello back. It turns out he was also a pilgrim.

I asked where he was from and if he was alright? He said he was from Mexico and had lived in the US. His wife is from Valencia, California, which is about thirty miles from my home in Santa Paula. He also told me that he had pain in his shin area for the last week and that it had gotten so bad today that he could hardly walk. I asked him where he was staying and it turned out it was the same hostal where I am staying. I offered him one of my trekking poles and said he could give it back to me at the hostal. I offered to carry his back pack to the hotel. He declined and thanked me and said he’d make it since it wasn’t so far. I offered him some ibuprofen and he said he’d already taken something else. I wished him well and that was the last time I saw him.

When I went to dinner tonight there were rows of tables and many individual tables side by side. I ended up sitting by myself but next to another man by himself. I wasn’t really in the mood to talk since I know it could lead to long conversations and I wanted to get back to finish my blog and get to sleep early tonight.

I saw that the man had a bottle of Tabasco on his table and asked if I could use it. He responded in very good English, and that of course lead to conversation. He said he was from Mexico and travels to the states a lot. He was also talking to the Spanish man on the table on the other side of him so I didn’t continue the conversation.

When we spoke again, I told him that I had met three other Mexicans in the last few day and that there was another staying here too that I met on the Camino today that was limping. With that he replied, “ that was me!”

I did not recognize him as he had a hat on when I first saw him and tonight he had his hair up and had a bandana wrapped around his head and hair. Apparently he didn’t recognize me either because I had had my hat on and my sunglasses.

We ended up taking until after ten and it was a real interesting conversation, and one you could call a Camino experience, or even an enlightening conversation. It turns out he is a famous Hispanic spiritual singer and has hundreds of thousands of followers daily on his blog. He has a band and sings, has a records label, and gives concerts all over the world. His audiences range from as little as eight thousand people to as large as one hundred thousand in other countries. He’s even played at the Inglewood Forum, which is in the neighborhood I grew up in.

He is on the Camino hoping to possibly find answers to his own questions about his faith and beliefs, and because he wants to be honest with his followers in those beliefs.

We talked about how everyone on the Camino has there own reason for being there, be it simply for the challenge, religion, spiritual reasons, searching for something missing in their lives, etc., and the list could go on and on. I felt he was telling me something that was very personal, and for that reason I do not want to mention his name.

I also told him one of my primary reasons that I am back on the Camino, other than I like the challenge, and a long list of other things, I wanted to get back to living life after the trauma I had faced back in December. I actually told him some specific details that I have not shared with many, but I think what he told me was probably something that he has not shared with many people either. I think I would definitely call our meeting today a spiritual event and not a coincidence.

I also shared with him my struggle on the Camino Via de la Plata eighteen months ago with my knee. He asked me how I managed to complete it with the pain, as he is struggle with it too. His worry is that he might not be able to finish it before he has his answers to the questions he came here with.

He is going to try and make it to Astorga tomorrow, the same place I have already reserved a room. He was hoping to see me in the morning. I might wait until he leaves so I can at least follow behind him.

It’s about fifteen miles to Astorga and hopefully it will be a short day for me. Astorga is a big town and I would prefer to go through, but the next place for lodging could be another five to seven miles, so I will stay there.

As always, please excuse the typos, grammar, and spelling, etc., because I am writing this on my phone and don’t review my blog.

Best wishes,

Ted