Day 10 - September 14

Day 10: Sahagun to Arcahuejo. We spent last night in a brand new alberge that two brothers had redone themselves in the town of Sahagun. They are carpenters and did all of the woodwork which was spectacular but clearly they hadn’t finished everything quite yet as there were lights that had not been installed and although there was air conditioning in each room, which is rare, it was blowing heat instead of cold air!

The weather changed by end of day and the first hint of chill in the air descended upon us in the late afternoon. We found a place that served us pizzas at 6pm, our preferred dining time and “only” drank two beers before retiring for the night early so that we could get an early jump on the next day. Interesting how every other night two beers and wine translated into peeing once or twice. With the temperature change my body must have still had fluid in the system that had not been sweat out as it previously had over the past 9 days which resulted in me peeing 6 times during the night which is something that I don’t recall ever doing in my life! Rough night…

We got out early with the idea that we would look for breakfast along the way as the auberge did not serve any. Unfortunately Sahagun was shut down and there were no options. We headed out of town thinking the next village would give us a meal - in 15km.

We left town into a blustery, windy desolate expanse of farms. At our first town a few hours later we came in with confidence that we would sit down, have a big breakfast with hot coffee and regroup. The town was deserted. I found someone who told me the next town was another 17km. I was hungry, cold and in disbelief - no options. Nothing to do but get moving and as we left town, the cold, driving rain began.

Whereas every day so far we have passed 100+ pilgrims, today we only saw 15. Perhaps they decided to just stay put in their villages and take a day off with the turn of the weather but whatever was happening, Amy and I felt alone on the Camino for the first time. I ran for a while staying warm with the heat I generated by the effort but at some point that faded as my energy waned from lack of calories. Amy and I separated so that we wouldn’t complain to each other, after so many runs together we know when things are rough and the whining begins it is far better to suffer alone. We ran, walked, hobbled for hours until the next town and found nothing. And then a local man I asked, “Comida” in what I thought meant food, point in a direction and voila, we found the only cafe/bar in this village that was serving exactly what we were looking for, a hot meal of Spanish bean soup, bread, coke, coffee and pastry.

The afternoon perspective for both of us changed immediately from half empty to half full and the rain broke for a few hours showing us glints of sunshine and warmth which mixed with the cold wind when the sun hid behind the next wave of storm clouds.

We arrived in safely in Arcahuejo in the driving rain, safely and happy to have survived the day.

Cheers,

David.