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My Camino Journey
So yesterday I decided to stop short of my original destination of Puente la Reina, so I knew that today was going to be a bigger day than originally expected. I wanted to make up the distance which meant I was going to have to do 28.4km. I did start out early, before the sun was even up, the morning was cool and quiet and so relaxing, it was a great start to the day and by 8.30 am I had reached Puente la Reina, now very happy to be starting the official day 2 schedule :) Today was certainly easier terrain than yesterday and although there were a few steep hills they didn't last for long.. And I decided I wasn't going to complain today after passing a guy in a wheelchair as he and his able body mate slowly made it up the same steep hills. There was not much shelter around today and once the sun was high in the sky it became really hot. I stopped at Lorca for lunch and contemplated stopping for the day, but that decision was taken away when there were no available beds in the hostel...... And this is when my day started to turn for the worsted. It was another 4.5km to Villaturta to the next ATM which I would be glad of, and also thought if there was a bed I would stay there as it was getting late in the afternoon and I didn't want to risk not being able to find something..... I asked there and no beds.... Well I would now have to go all the way to Estella wether I liked it or not.... Another 3.9km and then I would be done :) I really struggled that 3.9km, I now had 2 blisters on my left foot and I was so hot and sweaty that I was actually getting a heat rash on my legs..... Super attractive that's for sure, and in hindsight maybe I should have thought about that before I rolled into town looking for a place to stay, I checked the first 2 hostels as I entered town... No go there, so I continued walking and checked another hostel just down the road, Nope no room there either...... Now I started to panic a little it was getting close to 7pm and I didn't have a place to stay, my whole body was aching and I knew I couldn't just keep walking around town trying to find somewhere, I google mapped hotels and there was a nice fancy one just a block away, surly they will have 1 room......... NOPE and I am pretty sure they said no only because the state I was in, the lady told me to go to the town square and there was a hostel called Cristina there, they would have a room for me. Of I went a little disappointed that I wouldn't be staying in that fancy hotel and a little annoyed that I am sure she turned me away because I was a sweaty mess.... I quickly found the hostel Cristina and bingo I had a room, I didn't care that the little old lady that ran it couldn't understand what I was saying or that the room looked like it came straight out of the 50's, it was a room and most importantly it has a shower... life was back to being great. I am now sitting in the town square in a restaurant relaxed knowing I have a bed to go back to, it is truly one of the fundamental things in life that I have always taken for granted and today I was seriously worried about not being able to find anything.... Crisis averted but i think I will need to be more careful for the remainder of the trip. Today I am grateful for A safe place to lay my head at night.
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Renae OMG thank goodness you found a place to stay! I guess if you didn't the blog would've been the last thing on your mind, but still. My heart was in my mouth for a second!! Please be careful Jess xx