13. Burgos to Hontanas

Camino Frances - Day 15 - September 10th. 2013: Burgos to Hontanas (13th day walking)

Contour Map: Copyright John Brierley click here to see notes

Contour Map: Copyright John Brierley click here to see notes

Click here for Google Map for starting point today
Organising the contents of my backpack at last:
Got up at 5:50 and emptied everything out of my backpack onto my bed. I then picked out everything I now knew I would not use for the remainder of my walk but not prepared to part with. I bundled them together in one of my waterproof bags and stuffed it into the base of the backpack. Then I picked out all the items I would not be using for a few days and put them in next, at last I am organising my backpack properly. Then I bundled the rest of my gear into the backpack with the overflow going into my 'day bag' which I tied to the outside of the pack.  Stuffed some things like water, guidebook and camera into their usual places and set off.

Brenda is travelling to San Francisco today so I wanted to call her and wish her well but held off in case she was taking a short nap before departure. I just know she was up all night doing the last minute things she could not leave home without attending to. I decided I would wait another couple of hours.

The Camino signs out of Burgos were not great with many pilgrims looking lost and checking with others to determine which route to take. I met up with Greer from San Francisco. She just graduated recently after studying the anthropology of music with the focus on opera.  She was clearly making good time because she left St Jean on August 30th. and planned to walk about 30+ today like myself. 

I passed James and Sheila who were walking about 5 metres apart, I suspect they were allowing themselves the luxury of some personal space, a bit of solitude. 

I  stopped at the Tarjados for breakfast where I sat with Greer. She told me about how she would love to go to Austin in Texas and, as if on que, I saw Chris and Clara (from Austin). I invited them to join us and introduces them to Greer. I left them there to talk about their common interest and I got back to my walking. 

Albergue El Puntido

I had planned to break my walk today into three stages:
Burgos to Tarjados
Tarjados to Hornillos and 
Hornillos to Hontanas.

I was surprised to see Ed in Hornllos because he had left Burgos so early. He had taken a wrong turn along the way and lost a lot of time. Bob got lost a few days earlier, then my own misadventure and now Ed. Perhaps getting lost is more common that I realised and I promised myself to be more vigilant to avoid a repeat performance on my part. 

Ger and Jim 

The final 5kms of the last stage were difficult mainly because the temperature. Hontanas is a small town with Albergue El Puntido in the centre of the main street. The pilgrim meal here was one of the best I had to date. 

I had a very relaxing afternoon enjoying a few beers until the cold drove us indoors

After the pilgrim meal I checked my washing to see it the items were dry yet, still damp but took them in anyway. I then retired to my bed to update my notes and prepare for another restless night.

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Other Links, relating to this section of the Camino, you may wish to follow 

Burgos:

Images of Burgos on the internet
Wikipedia on Burgos 
Hontanas:
Images of Hontanas on the internet
Wikipedia on Hontanas
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