To Hontanas

Today, as expected was hard work, 29km walking against a strong driving wind which threatened to blow us all back to Roncesvalles. Juli warned me that the stages between Burgos and Leon are what you might call psychological. There is no scenery to fix your bearings, you climb up to the crest of a hill, only to find a new crest beyond that, and when you finally reach the top, it is a sort of endless plain stretching out into the distance with no villages, trees or nothing, just wind electrical generators disappearing off into the distance. The few villages there are a tucked away in valleys so you cant see them. All this coupled with the constant wind whistling round your head adds to the harshness of the landscape. Still I imagine it could be worse. In summer the sun must be merciless. At 4-30 I finally arrived but no sign of any familiar faces. Talking to an English pilgrim, I discovered that Kevin, the Irishman had stayed back in Hornillos. Hontanas is a small village, with no m0bile phone coverage (shock horror) but I was invited to play cards with the women who run the albergue. As one of the women pointed out, lucky no money was involved in the card game, because these 3 would have cleaned me out pretty quickly. So by 8-00 I had showered, and had dinner and have headed up to the village bar for a beer, and have found what is apparently the only internet in town. Working from a modem (no ADSL here). I have about a week of this sort of terrain until finally we reach Leon. As Uggi the Korean says, this is will be a great opportunity to concentrate on my walking.