The albergue I was in last night was beautiful – the San Saturnina in Ventosa. Two German blokes run it, and when I appeared in the door, one helped me off with my backpack, and the other handed me a glass of col water with a sprig of mint in it. They couldn’t have been kinder.

My room, (€9 for the night) was a small dorm of about 8 beds. Each was full, and in fact the whole albergue seemed to be full – about 20 beds – but even so, that represents a fairly empty Camino. What happened to the hundred odd pilgrims that started off from St. Jean my morning? And more started their Camino from Roncesvalles. Most of the Spanish pilgrims start there, and others who don’t want to do that brutal first day’s climb from St.Jean.

I’ve personally been aware of several who have dropped out already because of injury – back, leg pain, blisters. Then there have been others who only intended to do a week, because of work commitments. Each day, I walk and I hardly see anyone.

Today was glorious. A perfect day for walking, with cool temperatures and cloud. It wasn’t the best for my photography, but it was great for walking.

I woke up early, and was out of the albergue by 6am. I had a notion of getting to Santo Domingo de la Calzada, a beautiful medieval town, but it was 32 kms away, and I didn’t want to push it. I’d already done two 30km+ days the previous two days.

About an hour into the walk I realised I was lost. This Camino is very well marked, with the yellow arrows everywhere, and signs too, often. But in the dark, and way out in the countryside, I must have missed a marker because I walked probably a kilometre and a half before I discovered I was going the wrong way.

I backtracked, and saw some pilgrims who’d stayed at the albergue, and they’d picked up the marker, because it was lighter by then. So I followed them, and walked 12 kms into the small town of Najera. So by 9 am I’d walked about 15kms!

I stopped and had brekkie – three meatballs and three coffees. I’d also picked up a big juicy apple from a market, and had that too. Then I set off again.

I went slowly – everyone passed me! – but I stopped regularly to take photos. By the time I’d done about 20 kms though, my shin soreness was starting to be very bothersome, so in the next village I stopped into a Farmacia and two lovely ladies applied some magic cream that took the pain away almost immediately, then they strapped my lower tibia with crepe bandage.

If there are angels on this Camino, then those two ladies in the Farmacia were angels.

Then I shifted into a truly magnificent walk, through open fields with cultivated vineyards, and splashes of yellow flowers. The road surface was good, and the kms just seemed to whizz by.

A lovely middle-aged French couple from Lyon stopped and we had a chat, then the bloke asked if I wanted my picture taken, so I said ok. Then off they went at a good clip.

At about the 25km mark I stopped at a town that I was thinking I’d hole up in, but it was soulless, with a lot,of new subdivisions around a swanky golf course. So I kept going to Santo Domingo, which is where I am now.

Including the kms getting lost, I did about 35kms today. And you know what? I’m staying here two days. I’ve booked into a nice hotel just opposite the magnificent cathedral, and I’m going to rest and take it easy.

There’s plenty to look at in this town, plus I just need to recharge. Let my legs and my feet recover. The blister on my heel has taken on a life of its own, and I want to see if rest, along the magic cream and the crepe bandage, cures the shin soreness. My knee has been pretty good the last couple of days. I think the combination of the Voltaren cream, the Nurofen, and in particular the walking sticks, have helped a lot.

The sticks have been revelatory. What was I thinking poo-pooing them? I can’t imagine doing the Camino now without them.

So tomorrow I sleep in, have breakfast at the hotel buffet, wander around town, and basically let my soul catch up with my body. Also tomorrow I’m going to write a post about what I’ve learnt so far on the Camino. Already I’ve learnt a lot!