Here’s where I slept last night – a beautiful little albergue in Ages, about 25kms from Burgos.

The way I approach where I’m going to spend the night is totally intuitive. I don’t check out the reviews online, or the blogs or forums. I lob into a town, figure this is where I’m going to stop, then I look around for the right place.

And it calls to me.

For instance, yesterday I was going to stay at San Juan de Ortega, which would have represented 24 kms walking for the day. I got there though, and I was pretty knackered, and I saw this big beautiful old stone building, but it didn’t call.

Everyone else I knew who’d set off from Belorado, where I spent the previous night, was going to stay there. And believe me, I was tempted, because I was aching all over, but the place didn’t feel right.

So I kept walking.

The next town was Ages, only 3.5kms away, but at the pace I was walking, that was another hour, and part of it was down a very steep hill. But when I arrived in Ages, I immediately felt I’d got to the right place.

The first albergue I saw looked good, so I walked in and was greeted warmly by this gorgeous Spanish lady. She had kind twinkling eyes, and she immediately made me feel like I’d landed in the right place.

And I had. My room was beautiful, she took care of all my laundry, and I had a great dinner that night, and a good breakfast the following morning.

I later ran into some people who’d stayed at San Juan, and they said it was the the worst night of their journey.

I can’t explain it. So far I’ve only ever had magnificent accommodation, and with wonderful caring people. But I’m not structuring it. I’m doing no planning. I’m approaching this absolutely intuitively.

Now, this is a huge change for me, because usually when I travel I pre plan everything way ahead. I check out all the reviews, I make sure I get the best place for the best price, and I leave nothing to chance.

On the Camino though, I’m letting The Way guide me.

Interestingly, at the dinner table last night was a bloke from Canada who I’d met very briefly at a little eatery in Valcarlos on the very first day. Valcarlos was a small village part way up the Pyrenees, on the way to Roncesvalles. As it turned out, it was from Valcarlos on that it got seriously gnarly.

Anyway, he made the observation that I was a completely different person last night to the person he’d spoken to nearly a fortnight earlier. He said at Valcarlos, I was tense and agitated. Last night I was calm and relaxed.

I told him that at Valcarlos, I was probably tense because I was anxious about what was coming up. I had built up in my mind that haul up the Pyrenees into something quite terrifying. Plus I was jet lagged. I’d flown in from Australia the previous day, and had been awake since 2:30am.

But that aside, I took on board what he said, and wondered if the Camino had been doing some genetic re-engineering in the past fortnight. I feel as though it has.

Today was one of the great days to walk.

Cloud, cool breeze, beautiful country, and at the end of the days walk, one of the great cities of Spain – Burgos.

I went very slowly today. Stopped and took photos regularly. I love the way they stack the hay bales here. I love the textures, and the farmers’ valiant attempts at structure and order, which are forever compromised by the exigencies of nature.

I was passed by two blokes who’d been in my albergue in Pamplona, when I was having real problems with my knee. They were surprised that I’d got so far. They asked if I was going through to Santiago, and I said they’d have to carry me off the Camino in an ambulance before I gave up on Santiago.

Later, I regretted saying this.

Whilst it was a joke, words are powerful. They carry intentions. Powerful intentions. The Universe doesn’t know if you’re joking. It can’t tell. All it gets is that Bill Bennett wants to be carried off the Camino in an ambulance. And, given that the Universe ultimately wants you to get what you want, it might well work towards me being carried off the Camino in an ambulance!

So I had to do some affirmations to tell the Universe that this in fact wasn’t what I wanted – what I wanted was to have an easy and pain free journey through to the end.

You may not believe this stuff, but I do.

The rest of the walk into Burgos was glorious. I met a wonderful Italian couple who guided me along an alternative route, avoiding all the industrial outskirts and traffic and noise. Instead, they took me through a series of parks, which were beautiful and tranquil.

Ivan, his name was (his father named him after the movie, Ivan the Terrible, which was evidently a very big movie in Italy when he was born!) had done the walk into Burgos the previous year, and knew all the shortcuts.

Here’s the thing, I’d been anxious about the last 10kms into Burgos, because I’d read that the traffic was horrible, it was all on main roads, and it was unpleasant. Even the main guide book suggested that pilgrims take a bus to avoid all the chaos.

Yet this bloke, Ivan the Terrible (and his wife Giovanna,) guided me effortlessly into Burgos. They were even prepared to go at my slow limping pace.

I’d said to a couple of people that if a bus pulled up beside me with BURGOS on the front, and the door swished opened and the driver asked me if wanted to hop aboard, I’d do it. But I also said that I’d let The Way guide me.

And it did.

I’m now staying in the Municipal albergue for €5 for the night, (it’s just around the corner from the magnificent Burgos Cathedral), and tomorrow I step out onto the dreaded Meseta. The Messta is a stretch of about 200 kms between Burgos and Leon – and it’s dreaded by some because it’s a long flat largely featureless plain with few villages, hardly any vegetation and shade, and it can have ripping winds and bitter weather.

Some people say it’s mind numbingly boring. Many pilgrims I’ve spoken to have said that they’re going to skip the Meseta altogether and get a bus from Burgos to Leon.

Not me.

For me, this is where the Camino really kicks in. This is where I’ll have the time and the space for real contemplation.They’d have to carry me off in an ambulance for me to miss the Meseta.

Ooooopppps.