Yesterday’s walk from Leon to Villadangos del Páramo was fairly easy and not so pretty. Most of the walk was through the Leon environs, with much of it through commercial office parks and along a main road. We stayed at, what essentially was, a truck stop motel just outside of Villadangos. The folks running it were nice and the room and the meal wasn’t bad. Villadangos was one of our least favorite towns as there was not much to do and it smelled very bad in places. We had the windows open in the hotel because it was so hot and I woke up at 2:30 am with some of the worst sewage smell coming into the room. I shut the windows quickly, but not quickly enough to stop the odor, which seemed to last for hours.
We were happy to get up early and start the journey to Astorga because it is known for being a much better and bigger town and it has a nice cathedral. We knew we were in for a bit of a rough walk because of the 30k distance and the 80+ degree weather. However, we overestimated our ability and this turned out to be the most difficult day of the Camino so far. It wasn’t the terrain which was rolling, but not hilly. Rather, it was the brutal heat and no escape from the sun the entire way. Also, there weren’t many places to rest and eat. We got a few things in a small shop, but we were determined to get to Astorga as quickly as possible.
We limped in to Astorga and spent way too much time trying to find the apartment we booked. After almost 30 minutes, we made it to the place, which turned out to be one of our best stays yet. Nice separate bedrooms, kitchen, washing machine, etc.
One thing of note today was the town of Hospital de Orbigo. The town appeared to be associated with some sort of medieval jousting fair as part of the city’s history. It also has a very long stone bridge and lots of banners throughout town that enhance its medieval ambience (see photo above).
We are hoping we can recover for tomorrow’s walk, which is only 20k…only 20k…ugh. We are getting close to heading into Spain’s northwestern mountains and out of the Castilla y Leon region and into Galicia.
Pics from the last two days:
