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Meeting More Magyars

OVERTAKEN BY GERMANS

Today we head for San Juán de Ortega which is only 13 kilometres away but we must climb La Pedraja to get there. We are struggling up this climb but are also enjoying the picturesque swaths of heather all around us.

Andi suddenly sees a very fast-paced pilgrim, a woman of about 40 who quickly overtakes us. But what’s this? Another pilgrim, and another - a couple we’ve never seen before. They look very fresh and are going much faster than us. In a matter of minutes the landscape transforms into a crowded and hectic swarm of German people.

As we learn from one of them, there's a travel agency that runs organised half-bus / half-walking camino adventure holidays. The whole experience lasts for 10 days and every day they have to walk a little, but then a bus takes them to the next important stop. Today they have to walk to San Juán de Ortega and then a bus will take them to Burgos.

Some of us are indignant at hearing about this corruption of the camino. Shouldn’t everyone doing the camino suffer? Others think it's not a bad idea. So who's right? Us, doing the bloody-blister camino, or them, doing the journey of the spirit by coach? Andi is with them - they’re doing it the right way! On the other hand, I feel we’ll get more out of it than they will. There’s a big difference between being a tourist and being a pilgrim.

What do you think? Do you believe in comfort at all costs?

NO ROOM AT THE INN

When we arrive in San Juán de Ortega, where there's nothing but a beautiful church, a bar and a shop, we’re told there’re no beds left in the auberge. When you’re told there are no places left you get very irritated. I’m expecting an explosion from Andi but she accepts the news calmly, though I’m sure she’s dreaming about hitching a lift with those Germans who are clambering aboard their air-conditioned coach right now. We're already tired, but we have to go on. Dani, our friend from Barcelona decides to join us, and we head towards Atapuerca, 7 kilometres from there.

BURGOS

In the morning, Dani leaves very early and we leave somewhat later to head for Burgos. It's hot and everything's yellow and dry along the route.

It takes time to get into Burgos because its suburbs are enormous. At least 10 kilometres of industrial areas, an airport, huge housing estates, big buildings of every kind - not the ideal place for walking. But downtown Burgos is very charming: it has a green river and the houses, both old and new, are very stylish. There’s a fantastic cathedral - one of the most important Gothic cathedrals in the world.

It's a city with a vivid nightlife, the streets packed with people our age and we get to talk to a number of young Spaniards who are very interested in visiting Hungary some day.

And now a number of days pass uneventfully as we travel from Burgos to León - just walking, walking, walking. Every time we pass a church or museum we consider checking it out, but often the churches are locked and the museums are too expensive for us to pay the entrance fee.

A SKY FULL OF SWALLOWS

León is very pleasing to the eye. The way goes across a bridge, then past big housing estates, then through the art nouveau downtown which leads us to the Cathedral which is very robust. The skies above León seem full of swallows. A very nice place to be.

We pass the Hostal San Marcos which is a Baroque palace transformed into a posh hotel. The refuge, however, is not quite as grand - another sports hall stuffed with bunk beds.

Andi goes into the tourist office to ask for a poster. When she comes out she wants to show us but the strong wind makes it difficult to roll up again. León has a great Gothic quarter worth a visit, and also there's a Gaudi palace based on the concept of St. George the Dragon Slayer.

The next day, we’re so busy exploring this city that it’s late in the afternoon before we set off on the next leg. I’ve learned my lesson and I strongly discourage everyone from getting a late start, it really ruins the morale.

We head for Villadangos del Páramo . The sun is hot, and we don't have water. After 5 kilometres without water, one starts to get desperate. Oh, there's a petrol station. I enter its toilet, where a sign states Not Drinking Water! I drink the water anyway.

It’s dusk by the time we find the auberge. Gergő cooks for us again, and we really enjoy the evening, chatting and laughing. We are amazed to hear some newly arrived pilgrims speaking Hungarian! We greet them - all of them about the same age as us - three young women and two guys.

The girls are called Zsofi, Eszter and Kati and the guys are named Dániel and Bálazs. I don’t know any of them but most of them are from Szeged - the city where I was at university, so we share many chats in the coming days about that place.

We agree to travel together for a time and the next day we leave very early. If you leave early, you just go without thinking and distances seem more endurable.

A WITCH WITH ATTITUDE

We're walking along a macadam road for a long time, and then we enter the wonderful Puente de Órbigo via an enormous ancient bridge. Andi buys some coke, and an old woman, who looks exactly like an archetypal witch from kids' fairytale books - crooked nose, long chin - comes to her and tells her not to drink coke 'because it makes your blood sweet'. Andi is speechless, uncertain how to react as the old woman wanders off muttering to herself. To this day, we still haven’t figured out what she meant.

ASTORGA

The rest of the day goes by easily. We see a group of pilgrims who travel like gypsies, with a donkey carriage. I notice Andi looking at this mode of transport with a little envy but she denies it. Her toes are healing now and she’s a much happier person. Finally, we arrive in Astorga where there is a Gaudí castle and the Pilgrimage Museum. With Csaba, we buy discounted cola in a local shop and sit out in the main square. The entrance fee to the museum is too much for us, but the other Hungarians choose to see it.

In the evening, there's a band playing right in front of the auberge. Although they don't play very well, they cheer me up with their salsa melodies, but Gergő and Csaba complain that they can’t get to sleep. Is perfection possible?

From Astorga, we leave early. Andi is now able to walk longer distances each day. Rabanal del Camino is a village that has 60 inhabitants and 3 refuges. We arrive early, before the opening of the refuge run by the Confraternity of St. James, but there's already a long queue waiting to be admitted. The number of beds is limited. We realise that the closer we get to Santiago, the camino is becoming more and more a race for beds as more people join the pilgrimage.

Part 4 continues...

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