plasters – My Long Walk 2019

For any Peregrino the over-riding concern is feet. Without them being fully functional the Camino is an no-go. It is the great un-asked question ‘How are your feet?’. Everybody wants to know where you have walked from today? Where are you stopping tonight? Where are you from? Are you going all the way to Santiago? The F-word is never approached.

My gut feeling is that everyone’s feet hurt, just in at a different point on the scale. Some have blisters that make putting one foot in front of the other virtually impossible. Others have tendonitis of the ankle or toes. Some have bad ankles. Some have let their toenails grow too long so when they walk downhill they cut into their shoes. Some have discovered that they should have broken in their €100 shoes/boots before setting off. Some have hotspots.

Everyone’s feet are sore by the end of the day – FACT. Just at a different point on the scale.

We all try our hardest to pamper them and swap stories of things wise folk have told us. We try everything but at the end of the day it’s simple. Walking 25km a day on hard trails and tarmac, up and down hills and mountains, for over a month is going to make your feet knackered!

Today’s walk started with a steep climb out of the village onto a 10km wooded plateau. This certainly would have brushed out any pilgrim cobwebs, for those who decided to stay up late for the Villafranca Montes de Oca concert which ran till 4am just outside the albergue. From the top it was a long, hot day onto Burgos including a breathtaking view of Burgos, and the looming Meseta, from the top of the last climb.