21 Sep 2019
My feet are feeling pretty good after yesterday, so today’s walk will be a little further, 16 Kms, to Najera.
We’re walking through endless acres of wheat fields now, sometimes on a dedicated Camino path, sometimes on a farm road. We met an Australian family, pushing their 5-yr old daughter in a three-wheeled jogging stroller (no small feat), accompanied by their nanny, all with backpacks. The child emerged now and then to walk, using her own tiny trekking poles, and to inspect fascinating trailside flora and fauna. Amazing.
Najera is a large and very old town and negotiating our way through some of its streets, dodging traffic where buildings were built right out to the curb, was interesting. We finally found our small albergue, Nido de Ciguena, which had four private rooms, and ten bunk beds. Our room did not have a lock nor lockable storage, so we had to take all our valuables with us when we went out to find food.
Here’s a weird thing about albergues: after lights out at 10pm, there’s no one from the property on site until the next morning. So you’re on your own if something happens in the middle of the night. In our case, a guy living across the street starting hollering loudly and whistling for his dog at about 2am, waking us all up. Buen Camino!
The Occasionally-Examined Life 