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Day 23 - León to San Martín del Camino

Writer's picture: Robin RudwickRobin Rudwick

Updated: Jun 16, 2022


15.06.2022 - added the photos in

We knew it was going to be a hot day - up to 35°C, so we left at 0540. The way out of León was poorly signposted and took a long time. We crossed the bridge by the Parador and headed out of town. We had to ask some locals a couple of times to confirm the route. It seems to make their day to point the way for Pilgrims.



We ended up walking along the road for quite a while. Luckily, it was early, so there was little traffic. We bumped into Micha, who had his both legs strapped up with blue tape.

There was quite a climb out of León. It was mostly through light industrial and working class areas that looked as if they were suffering.

The path diverted down some back streets and we saw a very strange bar. Something to do with British Africa, as understood by Spanish people, I guess...

Then we stumbled across some more bodegas. I swear they were the influence for the hobbit house designs in the film.




Most of this journey today was following a major road. Its very strange now listening to the rumble of heavy trucks.

There were many Indian bean trees planted by the path. But there was no watering system in place and many of the trees were dead. Ruth says this is very common when tree planting. There is always money for the initial planting. But maintenance, like watering, seems to be forgotten. I suppose a Lockdown hadn't helped. But they also planted what looks like an oak, but with slightly fluffy leaves, presumably to reduce moisture loss.


You can get an idea of the track from these photos


There are a few small towns on the way and we stopped for coffee at one. There was the usual early morning rush of Pilgrims plus the guys going to work, so it was chaos inside. But this must happen every day. Everybody is frustrated, Pilgrims, workmen and cafe staff. The Basil Fawlty School of Hospitality strikes again!

We ran into Paloma again. She has sent her stuff on and is walking 30k. She has partnered up with a Korean girl carrying a full pack. Not sure if that will work long term.

We did pass a rather strange church that Ruth thought might be Satanist. I'll add pictures so you can make up your own mind.


I'll include the obligatory Bridge picture here. This was on ground at a motorway junction.

))) Bridge picture


That's the church and Bridge pictures taken care of.

Now for the mammalian quadrupled picture.


We saw a few rabbits, that's it for wildlife.

We also won the three stork nest church bingo. This means you find a church with three nests plus a stork on each nest.


I'll include the Pilgrim statue for free.

There is a lot of whats called 'Ribbon development' along this road. This means that towns and villages expand along the highway, either side. This can mean there is no town centre and you need a car or bike to get anywhere.

Also I'm sure that Lockdown finished off a lot of new development, like this picture.


We passed Paloma, pictured here on the right.


and should have stopped because there was nothing after this apart from a vending machine.

))) vending machine



We ended up drinking water and eating salami sticks on the hoof.

We now have, officially, under 300k to go. But these are road side markers and seem to be accurate plus or minus 5k.


We did see this by the roadside in the middle of nowhere. It is some bodyweight based exercise machines. But there were no people living anywhere nearby.



A lot of the older buildings here are built using adobe. Some may have a cement screed on top, but they are still around.


I was intrigued as to why the walls often stayed up but the roofs collapsed. Then I got to look inside a roof structure.


They make the basic structure using robust tree trunks, but infill with smaller branches. Then they layer clay tiles on top. The branches breakdown because of the weight of the tiles and lack of maintenance. Then the roof collapses. As adobe is basically mud, it degrades in the rain, and you're left with tumbledown walls.

We are now at our hotel.

The people are nice. The room is nice but no air conn. They have built the main building but the outside seems unfinished.

We've done the washing and walked into town after siesta. There is only one store and he was late opening. But we got bread, salami, cheese and Kinder Bueno, thus covering most major food groups.

There is one restaurant in town, filled with old men playing cards, so it's back to the hotel for a drink.


From our balcony you can see the half completed swimming pool and not started garden. It's a bit like those stories of people on charter holidays to Costa del Sol in The 1970's.




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