July 17

Today was just plain tough. When I fell asleep at the alburgue I remember waking up several times freezing. I had my fleece blanket on me, but added my towel and my sarong too, trying to get warm. When Deb woke up I told her I needed to leave later, and then fell back asleep. I woke up an hour later sweating and freezing too. I managed to put my things in my pack and then go across the street for a croissant and coffee.

The first town was 6 miles away and I figured I could at least get there. I stopped at the bus terminal on my way through town and found that the bus didn’t run to the city today that I wanted to go to. It was incredibly frustrating to try and communicate not knowing Spanish. 

I headed out on foot. When I got to the next town, I was feeling terrible. I almost decided to just find a place to stay there except we had already decided where to stay tonight and it was impossible to contact anyone. 

I began to ask around about a taxi, and found it would be very expensive to get to Hontanas. But, I had no choice, so I just paid it and tried to enjoy the scenery on the ride as I watched the taxi meter go up higher and higher. 

When I reached Hontanas, all I wanted was a bed and a bathroom. Thankfully the bed was available fairly quickly. When I woke up an older gentleman was walking past me in a towel, so others were showing up.

I spent the rest of the day taking a shower, not feeling better and trying to figure out what my next move is. I have three choices. Stay, walk and try to bus somewhere or walk as far as I can tomorrow and stay there. As of now, if I stay, some people will catch up who stayed over in Burgos. If I move on, I will likely stay alone tomorrow since Deb is sticking with the book schedule and the people who we have been traveling with.