That’s a 21k walk if you start outside the Burgos cathedral. Finding the signs for the Camino path is a challenge out of big cities. We walk west, past the cathedral, down beautiful boulevards, past the University of Burgos…a good 4km, to exit the city.
Just out of Burgos, around 6.45am and we’re back in the glorious fields
Around 11k out of Burgos we hit Tardajos. We stop here for a quick breakfast of the usual- cafe con leche and tortillas.
Energised we head to the next town which pops up in a couple of km. Rabe de las Calzadas. It’s a lovely looking village with really nice houses and gardens. The water fountain near the church is quaint.
As we exit the plaza, we walk by paths with some nice wall art.
The little chapel to the right, in the image above, was just being opened by an elderly nun. We were the first people to walk in.
She’s turns on ‘Ave Maria’ on the music player and the music fills the little chapel. She comes to the door asking if we’d like a stamp on our credentials. I take them out of the bag to give her and she asks us where we’re from. I say India and she’s thrilled! She pulls us towards her and holds our hands and tells us that Our Lady will be protecting us on our walk to Santiago. She prays for our family and takes two of numerous medallions strung on cotton thread, hanging in a corner, and puts them around our necks, blessing us! She then takes out her phone and asks for a photo!
We leave the chapel feeling moved and blessed! Our timing – reaching the chapel just as she opened, was perfect! Something special had just happened!
Feeling different, we walked the next 9k quite quickly.
It was perfect walking weather! Cloudy and mildly windy. The countryside looked splendid!
We reach our destination for the day- Hornillas del Camino by 11.30am. It’s a single street village and seems to benefit largely from the pilgrims that stop here for the night. There’s one store and John goes in to buy some chocolate, while we wait for the room in our apartment to be ready.
The store keeper, an elderly Spaniard, wonders if we’re from Brazil! Then he’s delighted we’re from far away India. He’s warm and friendly and insists on giving us some gifts – a banana and two Camino shells!
The apartment we’re staying in today is owned by a gentleman whose brother in law is a photographer and is in someway connected to the making of the movie – The Way. The walls of the apartment are full of portraits of pilgrims taken by the brother in law. They’re beautiful!
After settling in, we head out to lunch in one of three restaurants on the quiet street. This maybe the smallest village we’ve stayed in so far!
A Couple of Indians Walking in Spain 