Stage 7 – the day my ankle checked out
Start: 5:59, 9 ºC, sunny
End: 13:10
Distance: 27.6/160.4 Km
Stayed at: Winederful hostel
OST: O Mare Nero – Lucio Battisti
At the end of my first week, I was still trying to get used to the Camino. Easier pictured than done.
Better than a Sequoia
My last year before the Camino had exposed me to some of the lowest levels of human society, in both corporate and public sector. I was filling my souljar with resentment, thinking about a gentleman who had wronged me, when SMASH, I fell like a tree, straight into the asphalt.
Walking on asphalt happens frequently during the camino. While the rough terrain automatically requires attention, asphalt from a highway can induce some switch-off signal, giving us confidence that the road will be safe – it never is.
My ankle was gone. Swollen like a volleyball, at this point I could not longer walk. I was limping at maybe 2-3 Km per hour, a decent speed, if I say so myself.
The Spreadsheet of the Apocalypse
I was limping. I was in pain. I was still walking.
There is a neckbeard on Youtube providing spiritual advice for new pilgrims. It’s a spectacular amount of hogwash, and it greatly inspired me to ignore every single nugget of wisdom coming out of Born Again Hipster’s facehole.
Top tip: “Don’t worry about booking any room. Just walk, there’s always room for a pilgrim, the Camino provides“.
Do you know what really provides? Booking.com. A debit card helps as well.
The Camino already has enough uncertainty on its own. To venture into a new stage without even knowing when or when you’ll be able to rest is pure foolishness.
Don’t listen to Mr. Spiritual Neckbeard. Googledocs is your friend.
I put together a simple spreadsheet listing all the towns I’ll be passing through, with distances and stages, listing every single albergue where I’d stay – and, of course, I booked an albergue for
EVERY
SINGLE
STAGE.
So, no matter what my ankle says: if my spreadsheet says I am sleeping in a town 20 Km away, my top priority is dragging myself to that town, no matter what.
Screw that muppet. Camino for closers: know what your destination is, and commit to reaching it, every day, no matter what. Everything else will fall into place.
Two words on Logrono: Avoid Winederlust
Logrono is quite a nice place. One of a handful of cities along the Camino Frances, it has all services you could wish for. Of course, I went for laundry and hamon iberico, the essentials.
Logrono also had the worst albergue of my entire camino: Winederful, a dreadful “party hostel” topping up its accounts by attracting unaware pilgrims.
Winederful is NOT an albergue like the others: it’s just a party hostel which also sells to pilgrims. With other guests getting drunk in the lobby and turning on the lights in the middle of the night, well, you might want to sleep elsewhere.
This is also where I met a random kinesiologist from Hungary: this helpful pilgrim helped me medicate my ankle, giving me some oxygen when I needed it the most. Thanks, Hungarian friend. I hope your camino was everything you wished for.
Previous stage: Stage 6: Estella – Los Arcos
Next stage: Stage 8: Logrono – Hormilla
Camino for Closers 