Day 8 - Torres delRio to Navarrete

The weather has been perfect so far, although a little hot in the afternoons. I started todays walk with the forecast of rain showers this morning. There was no sign on the normal beautiful sunrise, just dark and foreboding clouds in a dark sky. I had to put my head torch on to find my way, as the scallop shell signs of the Camino were difficult to find. In fact, I wasted 10 minutes getting lost in the maze of alleys and roads of Torres del Rio.

I felt unusually tired this morning and it was to be a long day of 33km (21 miles). My my legs were feeling it after about 10k and I wasn’t sure why, as the day before I was feeling fine.

About 8am, I felt the first drops of rain and in a few seconds, it was a torrent. I sheltered under a nearby tree, hoping it would soon pass over. It lasted about 5 minutes. Before it ended, I got my poncho out for the first time and tried to put it on. Fortunately the rain had nearly stopped because I couldn’t get it over me and my backpack, no mater how hard I tried! Rain now stopped, I started walking up the track still trying to get it on. I must have made a comical sight if anyone had been watching. In the end, I worked out that if I scrunched up half of the poncho in my hand and threw it backwards over my head and then grab the front edge before I lost it, I could then pull it forward again, popping the hood over my head and pull it down. Phew, I had done it. The question still is, could I do it in a rain storm with the wind blowing. I’ll let you know how I get on.

I was quite hungry when I reached Viana as I had had no breakfast. I went into the supermarket and bought some ham, cheese, a baguette and some things that looked like cakes. They were soft, spongy and full of sugar but not particularly nice. I ate them as I walked out of the town as I was sure I needed the energy boost. I saved the rest of my picnic for Logrono in 6.5km away. When I got there, now exhausted, I found a quiet square, sat down on a bench and with my pen knife, set about making my baguette. It was then that a guy came into the square to clean it up before the tourists came. The trouble was, he didn’t use a brush, he used a huge fire hose! With my baguette still half made, I made a gesture to him, saying should I go? He assured me that I could stay but as I was not happy, I finished making my baguette and cheerily waved goodbye. I found a park not far away and sat down to eat half of my baguette in peace.

This magnificent doorway was in Viana, just after my supermarket stop.

As I was stuffing my ruck sack this morning, I broke the head off my razor and I didn’t carry a spare. So whilst in Logrono, I went into a supermarket and bought a new razor. What I wanted was just one, but the best I could do was six razors. Not what you want when trying to travel light. To make it worse, that evening, whilst sat in my bunk, I managed to pop the head onto my original razor!

I don’t quite know how I made it to Navarrete. I was feeling so tired. The blister on my foot was becoming more painful and I was hobbling a bit with my left leg. Fortunately, it didn’t rain again that day.

Eventually, I made it to the albergue, checked in, stamped my credential and went up to the dorm where I met Emma who came from Bath, in the Uk, and spoke with a reassuring west country accent. Later on we had dinner in the albergue with another lady from the states.

I showered, washed my clothes, hung them out to dry and then fell asleep for a few hours, only just walking up in time for dinner.