"There is no road to peace. Peace is the road"
-Mohadas Ghandi
This was going to have to be an early start, Astorga was a good 30.5k from Villar, the longest day of walking yet. Managed to vacate the albergue by 8:00 and skipped town just as the sun was rising. The cool weather and flat paved roads made for easy and quick going. For once today, I was doing the passing rather than being passed. The mountains in front of me are getting closer and closer, revealing more detail as I go. Made the 14.5k into Hospital del Órbigo just before noon, where I stopped for lunch. A big lunch, considering I hadn´t yet eaten that day. Mmmm...fresh trout, eggs and fries. Calorie rush anyone?
In comparison to the morning stroll, the walk into Astorga was simply awful. The camino went right along the side of the N120, a very busy highway. You'd think I'd be used to that shit by now, but I'm not. I'm also still not used to crossing the damn thing, which I had to do no less than 4 times (ok - 2 of those were my stupid fault, but still). Once on the outskirts of Astorga, the yellow arrows that guide pilgrims to thier next destination went bananas. Seemingly pointing in every direction, and guiding me in an unneccesary zigzag direction. If that wasn't bad enough the last 50m was up one of the steepest paved inclines I've ever seen in my life. Made it without my lungs bursting, so that's a plus. Lousy way to end a day's walk though.
The albergue in Astorga was stunningly well maintained. Clean as a whistle and painted in a sterile white throughout. It was like staying in a hospital. One with 10 beds per room. Ok, more like staying in an upscale leper colony. The views from the patio are fantastic, seeing as how the building is perched on the side of the hill that Astorga is built on. Can see for miles around from there.
My arrival in Astorga signifies three endings. The end of the Meseta, the end of a chapter in my guidebook, and the end of the Roman road known as the Via Trajana. None of which I´ll miss in the least. I'm happy to be rid of the god-forsaken, fly-infested wasteland that is the meseta. If the people there weren´t so nice, I'd be tempted to use my favorite curse and say "a pox on it". As for the chapter in my guidebook, it was one full of factual errors and extremely bad advice. The authors of this book apparently have a thing for invisible wildlive, boring scenery and Roman roads. Which brings me to my next goodbye: to the Via Trajana. The Via Trajana was built on the orders of the emperor Trajan (surprise) to connect Bordeaux (or whatever it's roman name was) with Astorga (Asturica Augusta). In it´s day, I'm sure it was a fantastic accomplishment and a pleasure to walk on. The present is not it's day. At it's best, it was a level, raised, gravel road above a marshy bog. This "best" part lasted approximately 500m, and was just outside of Castrojeríz. At it's worst, in the rain, it was a muddy, stony swamp. I walked through about 40k in those conditions on the Trajana. It's neutral state is a dirt road with rocks of all sizes littered about it - some embedded, most not. It's a blister-popping, ankle-twisting, knee-grinding nightmare. A pox on it.
Tomorrow I gently ease into the mountains with a 21k stretch to Rabanal del Camino. I´ve heard good things about the albergue there, so I'm looking forward to it.
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