Camino 2016: Via de La Plata Day 21 - Granja de Moreruela to Benevente

Monday April 18, 2016
When I set out I thought that today would be a long walk without much of interest but it ended with a trip on the railroad. So here goes.
People in the albergue started getting up and packing up with flashlights and noise at about 5:00 am. I don't know why because it does not start to get light until after 7:00 but they seem to like walking in the dark. They are also the people who like to walk 35-40 km per day.
I left the albergue just before 7:00 since I had been woken up early I was ready earlier than usual. It was still dark and after I was out of the town where there were street lights I had to use the spotlight feature on my iPhone to make sure I was following the yellow arrows or to read my guide book. It was cold and foggy so no photos for the first couple of hours. The path I was supposed to walk along ran next to the highway but there were puddles and mud so I moved over and walked along the edge of the highway for the first few kilometers. There was almost no traffic this early in the morning so it was not a problem or a hazard.

The first café I came to was still closed but the next one which came after about 9km or 2 hours was open for my coffee and tostadas. I was also ready to warm up after the walk in the cold fog. It was misting enough to make drops on my glasses so I had to take them off which meant I could not read the guide book or my watch..
After coffee I set off again. The fog was mostly gone but still no sun. It fact is was noon before the sun finally broke through.
In the next village I passed this fuente which clearly said not drinking water as if someone would drink from it?

Up the hill and past the cemetery. I could only see in through a locked gate since it was surrounded by a high wall.

I was passing several ruined buildings and was surprised to see that the walls were made of clay mud and straw bricks. I didn't know that this method had been used for at least 200 years.

But then I saw a series of buildings with doors and casement windows with the same construction so it must have also been homes. The picture unfortunately show what I wanted it to show.

Then I saw this large building. Mud/ straw bricks clad with baked bricks.

One more village Nd this time a coffee and a slice of tortilla. While I was in the cafe I asked about the next stage which goes over a disused railway bridge and has to cross a river. I had seen a lot of standing water and was concerned that the area we had to walk through would be wet and muddy. The man assured me that it would be fine gave me a map of a shortcut.

Back on the road, past the church.

And then the problems started. I was heading down to the next part of today's walk when 2 cars came up the gravel road I was on, stopped and told me it was flooded and impassable. They talked together in Spanish that I didn't understand and said they would take me to a place where I could get past the floods using bridges. I knew that one bridge on a disused rail track was on the track but I was soon to learn more about this track.
They took me back along the road for about 1 km and told me I could walk across the field and use the rail track to cross the water. I headed down, across a ditch and climbed up onto the track. I soon came to the first bridge

Then the next. Each was somewhat of a challenge since some of the ties were missing and some of the bolts holding the steel sheets along the sides were missing causing the sheets to pop up if you stood on one end that was not resting on a railroad tie. The gravel on the track in between the bridges was also difficult to walk on and there were weeds and brambles trying to catch my legs and trip me.

The floods were rushing by under each bridge.

Then I came to the one bridge that I should have walked across according to the book but the access path and way down after crossing the bridge were under several feet of rushing water, so I continued on.

The next one

And another one

And 2 more, still with too much water to think of getting down onto dry land, in fact no dry land anywhere now. At least I knew I was heading in the right direction and that if I continued to find bridges I would eventually get to where I was heading.

Finally a road crossing after nine scary bridges. I was happy to be back on gravel instead of the loose rocks that had previously been the base for the trains.

There was a church at the end of the track

And then I continued north assuming this was the town were were heading for tonight. I knew I had to collect the key to the albergue at the tourist information office on Plaza Mqjor so I asked directions and I was sent there. I asked for the tourist information and they told go into the town hall and up the stairs. I thought this was strange as there were no signs outside but I went and saw a door that said information. I went in and found a surprised lady at a desk full of important looking papers. It turns out that I was not yet in the town I was looking for and that there was no albergue here. I needed to continue on for about 3km.
I set the gps which told me I would arrived at 13:59. The information office in the other town closes from 14:00 -16:30 so I knew I had to hurry. By now the sun was out and it was a warm afternoon. I hurried along, made up some time and walked into the tourist office with less than 5 minutes to spare. The lady there was very nice, stamped my pilgrim passport, took my 4 euros and was happy to chat in english for another 10 mins. She told me I was wise not to choose the Camino Sanabres since with all the rain there had also been a lot of snow in that area.
Then down to the albergue which is a converted railway station. If I had wanted to I could have continued along the tracks to get there. It is the part of the building on the left

Kitchen

Sitting room but the sofas are wet so we can't use them

Two bedrooms with 3 bunks, = 6 beds in each

As I was coming down the hill to the albergue Mike and Ruth came walking down the road. They too had been told to walk along the rail track and the man said he had already sent one other perigrino that way (me) and it seems that we may be the only ones here tonight.
There is a mass at the church at 7:00 pm tonight so I plan to attend since it will be the first opportunity for me since Easter Day.
An eventful day with lots of new, unexpected experiences

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