Atapuerca to Burgos (20 Kms). 16 May

An absolutely freezing day! You would not know you were in Spain! I was determined to walk to Burgos, as this was the only way to keep warm. Firstly it was up and up, on a nice moorland track as far as a cross, where two Spanish ladies who had been at the albergue asked me to take their photos and then did the same for me. This was the Alto de Atapuerca (1070 m.), affording our first view of Burgos in the distance, some 12 or 13 kms away. I fancied the cathedral was just visible in the middle of multiple urban developments. In medieval times, the huge cathedral would have stood out plainly and given encouragement to weary travellers.

All pilgrims were stopping a bit later for refreshment at a busy café in Cardanuela Rio Pico, where I just fancied (even that early) a vino tinto and a slice of Spanish omelette. Delicious!

It was quite a long drag into Burgos, especially on such a freezing cold day where I had to stop every 5 minutes to blow my nose! We had to skirt around Burgos airport on a deserted bit of landscape, before entering Castanares, where I met an American girl looking for a bus to take her into Burgos, bypassing all the industrial suburbs. I was determined to find the so-called “alternative route” along the river, which I remembered from my previous visit to Burgos. This proved quite hard, because of all the motorway flyover, with too many choices listed in the guide book and yellow arrows going in different directions; eventually I succeeded and walked the last 4 kms into Burgos, feet protesting against the hard ground! The river route was surely much more pleasant, but maybe the shopkeepers of Burgos wanted to keep the other route open to encourage business.

Entering town, I saw across the river the Hotel Silken Gran Teatro, my destination for 2 days’ rest in a luxurious hotel! I was given a room on the 4th floor and later had dinner in the hotel, with an interesting starter of mushrooms and a poached egg sitting in a savoury cream, served up by a nice Rumanian waiter.

Flock of sheep near the Alto

Cruceiro

The two Spanish ladies: note their small backpacks!

Villafranca to Atapuerca (18 kms). 15 May

Next morning the receptionist tried but failed to rouse on the telephone the hotel in San Juan de Ortega where I really wanted to spend the next night, so I set off on the track regardless.

An eventful day! Snow! I left the hotel after 9.00 a.m. and immediately heard from several people that it was snowing on top.. I met a young couple coming down the steep track wearing capes and shorts that were already wet with sleet. They said they were going to catch the bus into Burgos! I had on all my waterproof gear, including pants, so I pressed on higher and higher to the first landmark: “Fountain for wetting bread” and a small covered rest area.

Monument to the Fallen

I got out my camera for some wintry shots. The snow on the pine trees looked amazing. It was like walking through a winter wonderland. I hadn’t seen any snow for years! I passed a monument to the Fallen of 1936, then on and on through the pine woods, snow falling steadily for 2 hours, then gradually stopping.

On reaching San Juan de Ortega at around 12.30 p.m., I discovered that the Hotel (with only 10 rooms) full – booked out by a party of Irish. I met Mary, the American whose luggage from Sto Domingo had still not arrived after 2 days. She was despairing of seeing it again, having agreed with a smaller lesser known company to deliver it. I had already given her my pyjama top the day before and didn’t want to part with anything else as it was really cold! Her mini day pack was not waterproof and she was trying to dry her gear around a puny little fire in the bar. I gave her one of my sleeping pills so that she could get a good night’s rest and told her to wait till the bar was quiet and get the barman to help with phone calls. I had observed a queue of pilgrims waiting for the albergue to open at 1. 00 p.m., and didn’t fancy staying there, so I pressed on to the next village (downhill, now).

Heather in the snow

Jonquil?

The albergue at Ages had no more private rooms available, so after a beer I went on to Atapuerca. This proved to be an extremely good move. I found the new Albergue El Peregrino with dorms on one side of the garden and private rooms on the other, each side with a small kitchen. After a cup of tea and half a bar of choc from my emergency rations, I went to wait for the special minibus that took visitors to the Atapuerca archaeological site at 4.40 p.m. every day.

With a young and enthusiastic English speaking guide, who switched rapidly from English to Spanish, we went to a site where human remains from 1 million years ago had been discovered in layers of sediment that had been washed down by the river system, as well as remains of many wild animals including lions and rhinos; also evidence of cannibalism of children whose bones had been scaped clean with hand axes. The site had been discovered when an English company had cut a railway line to an iron ore mine. This was never developed because it was uneconomic, but the subsequent archaeological finds were amazing, and proved the existence of humans in Europe much earlier than had previously been thought.

Atapuerca archaeological site: a UNESCO World Heritage site