After enjoying a relatively lazy day in Sahagún, I awoke quite early and was delighted at the prospect of strapping on my mochilla and lacing up my faithful Timberlands once again for the next stage, taking me closer to León.

It felt very good to get back into the routine of preparing the feet for another day of walking and this return to the traditional was soon rewarded.

Just outside of Sahagún, walking before the dawn, I couldn’t quite see the yellow arrow that directed pilgrims off a roundabout, but almost immediately, here came Dave and Liz from New Zealand, equipped with a far brighter head torch than me, to show me the way.

The remainder of the first 10k of the morning was happily spent in their company, listening to Dave’s stories of a previous Camino and enjoying eggs and bacon for breakfast at Bercianos.

It turned out that Liz was already reading this blog, which was a bit of a pleasant surprise.

Buen Camino, Dave and Liz.

It was great to make friends with the butterflies again, as they fluttered happily around me.

My return to the pedestrian method was further rewarded by the presence of dragonflies and small lizards, although I was then reminded of a sign back in Burgos warning about vipers – and kept very much in the centre of the path.

Passing cyclists prompted no envy.

I was back.

Walking the Camino is the only way to really absorb all that it has to offer and seeing this sign was a good example of that.

There really is very little litter left on the Way, beyond the occasional wet wipe here and there.

My feet felt good, although perhaps not as good as this man’s tan, so I decided to push on a bit further and go past my original stopping point, for another 13km.

By now, I was walking with Tabita from Germany, and we kept each other’s spirits up as the long straight path continued to be a long straight path.

The reward for this 13km stretch was a great Saturday afternoon and evening in Reliegos, home to the splendid Bar Elvis and its epic owner, Sinnin, as well as sharing a few beers with Robert from Hungary and Tom from Ireland.

Quite a guy, quite a place.

Accommodation Report:

Albergue Ada, Reliegos

Absolutely lovely – a great little house with a garden, accompanied by a splendid vegetarian meal (how I’ve grown), managed by the impressive Pedro and his lovely family.

Health Report:

Blisters: 0 (9)

Left Foot has been stoic, and I’m proud of it for its performance today.

Ability To Cross Legs Diagonally Rather Than At Right Angles For First Time Since The 1980s: 1

Trips, Slips and Falls: 2 (3) Two unexpected rocks made me miss a step, but swiftly recovered

Applications of Factor 50: 2 (81)

Filling of Water Bottles: 2 (42)

Wrong turns taken: 1 (3) Dave and Liz, and I went left for about 300m when we should have stayed straight. No worries.

Number of times “Buen Camino” was said: About 30, as it was quite an underpopulated day

Unlikely Song Repeatedly Played By My Brain: Back On The Chain Gang, by The Pretenders