Into Castilla y León: Aldenueva del Camino to La Caldzada de Bejar

 “...the map matters less than your feet.  Go and let the dust write the story...”

Via de la Plata Stage 18

From Extremadura to Castilla y Leon

Our room in the albergue last night was very quiet, and we enjoyed a restful night, for which we were very grateful.  We got up around 7:00 AM, made a breakfast of instant coffee, bread, and jam in our room, and then headed out for a short walk around town to explore.  We took a look at the church, which was being restored, and so was covered in scaffolding.  We also made our way down to the small river that flows through the mountain town to get a better view of the Roman bridge at its center.  Once again, we were impressed by the lush and colourful gardens and the beautiful tiles and murals that bring this town to life. 

After a brief exploration, we returned to the albergue to retrieve our backpacks and set off.  It sounded like most of the other pilgrims had already headed out, but everyone who remained was in the process of leaving at the exact same time. 

Not wanting to walk in a tight group all morning, we stopped in at the motel on the edge of town for a café con leche to let the others pull well ahead. At first, the place looked like a very dodgy motel / restaurant / dive, but when we stepped inside, I discovered they sold jars of local honey as well as hand-made cosmetics, and it was actually kind of nice.

Walking the Camino 

When we eventually set off, we found ourselves walking on the side of a very busy highway.  We wound our way through two roundabouts and were momentarily excited to follow a quiet service road for a few hundred meters.  However, we were soon back on the highway, where there were no shoulders, and the white lines were painted right on the edge of the pavement.  The first 10 km of our hike were along this road, which made for a somewhat stressful morning.

While there wasn't actually too much traffic, the vehicles that did pass us sped past within inches.  This made it difficult to look around or enjoy the landscape, which in fact was quite beautiful.  We were steadily climbing today, slowly progressing along the treed valley of yesterday towards the mountain pass ahead.  The treed mountain slopes rose up on both sides of us, but we mostly focused on forging ahead. As we were leaving town, two taxis sped past, filled with pilgrims who waved and smiled enthusiastically at us as they passed by.  I guess they opted to skip the road section of today's stage.

Las Cañadas Spain

Around 5 km into our hike, we came to Las Cañadas, where we had hoped to stop for a break and a coffee. However, when we walked past the campground and tourist bungalows, it looked like the cafeteria was closed tight.  We didn't cross the highway to investigate, and since it is Monday, we knew there was a good chance it would be closed.  Somewhat disappointed, but rather unsurprised, we continued on. 

Soon, we stumbled on a fascinating creature on the side of the road, which turned out to be a Stone Marten.  It would be our first and only encounter ever with this amazing species!

Roman Milestones

Shortly afterwards, we came to the first of many Roman milestones that we would pass today.  The tall stone post looked suspiciously un-weathered and legible, allowing us to clearly read the inscription, even across the road. 

It was an interesting reminder that even 2,000 years after their construction, we are still using the Roman roads as major transportation corridors. This experience gave way to similar feelings that we had while trekking along Hadrian’s Wall National Trail in the UK.

We continued hiking along, enjoying a brief, if very muddy and wet, respite from the highway walking somewhere about 7 km into the stage.  We could feel the tension leaving our bodies as we stepped onto the wet and muddy dirt track, which lasted for about 1 km, and we appreciated every step of the tree-lined walk off the highway. 

We realized anew that having just a few moments in nature (and off roadways) can do wonders for relieving stress.

Baños de Montemayor

Soon we returned to the highway, and although the mountain scenery continued to be very impressive, we found little joy in the walk.  It was a relief when we reached the outskirts of Baños de Montemayor around 5 km later.  As we approached the entrance to the town, we saw several more taxis dropping off pilgrims just ahead of us.  We were only a few meters behind them at the time, but when we waved a greeting, they turned away without responding.

We have slowly come to realize that quite a few pilgrims cover about half of each day's stage by taxi and then walk the rest, usually a distance of 15-20 km.  While the logistics of arranging this would be beyond us, I see no reason to be ashamed of using this strategy to deal with the longer stages if that is what works for you.  However, it seems some pilgrims, at least, are uncomfortable with others seeing that they are not walking the entire route.

At the edge of town, we passed a small stone ermita, or hermitage, which was only a few dozen meters from the church.  It struck us that many of the hermitages along the Camino routes are located very close to towns.  This one was less than 1 km from the food, wine, and other people of the nearby community.  My understanding of hermits was that they toiled in solitude and seclusion, away from the distraction of other people, but perhaps there is more I need to learn about hermits.

Cerrado

After looking at the church, we followed the Camino through the town, climbing steeply.  It was a very nice-looking community, with very well-kept buildings, parks, and central plazas.  In our wanderings, we found a Via de la Plata signpost indicating that we were now “only” 569 km from Santiago de Compostela!

Hoping to find a café or a bar to enjoy a café con leche, we spent some time looking around.  However, as it was Monday, so predictably we found nothing open, except for the second church we passed along the way.  Its bell was ringing as we entered, and a very kind group of ladies let us look around.  It was one of the very few opportunities we've had on this Camino to see inside a church, and we greatly appreciated it.

Still hoping to stop for a café con leche and a rest break, we followed the markers out to the far edge of town – ultimately without finding anything that was open.  Although we had only walked 10 km by this point, we regretted not stopping in this mountain town, as it was very beautiful, with Roman baths open to the public, and would probably have been fun to explore.

We stopped for a few minutes at the edge of town and at the bottom of the “Roman Road”, sitting perched on someone's garden wall to eat a few handfuls of nuts and have some water.  We had been climbing steadily all morning, the ascent through town had been pretty steep, and we could see the cobblestone path ahead going straight up a forested slope. As we sat at the crossroads, we watched a stream of elegantly dressed locals walk up to a lookout and then back, nodding to the stream of pilgrims heading up and over the hill beyond.

Roman Roads on Camino 

After our brief break, we followed the stone road up the slope, wondering if the large, granite cobblestones were Roman or from more recent times.  They didn't resemble the sections of Roman road we'd followed on the Camino de Madrid, or the ones we'd walked on the Camino Portuguese Coastal, where the edges of the stones were rounded, the slabs were uneven, and in places we could see ruts worn by thousands of wagon wheels.

We climbed through the forested hills, aware that the landscape was rapidly changing once again.  As we turned to look behind us, we could see the town, sitting on the edge of the calm and bright blue waters of a large reservoir behind it.  Beyond that, the mountains created a solid and unmoving blue wall.  A stone cross stood at the lookout over the valley behind, and several locals were sitting on the bench nearby, enjoying the view.

The next section of the trail was peaceful and gorgeous, as we climbed up a stony track through a tree-lined corridor.  The sun filtered through the leaves of the trees above, creating a golden-green light.  We also passed another Roman milepost, reminding us that the lush, mossy green track had been tread for thousands of years. A highlight was seeing a large brown striped lizard, scientifically referred to as a Large Psammodromus, basking on the side of the trail, perhaps a descendant of ancestors that once watched the Romans passing by.

Eventually, our track brought us out to a paved road once again, and we found ourselves on the outskirts of Puerto de Bejar.  As we merged with the road, we noticed that someone had placed an ad for a taxi company inside all the yellow arrows that were painted on the backs of the road signs.  The temptress from the final stages of every Camino route was back - the taxi ads that wait at every intersection, inviting pilgrims to give up on their dreams of walking and zip to the end of the stage.

Gas Station Break

Soon, we came to a Respol gas station with four stone picnic tables outside.  We had hoped to stock up on supplies and snacks in Baños de Montemayor, because we are heading into a stretch of three or four days where we will be passing through and sleeping in small villages with no reliable shops or bars.  Since everything was closed in the town, we stepped into the gas station to see what they had to offer.  Surprisingly, it had a huge variety of supplies.  We got some chocolate, bread, olives, cookies, nuts, chips, and cold drinks and took a much-appreciated break at the picnic tables. As we sat there, we were joined by two other pilgrims, a couple from the Basque region of Spain, whom we've been walking with for a while now.

As we sat there, we could see a huge red sign that marked the border into Castile y Leon. From here, we would leave Extremadura and walk onto the Central Plateau.  We could already see that the landscape around us had changed.  Instead of flat dehesas with cork and holm oak or olive trees, the steep mountain slopes were covered in wild deciduous forests. Here, the leaves looked as if they were just beginning to sprout, marking our passage northward. We were now out of the flat, hot plains of the Ambroz Valley and into the cooler mountain regions where spring was still in its infancy.

Into Castilla y Leon

Continuing on, we crossed quietly into Castile y León - a change marked by no more than an invisible line, yet it still carried with it a sense of progress.

This vast central region of Spain is one we’ve walked through before on several other routes: the Camino Francés, the Camino de Madrid, and the Camino San Salvador. It is a land defined by seemingly endless plains and golden wheat fields, dotted with medieval architecture, Romanesque monasteries, and the sprawling meseta - the great plateau that forms the heart of the Iberian Peninsula.

Amid this often harsh and unforgiving landscape lie small villages, each a welcome refuge for the pilgrim. It is a region we know well, and one we are glad to find ourselves back in.

Albergues and Camino Murals 

We soon passed a nice-looking albergue, where several pilgrims we recognized gave us a friendly wave.  It was a long, low building sitting off by itself among the trees, and it looked like a nice place to stop.  However, we had decided to continue on past Puerto de Bejar to make tomorrow's stage shorter, and it was a gorgeous afternoon to keep going. 

At the edge of the community, we passed under a bridge where there was a huge art installation of the Via de la Plata, showing a map of the route from Merida to Astorga. 

On the other side of the village, we were in for a real treat.  We began descending, following a wide dirt road that was bordered by fieldstone walls that were covered in thick moss, ferns, ivy, and blooming wildflowers.  The sun shone through the trees that bordered either side of the trail, and we could hear the sound of the river below us in the valley.  The trees were full of birds as well, including Eurasian Chaffinches and European Robins, which we haven't seen many of further south.

Forest Tracks and Mountain Scenery

The walk to Puente de la Malena along that forested track bordered by stone walls reminded us of trekking along Wainwright's Coast to Coast Path in England.  It was so peaceful, with the sound of running water, bird song, and cow bells, that we wished it would go on forever.  There were also quite a few Roman mileposts with accompanying information plaques, as well as a stretch of trail that was bordered by Roman stones placed like large pointy teeth on the edge of a large drop-off.  It was a perfect mix of history, nature, and gorgeous weather.

After crossing the river on a lovely stone bridge, we followed a track that paralleled an extremely quiet road.  We tried to stay on the pathway as much as possible, but in some places it was flooded, so for a few kilometres we bounced back and forth between the riverside trail and the adjacent road. 

The scenery around us was spectacular, with fields of wildflowers, herds of grazing cows, and in the distance, snow-covered mountain peaks.  On one side, the forested slopes were littered with truly enormous erratics scattered among the trees. 

Although we thoroughly enjoyed this stretch, it once again felt like we made almost no progress.  Eventually, the arrows directed us to start climbing once again, and we followed a stony dirt track upwards into the meadows.  It felt a bit unnecessary to finish the day with a climb, but the mountain scenery, which could have been from the Swiss Alps, continued to impress.  Soon we came to a tiny village tucked into the side of the mountain, which turned out to be our destination for the night.  

La Calzada de Bejar

At the edge of town, which was only a few short blocks wide, we passed a fenced area with long-haired and shaggy donkeys in it.  After stopping to pet them, we continued on.

Walking into La Calzada de Béjar, we made our way to the centre of town and found a beautiful church standing proudly at its heart. Historically, this was a strategic settlement, lying on the border between the kingdoms of Castile and León. In the 13th century, the region was even central to Moorish defences, giving these quiet streets a weight of history that is easy to sense.

Along the historic main street, we passed homes and shops, many of which had broken balconies and weathered façades. Purportedly, the population here has been dwindling since the 1990s, yet the crumbling buildings feel atmospheric rather than neglected. There is an undeniable charm to the worn stones and faded shutters of this historic street at the centre of the community.

Walking to the edge of town, we found the albergue – outside of which was the same pilgrim whom we had caught going through our backpack, and so we immediately walked on.  Not that it mattered because it was already full for the evening.  As such, we made our way to the local bar at the centre of town and sought out alternative accommodations.  When we arrived, we discovered that the bar offered rooms above it, which was unexpected but convenient.  

The host and hostess were extremely kind, and their daughter spoke English, which helped with the check-in process.  There really wasn't much to explore in the tiny village, so we spent the afternoon sitting in the bar and writing our travel journals.  As time passed, we realized that the same family owned the albergue, the restaurant, one of the Casa Rurals in the town, and also seemed to work at the town hall and community center.  It felt as though this tiny community was being held together by the hard work, determination, and dreams of a single family, and they had put the Camino at the center of their efforts.

    

The bar served a pilgrim menu, and it was the only open establishment in the town, so most of the other pilgrims on the stage came in for dinner at one point or another.  Unusually, the kitchen stayed open all afternoon, the owners willing to feed hungry pilgrims whenever they appeared.  We asked for bocadillos con queso, and were served the largest sandwiches we've ever seen - half a loaf of bread each, some of which we tucked away for lunch tomorrow.  

We go to bed talking about the Camino map we passed earlier today, which shows the route of the Via de la Plata stretching from Merida to Gijon on the northern coast of Spain rather than Santiago de Compostela.  The question of the moment being: do we continue walking to Gijon, making this a coast-to-coast walk across Spain, or do we turn west and make our way to Santiago de Compostela once again?  Both options are tempting, and only time will tell which one we take.

Tonight, we are grateful for the blessings of the day that we have received and the strength to continue our pilgrimage onward.

See you on the Way!