OUR WAY

 13th May 2025

Day 15 - Ledigos to Bercianos del Real Camino

Street art in Sahagún

We both got a good night's sleep. Awake at 5am, we left at 6:10 just as it started to rain. Probably the first to leave from the albergue, we headed out along the Camino which followed the line of the road. At some point today we would have been at the halfway point on our journey to Santiago. Map measurements are so arbitrary—routes change, diversions occur—it's practically impossible to say where the exact halfway point is, but basically it's downhill from here… (if you ignore the 5500m of elevation change between here and Santiago).

San Nicolás del Real Camino was the first coffee stop after about 8km. Coffee more expensive than most glasses of wine Gaby has had… I may need to encourage her to give up coffee and drink more wine. Next stop was Sahagún, 9km further along. First the supermarket for supplies for tomorrow’s breakfast, as there weren't many options to buy anything today. Then Gaby needed the toilet so we went to a bar for a coffee to use their facilities. It makes toilets expensive—although this coffee was much more economical than the last, so maybe Gaby should concentrate on coffee again, not wine. On second thoughts… no wine or coffee, then we could avoid these costly toilet stops as well!

Coffee is never just coffee!

We had tried to make reservations for tonight in Bercianos del Real Camino, but everywhere we called was full. The only option in this situation is the 'Albergue Municipal', which operates on a first-come-first-served basis. We've done this on a number of occasions and never had an issue - we always arrive early just in case.

It’s really simple: when you arrive, you join the queue or make a note of who arrived before you. But for some people, apparently it’s not so simple. Take today, for example. A woman arrived well after us and asked who was last in the queue. We told her she and she could clearly see who was already waiting. When the albergue volunteer opened the front door, they clearly explained that check-in would happen in order of arrival.

The woman then casually slipped into the queue just behind us, saying she wasn’t sure where she was meant to be - effectively pushing in. Once inside, she went straight to the reception desk “just to ask a question,” which she then used as an excuse to be seen before us. She then proceeded to try to check in people who hadn't even arrived yet.

It wasn’t a language issue - she spoke three. I won’t mention her nationality, but let’s just say she knew exactly what she was doing.

We are in a small village, not much action but there's a small shop that should open at 5:30 this afternoon, so will head there later to stock up on food for tomorrow.

Our albergue for tonight

More to follow if something exciting happens this afternoon...

Where we stayed
Albergue Parroquial de Bercianos de Real Camino
€10 bunk bed (donation - pay what you want)
Limited Kitchen. Hand wash, line drying.
Our rating 8/10