But I kept walking! It seems they weren’t waterproof after all. After the storms they were sodden so I hung them from my pack to dry and wore my hiking sandals instead. These run a very close second in the ugliness stakes. I was thinking about how clever this whole backpacking thing is if you do it right. Most things can actually have more than one use. My pack carries my clothes and doubles as a traveling clothes line for wet things. My buff (this is the ‘headscarf ‘ you see me wearing in some photos) can be used as a hand warmer, a night mask (to shield eyes from dormitory lights and keep your earplugs in place!), and a thing to keep an ice pack around an ankle! Safety pins make great clothes pegs. I’m loving the novelty of it all. The walk from Tosantos to Arges and Arges to Burgos was quite pretty. Some steep bits but the hills somehow seem and feel easier (seems you were right John Briscoe!). Beautiful fields of bright yellow (canola?) and wheat, still green, as far as the eye can see. The sun shone and skies were clear and azure.

About half way between Tosantos and Ages we found an ‘oasis’ of colourful totem poles. An entrepreneurial mum with kids, dog and cat in tow set up a refreshment station here, funded by donations.

We stopped for the night in the quaint hamlet of Ages. I found a donkey. I later discovered it belonged to another pilgrim who was doing the Camino camping with his mule!

Speaking with friends in Ages we heard about a traveling monk doing his Camino in his monk outfit. I saw him the next day…seems he was injured and getting help from a fellow pilgrim. We followed the waterside route into Burgos. It was lovely (much better than following the road, I’m told) but it seemed to go on forever. I may have written about this phenomenon previously, but the first 7km of the day pass easily and quickly. The last 3 km of the day are interminable and seem to last hours. It doesn’t matter how many kms you’ve done in the day, this always happens!  Some photos on our approach into Burgos. Tomorrow is a rest day. Yay! PS today’s miracle – This is day 14, and we have passed the 300km mark.