When you walk the Camino you will inevitably pick up more and more chatter about the most notorious portion of the journey as you approach Burgos.   This section of the path is called “The Meseta”, an arid high elevation plain which stretches over 100 kilometers between Burgos and León,  with long stretches  of isolation.    Picture the rolling wheat fields of Eastern Washington between Moses Lake and  Ritzville with several medieval Spanish hamlets sprinkled in between, and crumbling Knights Templar Castles and Chapels (to protect defenseless pilgrims) dotting the landscape.

On my way out of Burgos on I snapped a final selfie in front of the impressive gothic cathedral, and reflected on my previous 24 hours in the city. For my money the best part of cathedral tour was the Cloisters, and specifically the optical spectacle of the sun splashed stain glassed windows reflecting off the limestone floors of the Cloisters.  I enjoyed dinner on Thursday night with my new French friend Dominique  Leblanc,  who is walking the Camino as payback to God whom blessed him with a successful double lung transplant last fall.  Dominique slowed down ascending hills due to his constrained lung capacity, but his stamina was incredible and he routinely pulled ahead of me in the flat sections.

5 kms outside of Burgos the landscape opened up, and the horizon started melting off, deeper in the distance. The ground hardened under my feet, temps started rising and for the first time in two weeks, heat became a factor to contend with on the Camino. On Thursday the 19th I walked 32 KMs to Hontanas, a sleepy pilgrim village tucked into a fold of the Meseta.  In the afternoon I ran into Chika Ishida from Japan, a spunky 28 year old ice climber who was carrying an unbelievable 17 Kgs. On her back!   I practiced my Japanese with Chika and learned her nickname was Saba-Chan i.e. mackeral girl! On the way out of town the next morning a German friend took this photo next to an old farmhouse with a great mural summarizing the geographic location of Hontanas relative to Santiago. At this point I was two weeks in and 278 miles to Santiago

The Camino ascended outside of Hontanas and with the rising sun on my back I was struck by the desolate beauty of the Meseta, and how the path more closely resembled the stony paths of Crete which I had so enjoyed earlier in my travels.  I like warm, arid hiking terrain with wide open vistas!

I think it’s the constant unexpected and pleasing  human interactions that is the great hallmark of the Camino.   You never know what is around the corner, whom you will meet and how your heart will be impacted.  5.5 KMs past Hontanas,  I walked past the ruins of the San Anton Convent and picked up the sound of classic American Jazz from the 50s reverberating off the Convent’s crumbling limestone walls. Tucked away in a small, pop-up road side cafe I met Angel, a quick witted Spaniard who mixed his coffee dark – just how I like it.  We had a great conversation and he told me though his business was modest his heart was complete taking care of passing pilgrims every day, offering them a place to rest and regain their strength.

Later that morning as I was walking through the medieval hamlet of Castrojeriz I spied a small mercado on the right, which had classy look about it so I pulled off the Camino in search of refreshments.  Inside the store I met Mauricio, propietor of the Casa de Silencio (House of Silence).  Mauricio had a mystical air about him, and he asked me, “Hey peregrino what is your hurry?”  That stopped me in my tracks and I told him I am in no hurry,  I am just taking my Camino one day at a time.  We had a nice 30 minute chat, and he told me to embrace the present moment and don’t let the “kilometer god” distract you from the power of the journey.  I liked his words and I liked his hand woven attire  – utter simplicity.  We parted ways and I made my way out of town and back out onto the high plains of the glorious and desolate Meseta.