Day. 11: Santo Domingo to Belorado

Santo Domingo offered this pilgrim a wonderful experience of a kind, unhurried city. A shout from a Brit friend on a balcony three stories up alerted me to the Corregidor Hotel, a famous backpackers hotel right on the narrow street to the church. I couldn't resist the idea of my own bathroom, fresh towels, and private room! For 30 euro!

Crossing Rio Oja out of Santo Domingo.   

After a luxurious bath in a tub where I actually could stretch completely out inside, I went out for homemade pasta and a beer. Outdoor cafes are everywhere and I enjoyed the time watching elders stroll arm-in-arm, parents walking their children home from school, and fellow pilgrims laughing over stories of the day.

Restored to life in Santo Domingo!  

You can look up the legend of the chickens of Santo Domingo yourself, but the tradition of regenerative kindness is real in this city. It is true for all of the Camino for me. The power of a kind word, the offer to carry a heavy pack up three flights of stairs, a free Coca-Cola passed across tables at a cafe to a tired pilgrim - this is my experience on the Camino. Boundless kindness and hospitality. There is no fear of the stranger. There are, quite simply, no strangers. All are family.

Endless wheat.    

The next morning I hiked across the Rio Oja back into the tablelands of wheat and bright fields of snow pea. I passed through the last of La Rojia into the next autonomous region of Castillo Y Leon. Like the Basque Country there is a new language to learn (Spain has four official languages!) I had to consult my Google Translation app to learn Catalan for Good Morning ( Bon Dia!) and Thank You (Gracies).

Welcome to Castille y Leon!

The terraced hills show more exposed rock and I notice hints of caves and canyons. This is getting exciting now. I'm coming into country that I've read a lot about - where our own ancient human origins are even now being discovered. The tablelands and their endless fields of wheat begin to show their roots.

Catalan color and mud and stone architecture.  

I caught up with some of my original Camino family from SJPP!  Bob, Marie, and Claire from Vermont made for excellent hiking partners all the way to our night's rest in the cliff-town of Belorado. We met a Camino dog who stole our hearts with his clever game of catch.

Camino dog!   

Belorado is a stunning town. It dates to Roman times, BC, yet it is vibrant, magical, happy, and full of fun. You can go to YouTube to find some of the traditional dances held here. The church and Hermitage are built into the cliffs, and caves - some used by early hominids tens of thousands of years ago - are easily hiked up to.

Storks nest on the bell tower of the cliff-built church.  

Hermitage from 11th century. 

Cave country! 

Medieval castle ruins - Moors and Christians battled here. 

Gilded retablo of the church. 

Belorado plaza with grafted sycamore arbor.

Now I'm coming into country I really want to slow down for. The area has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its spectacular paleolithic and paleontology digs. I'll take the next few days a little slower, reading the landscape more closely as I approach Burgos. I love geology, archeology, and paleontology, and I'm a great reader of human evolutionary science. Between the great birding and ancient landscape, I plan to take it all in before my rest day in the city and a visit to the Museum of Human Evolution in a few days!

My thoughts for the day:
Many pilgrims report that after the pain of the first hundred miles, they begin to talk to things like animals, trees, rocks, and clouds. I always talk to these things when I hike. It's nice to know I'm not alone! I said Buenos Dias to a sheep today. She had a bell around her neck and her shepherd with his very big dog waited politely at the crest of a hill for our conversation to end. She looked into my eyes and seemed to say "How nice of you to stop, pilgrim!" She gave her bell a shake. The shepherd waved to me, I waved back, and the sheep ambled back to her flock.

I know of a pilgrim far ahead of me, maybe finished by now, who has been talking to trees.  "I can hear their conversation in the wind, " he wrote on his FB page.  Only his non-hiking friends left teasing comments, but his Camino friends responded with agreement.

"Wait for me," said St. Francis on his pilgrimage, " I must go preach to my sisters, the birds." For me, it is the birds each morning who sing up the sun. "I've never heard birds like this before, " said a hiking friend today.