Day 5 – Uterga to Villatuerta

31 km ~ 44,884 steps

Song of the Day: Castle on the Hill – Ed Sheeran

Some Camino days are worse than others ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Welcome to our worst day thus far.

We were off to a resounding start today…probably should have taken the hint when I struggled to open the albergue door and gone back to bed. Instead, I persevered and set out at 4:30 am under the cover of darkness to beat the heat for Maverick. Though the stars out here in the middle of nowhere sure are pretty, they don’t exactly light the way well. I missed a turn I was supposed to take and ended up lost in endless wheat fields in the pitch dark while Maverick chased after bugs, oblivious to my distress. Once we finally found our way back to the trail I was just not in the right mindset and so this became what was almost a never-ending day.

The famous Puente la Reina which gives its name to the town as well

The trail twisted up and down, past the legendary Puente la Reina built by the Queen of Spain for pilgrims to cross the Arga River. Up through villages that sit on hilltops that you see as you wind your way towards them through vineyards and fields. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t spending most of my day crying from a mix of lack of sleep, lack of nutrition, lack of cleanliness. Some parts of our day were even spent walking over ancient Roman roads still partially intact.

Walking through vineyards on the way into Cirauqui, a beautiful hilltop town
Passing through one of the adorable hilltop towns along this stage
Sections of this trail, here in particular, had been built by Romans centuries ago and are still used today

Finally, we stumbled our way to Villatuerta where the kind man running the albergue made an exception and let Maverick and I stay the night. (Thank goodness because there were literally no other pilgrims staying there…) Luckily, our friends Margie and Trish arrived an hour or so after us and the three of us were the only three in the whole albergue.