I started walking at about 7am, half an hour before sunrise. I immediately learned how easy it was to miss the way markers, which in their simplest form are a yellow arrow on a wall, a fence or the road. They can also be a stone pillar and in towns are sometimes seen as a stainless steel circle embedded in a pavement, contains the shell symbol and more.

So having overlooked the left turn as I headed out of Uterga I had to turn around and come back, find the overlooked yellow arrow (quite obvious) and then set out along the gravel path. But that wasn’t enough. I then missed a right turn several hundred metres down the track. Fortunately another walker who had done the same thing, had realised his mistake and was walking towards me. This again required a backtrack of several hundred metres. The early start was hardly of any use now. Maybe I’m depending on others too much?

After leaving the Cirauqui area I was aiming to end my walk at Lorca and after a long climb uphill to Lorca I was certainly ready to stop. But the only albergue had no vacancies. A French couple were sitting next to the alburgue and told me they had already called a taxi to take them 4km to the next place, Villatuerta. They offered to take me too, which was very welcome at that stage. So it was Villatuerta I stayed that night. A great meal in good company. A room of four beds and the night was very quiet.