Day 11 of walking the full Camino de Santiago led us out of the La Rioja region and to Castille y Leon. Our overnight stay was in Belorado which sounded like a name taken from the American mid-west. Despite its name, Belorado proved to be a charming town with a touch of quirkiness. An episode later that evening gave us a small dose of a mid-western town spirit. More on that further down the page.
Day 12 took us on a steeper ascent up Montes de Oca to the pretty hamlet of San Juan de Ortega of 18 inhabitants.
Day 11 – Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado
The walk to Belorado was short and mainly on flat terrain. There were several steep hills but we didn’t need our hiking poles which we left folded in our backpacks.
With high temperatures predicted many of our fellow guests had left early. We enjoyed a light breakfast of coffee, orange juice and croissants before leaving at 7 am.
We left the vineyards behind and were amongst sunflower and wheat fields surrounded by a landscape of rolling hills. A steady stream of villages made the walk seem shorter than the 23km.
Granon
Climbing the hill to enter Granon via the stairs, we found many pilgrims who had left early had stopped at the cafes at the town’s entrance for breakfast. Instead, we continued through the quiet streets to make our first stop at one of the other towns at the 2.5-hour mark. Granon’s highlight is the incredible vista of sunflower and wheat fields from the viewing platform at the other end of the town. The Camino de Santiago pathway leads through the fields.
Redecilla del Camino
Redecilla del Camino is a small village with a population of 112, our guidebook advises. Iglesia de la Virgen de la Calle where we stamped our passports is a highlight.
Castildelgado
The tiny village of Castildelgado was our rest stop. We rested on a bench near the Ermita de Santa Maria del Campo in the pretty Plaza Mayor. Next door is a 16th-century church, San Pedro. It was a pleasant stop where we could eat our morning tea and take our hiking shoes off to let our feet breathe. Fellow hiker Martin and his walking partner for the day were seated on another shaded bench across the plaza.
Viloria de Rioja
Santo Domingo de la Calzada was born in Viloria de Rioja in the early 11th century making this little village a popular rest stop for pilgrims.
We rounded the corner finding the small monument to Santo Domingo standing by the Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion. Pilgrims take a break under the shade of the tree by the church.
Continuing, a scenic trail took us to Villamayor de Rioja where we stopped for a rest and cold drink. Martin and his Korean walking companion had stopped for a rest too. Our walking patterns find us tag-teaming with them. Sometimes they would pass us before we would catch up and overtake them again. This continued until we arrived at our accommodation in Belorado. The young Korean continued into the town to find his albergue.
Belorado
As usual, we chose to walk a little further into the Belorado township to find a spot for lunch before checking into the hotel. Pilgrims enter the town along a path through the back end of the Belorado. The walk to the Plaza Major takes us along some pretty streets arriving at an equally pretty square with a cluster of trees in the centre with a rotunda and bench seats. On the far side of the Plaza is an arcaded building, the tourist office is in another corner, and the Iglesia de San Pedro is on one side.
Except for the few pilgrims sitting at the only open cafe (Etoile), the plaza is empty. It’s hot and windy.
Our salad which we share for lunch is substantial and eaten accompanied by the loud conversation of some young American pilgrims who are hanging out at the cafe on their rest day.
An afternoon in Belorado
We returned to Plaza Mayor later in the afternoon to find the streets still empty and nothing open. A hot breeze continued to swirl in the square. It was still siesta time so we found a seat in the shade to write in our journals,
Still early in the evening, we walked down the side streets to find a bar to enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail. The only bar open was in a small side alley with a local heavily under the influence sitting outside causing a raucous. The heated argument between the bartender and drunkard with a shootout imminent was our queue to leave.
We wandered back to our hotel along Paseo del Animo, where bronze-tiled hands and footprints recognised local and prominent pilgrims who had passed the town. Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez stayed in Belorado while filming “The Way”, a movie based on the Camino de Santiago.
A pleasant hour was passed in our hotel’s lounge enjoying a glass of wine.
Our accommodation
Casa Rural Verdeancho was our accommodation for the night. It is a beautifully restored stone building run by Elsa and her husband who happily oblige their guests’ needs. Breakfast was provided at the hotel and our dinner venue was the Albergue Cuatro Cantones where many other pilgrims from the day’s trek including a happy group of Taiwanese stayed. The meal was delicious and plentiful served by an attentive Moldovian waitress.
The highlights of the day
- On the outskirts of Santo Domingo de la Calzada a man in a blue singlet wearing only a crossbody bag walked ahead of us on the Camino trail. He looked like a local taking a morning walk and not a pilgrim. We passed him as he stood on a bridge for a rest. Somehow we came across him again in Villamayor de Rioja. We watched him down a cold beer at a roadside bar before striding briskly ahead of us into Belorado.
- We pass jovial “Miss Austria” on a roadside path. She joyfully greeted everyone including some Pakistani traffic controllers manning roadworks. While this was our first but not last encounter with her, we never had the opportunity to talk with her or to find out her name. However, she always seemed happy and boisterous.
- Walking into Belorado, we caught up with the injured Canadian from the day before. Electing to limp slowly onwards with earlier starts she remained in high spirits.
Walking statistics
- 23km
- 5 hours including rest breaks
Day 12 – Belorado to San Juan de Ortega
We heard our fellow guests leaving before daylight. A few familiar faces from Santo Domingo de la Calzada had also stayed at our hotel overnight: British Martin; the young man who had been chatting on a video call over dinner; and surprisingly the lady whom we had not considered a pilgrim.
There was only one other guest having breakfast when we went downstairs. This French lady recounted her three weeks walking part of the Camino. Her parents had come to meet her in Belorado to spend a few days exploring the area. She conversed comfortably in fluent Spanish with our hosts.
We admired the street art as we walked through the quiet streets and out of town. It was not long before we were back walking amid vibrant sunflower fields.
Tosantos
Within a short time, we arrived in the small township of Tosantos where a young man, earbuds in his ears and wearing walking clothes with business shoes briskly overtook us. Maybe he was walking to work. There was very little but fields in sight.
Outside Tosantos, the trail became a pleasant undulating path meandering up and down amongst rolling fields. We enjoyed our surroundings so much that we almost missed the Ermita Virgen de la Pena and the caves built into the sandstone cliffs.
Villafranco Montes de Oca
The path gently inclined and declined towards Villafranco Montes de Oca where we planned to take a rest break.
We noticed the young man from our hotel in Santo Domingo de la Calzada with his walking companion stopped at the bottom of a rise. He looked like he had injured himself with his companion rubbing cream on his calf. They reassured us that he was fine when we stopped to check if he was okay.
A tree-lined path ran parallel to a busy road. It took us over two small wooden bridges and led us to Villafranco Montes de Oca, where many pilgrims had stopped at a roadside café. This is the last town offering provisions before San Juan de la Ortega.
Further up the road, we bought fruit at a convenience store selling fruit and took it to a shaded bench overlooking the Iglesia de Santiago and the township.
Across the road from our rest spot was the pilgrim’s hospital, Hospital de la Reina. The hospital was originally built in 1377. In 2009, a local pilgrim who had passed the hostel on their pilgrimage returned afterwards to complete a restoration and reopen it.
The long climb up Montes de Oca
After resting we were prepared for the steep climb on gravel and rocky stone trails out of town and up to the Montes de Oca. However, the surroundings were a treat as we entered shaded wood forests lined with violet wildflowers. The highlight of numerous butterflies fluttering around us keeps us entertained during the long and monotonous phase of walking along a trail surrounded by pine trees.
Upon descending through the forest we arrived at the Monumento de los Caidos where we joined a group of cyclists paying their respects at the mass grave of victims of the Spanish Civil War. The trail climbed again into a forest and not too much later the San Juan de Ortega bell tower appeared as we emerged over a slight hill.
San Juan de Ortega
San Juan de Ortega is a quiet little town named after Juan Valazquez, a Santo Domingo de la Calzada student who set up this little village. Life for the 20 full-time residents centres around the church, monastery, and the pilgrims who pass through. There’s an Albergue within the monastery and a rural inn a few metres away where we stayed overnight.
We lunch at Bar Marcelo which the proprietor of our inn owns. Familiar faces (Martin, the English lady, Deb, and Miss Austria amongst a few) were lunching there too. We stopped to say hello before checking in and completing our arrival routine.
Exploring San Juan de Ortega
Rested and relaxed, we explored the church complex: Iglesia de San Nicolas de Bari and the monastery coming across Hanan, one of the French youngsters we had met two days earlier. She sat in the courtyard sketching the beautiful buildings while waiting for her walking companions. They were carrying provisions and she was looking forward to them arriving soon.
There’s not much else to do in the town. We checked out the only other dining option. Their only meal option is pre-made boxed pizza, which they heat. We agreed to dine at Bar Marcelo and enjoy pre-dinner wine at the small bar/pizzeria.
At the inn, we discovered Martin was in the room next door, had done his washing, and hung it out to dry on the balcony. We had done the same earlier. Blisters are a constant worry for pilgrims and Martin is no exception. He voices his concerns about sore feet and is meticulous about wearing fresh socks whenever possible.
Our accommodation
Our accommodation for the night was the Rural Hotel La Henera. The rooms were simple but comfortable and our room on the ground floor had a balcony looking out to the monastery complex.
We dined at Bar Marcelo on a simple but tasty meal of omelettes, breads and salads before retiring to our hotel with our ice creams. We had initially thought to enjoy our dessert outside overlooking the complex but the temperature had plummeted so quickly that we retired to our hotel.
The highlights of the day
- As the days on the Camino pass, we begin to appreciate the simple things. When we started our day, dark clouds loomed and it looked like it might rain. The clouds cleared and we were blessed with beautiful clear skies when we arrived in San Juan de Ortega.
- Midway between Villafranco Montes de Oca and San Juan de Ortega on the forest path we heard the music well before we came across a a vendor selling snacks and beverages. A surprise! The delightful and lively atmosphere was a welcome sight on the neverending path.
- There was something comforting about seeing and striking up brief conversations with the many now familiar faces of pilgrims in San Juan de Ortega.
Walking statistics
- 24.5km
- 5 hours 15 minutes including rest breaks
Thinking about walking the full Camino de Santiago
If you’re thinking about walking the full Camino de Santiago or sections of the pilgrimage from Saint Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela, read our daily accounts starting from Day 1.
If you’re contemplating walking the Camino de Santiago and want to know more about what it entails, check out our post on everything you need to know about walking and how to prepare for the Camino.
Buen Camino!
