I’m sleeping in a truck stop tonight.

It was another long, 28 km hike, but the terrain was gentle and I did most of it before it started getting too hot.

If you read all of the guidebooks, subscribe to all of the forums, and ask experienced peregrinos, the normal advice is to book your lodging about 2 days in advance. This is useful, since you never know how far you are going to get on a given day, and it allows for a certain amount of serendipity.

I was not able to find a bed in Nájera tonight, in spite of starting the process several days ago. I tried booking.com, Expedia, Google, and gronze.com (Spanish only). I even sent a WattsApp message to an albergue that advertised on a fence along the way (everyone outside of the US everyone uses WattsApp instead of SMS).

The Camino is very busy this year.

So I booked a room 5k away in a nearby city–in a truck stop, as it turns out.

I had been concerned about the extra mileage considering the distance of today’s hike, but in the morning my phone’s GPS told me I could make it in 5 hours. A relatively short day on the Camino.

Along the way, I walked with an Australian guy named Mick. He asked me if I needed a bed in town. His group had booked 8 beds in an albergue that held 9.

I said no thank you, I had booked a room out of town that was actually closer than I thought.

But the next time I checked my GPS, it was 8 hours away, not 5. It had been directing me to the wrong town, in the opposite direction. It was not the first or last time this would happen.

Lesson 1: If someone offers you something you need, take it. These people are called “Camino Angels,” for good reason.

I made it into Nájera at 2:45, right before everything closed for siesta. I bought the last soggy bocadillo in a cafe and asked about a local taxi service.

The number on the card repeatedly went to voicemail, but the website on the card listed a completely different number (ah, Spain). The fellow said he could pick me up, but it would be 40 minutes. I said okay.

5 minutes later, he pulled up, with another passenger in the car. Asked me if I wanted to ride with him to his next stop. A few minutes later, we were inexplicably at the truck stop (ah, Spain).

Lesson 2: You can probably always get a taxi, even in small villages. It is not cheap, but people need to make a living. I will need this insight several more times on the Camino.

My room at the truck stop was actually completely acceptable, and relatively quiet. I’ll need to find a way back to the Camino in the morning. I asked the driver if he could give me another ride tomorrow, but he said 7:30 was too early. (Spain).

Lesson 3: Pilgrim time is different from Spanish time.

I’ll work something out in the morning. Only 20k tomorrow.

Dinner at the truck stop wasn’t bad. The calamari was only so-so, but the sausage soup was excellent.