Day 18: Prison Break | Murray Morrison

This is a monster post so strap in.

The meseta has thrown a lot at us. But we had never seen anything like this before. Our albergue tried to keep pilgrims from doing the only thing we know: walking. This morning as we attempted to head out into the streets of Leon, we were stopped in our steps at a locked albergue door. We tried to open it any way we could, and even our Korean friend who did not seem to trust our attempts started trying the door right after us. Of course, he had no more success than us. We then heard that the only exit to the albergue would be unlocked at 6:30. It was currently 5:45. There was no thought to sit idle for 45 minutes. We immediately searched for an escape from this prison-like alburgue.  A high-end hotel is next to the albergue, and so we squeezed through a nook in the fence to get to the hotel’s back patio. Then we walked inside to escape from the front.

The albergue had considered this route.  It too was locked.

We then spot the hotel elevator and think perhaps there is a basement emergency exit. This, being an emergency, seemed applicable to us.

We hop in and head down but ended up at the backdoor entrance four steps below the front door.  We were back where we had entered the hotel.

We were in a bad dream. Then there were footsteps headed our way. This was the end. The albergue police were coming to take us back to prison.

Instead, it was the hotel manager. Because we came from the elevator he thought we had stayed at his hotel, so he gladly unlocked the front door and allowed us to flee. If he had realized that we had stayed at the albergue, he may have sent us back to prison where we belonged.

But we escaped.  We hoped that our other albergue prisoners saw our escape route.  There was no turning back.  We were too afraid to look back out of fear the sirens would go off and they call the dawgs on us.  We are afraid our Korean friend may not have been so lucky, as he tried to follow us on our escape plan. He may still be in the albergue. RIP.

After our prison break, we had a great day. After a while, I started reading in my guidebook about a shortcut that would shave 5 km off our walk. The book described this as “much less scenic.” We did not plan on having a scenic day anyways.

After weighing the costs and benefits at breakfast, we decided on the shorter but less scenic route. Our tired legs shouted for joy at this decision. The part about the less scenic route that our book did not warn us about was the stench of animal dung that was not only potent but also consistent for a solid 8 km.  Also, St. James went the 5 km shorter way.  He did not need said “scenery.”

We arrived a little earlier than normal in San Martin after a steady 25 km. Tomorrow, we plan on finally leaving the meseta, but he may have other ideas like he did this morning. We can feel his power dwindling.

Here's a pic of us last night. Not many "pretty" pics today.