Camino Ignaciano: Alagon to Monzalbarba (Day 9)

Day 9: Alagon to Monzalbarba

Stage 7 of the Camino

From our hotel in Zaragoza, we rode back to Alagon where we stopped walking the previous day. For this day, we were to resume walking along the River Ebro's path, going through small towns and finally ending up in Monzalbarba, a town near Zaragoza. 

Clear skies and open fields in Torre de Berrellen

The scenery along the way was mostly wide open plains with occasional cornfields and rocky mountains in the distance. The weather was bright and sunny, with no shade in sight! We first passed through the town of Torre De Berrellen, quite a small town with a little more than a thousand inhabitants, and continued on to Sobradiel. 

Sobradiel was a small town which struck me as quiet but well-developed. Its buildings were well-maintained and the surroundings were clean. The streets were paved and lined with trees, but they were eerily silent and exuded a sleepy feel. Hardly anyone was in sight! 

I soon found our bus and joined my companions for a short snack of -- what else? -- pintxos and cafe con leche. Afterwards, I went to the city hall where I got my pilgrim stamp, and then headed off alone to the next stop of Utebo, since the other pilgrims no longer wanted to walk. 

From the city hall, our guide gave me these instructions, "Go straight along this street . When you reach the end of town, turn right and then turn left. Remember to go against the yellow arrow (of the Camino Santiago)." It sounded simple enough, so off I went. 

Right beside the City Hall was the Church of Santiago, another fine architecture in Sobradiel. 

I reached the end of town and turned right. Along a ledge, I saw the yellow arrow pointing the other way and thought that I must be in the right direction. After about 50 meters, the street I was in eventually led to a dirt road -- or should I say, it led to nowhere?!? The scene in front of me was dusty and unpaved land that led to cornfields. There was a fork not far from where I stood, but when I looked left, it seemed to lead to a construction site. There was a massive excavator digging up the ground and dust was flying everywhere. Surely that wasn't the path of the camino! 

I called up our guide, but despite his instructions, it was hard to be sure if we were talking about the same intersection and the same place! I was retracing my steps back to the city hall when I saw Dit coming towards my direction. I was so glad to see her! 

She had received the same instructions! We trudged along, passing the "construction" site and tried the next fork and turned left. We followed a dirt road and found ourselves in the middle of a cornfield! The corn stalks were taller than we were and they completely hid us from view. I was reminded of stories of massacres in the Philippines with murdered victims found in the talahiban. We were clearly lost. 

We trudged back to the intersection and headed right instead. There were buildings in the distance in this direction. I was thinking that we seemed to be heading back to Sobradiel, but in the absence of any other town in sight, it was our best option. 

Long story short, we found ourselves back in Sobradiel -- this time, in the sleepy streets of town away from the plaza where the bus used to be. We saw an open bar and I suggested to Dit that we seek help there. We were welcomed by a Spanish lady who spoke no English. I requested her to speak with our guide on the phone. And the verdict? We were to stay in the bar until German (our guide) came to pick us up and bring us straight to Utebo. 

It was good to be inside, drinking a glass of cold water and enjoying time away from the sun. The Spanish lady chatted with me. Somehow she understood that we were on a camino. We stood by the huge map of Spain posted on the wall and I pointed to her our path from Loyola to Manresa. 

After a few minutes, German called and needed further directions. The Spanish lady was gone and in her place, an old gentleman was manning the bar. The old man got increasingly irritated at German when latter couldn't understand his directions. He kept shouting, "Tonto! Tonto!" Even if I couldn't speak Spanish, I knew what that word meant. Poor German! 

We got the phone back and stepped outside, away from the old man's ire. A muscular man of medium built was seated at one of the tables and witnessed our dilemma. He suddenly called out in English, "Do you need help?" Dit and I were so glad to hear him speak English. We requested him to talk to German and finally, directions to the bar were provided. 

We chatted with this guy. He saw our backpacks and walking sticks and asked if we were on a camino. He shared that he had just finished the Camino Santiago a few months back, walking the whole way for 40+ days. We had our picture taken with him and asked for his name. He said his name was Jesus! I don't know if he was pulling our leg, but he was definitely an angel who saved us from being lost at that time. 

German finally came after about 20 minutes. He brought us to the next stop and we were thankfully  still able to walk from Utebo to Monzalbarba without any incident. 

Postscript: 

What an amazing tool Google Maps is! I'm using the street view and suddenly, I'm back to that fork in the road in Sobradiel! 

Screen captured from Google Maps: Where we got lost in Sobradiel

Looking at Google Maps now, I realize that the instructions were correct. But somehow, I don't recognize the second intersection where we were supposed to turn left. I remember seeing dirt all over. Perhaps some construction was going on at that time.

Oh well, you know what they say -- One's Camino is never complete without the experience of getting lost!