Up with the larks...

It is 5.30 in the morning and I am awake after rousing from an early night and having caught up with my blog in the confines of my sleeping bag. As I am restless I go downstairs to walk around in the courtyard in the peace of the morning and make use of the coffee machine only to find the spartan, stone entrance hall bustling with people preparing to leave. I ask one of them where he is headed today. 'Burgos' he tells me. But it’s still dark outside and it’s less than six hours walk I tell him. He looks at me as if I am mad.

These are the early leavers, of which there seem to be many (as I sit and write this in the entrance hall even more are clattering in with rucksacks and poles and chattering away). I have not been able to work out why these people do this. For me, as I wrote earlier, this trip is about the journey - the views, the experiences en route, the time spent with people - and early morning departures seem to be all about getting to the next place as early as possible. At first I thought maybe it was about ensuring accommodation in places with limited numbers but as the albergues and pensions do not tend to open their doors until after lunch I guess this can not be the case. Maybe in the next four weeks all will become clear, maybe it will remain mystery for me.  But I guess to each their own Camino.