Day 17: Second to Last day on the Camino Catalan

Date	Jun 8th ( Thursday )

Today's Distance:	13 miles / 20 km
Burajaloz to Venta de Santa Lucia Stats	Route Video
Total This Camino:	183 miles
Total 2023 Caminos:	183 miles
Total All Caminos:	1918 miles
Lodging:	$ 50 @ Hostel Monegros III
Total Lodging:	$ 873
Planes:	$ 1350
Total Planes:	$ 1350
Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$ 25 Venta de Santa Lucia to Bujaralos
Total Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$ 0 / 30 / 117 = 132
Food:	$
Total Food:	$ 355

Meaningful Moment

Hiking the Los Monegros desert.

The area is prone to chronic droughts, and much of the area is a natural region made up of badlands.

Deb and I spent 5 days hiking through the area.

Random Thoughts of the Day

Recommendations on thru-hiking Los Monegros

Break up the Fraga to Bujaraloz stage. Use a taxi from Candaznos back to Fraga and the next morning to return to Candaznos.
Break up the stage from Burajaloz to Pina de Ebro into two stages. Use a taxi from Venta de Santa Lucia back to Burajaloz and the next morning to return to Venta de Santa Lucia.
Carry lots of hydration.
Use sun block. There is almost no shade cover.
Use Google maps to zoom into towns to find lodging, e.g. Los Monegros III is not on booking.com but had rooms while the lodgings listed on booking.com were full.
Fraga had an albergue but it is not listed anywhere that I could find. Call the town governments the night before.
Some knowledge of Spanish will make everything easier.

On the Road / Notable memories

Beautiful day for hiking again. Mostly cloud covered to keep the temperatures down. Light sprinkle at the end. Hard to believe tomorrow is the last day on the Camino Catalan.

The entire day was along the national N-II highway

Starting the day, having a coffee, in the hostel bar with the server lady.

She is Venezuelan and has lived here 15 years now. She made her way to Bujaraloz after Madrid, Barcelona and Zaragosa.

She is raising her sons here with her husband. We talked about leaving the homeland, seeing the world and the experiences of new vistas.

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