I slept well in Fonfria but the rest of the Albergue was annoyed by the big man sleeping under me who snored the whole time. He didn’t bug me, I found it rhythmic enough to be soothing. I guess I’m getting used to this crazy life. Suzy also had an ongoing battle over the window throughout the night. It was very hot in the room and in the upper bunks even hotter so she was fighting for our oxygen. I felt a little racy as I took off my Smartwool sweater and slept in my bra and silk sleep sack. It was so damn hot.
I felt less risqué the next morning when all the ladies were running around in only tshirts and panties. In the bathroom there were only two sinks. While I brushed my teeth I was amazed to see a woman in her underwear and tshirt suddenlt take off the tshirt. Bare breasted she proceeded to use the other sink to wash her armpits splashing around like a bird in a birdbath. I was a little overwhelmed and confused as to why she wouldn’t use the shower.
I should have eaten breakfast but I was working on my blog over coffee and luckily ate a banana. I figured we would stop soon. We walked past very pretty hills with tons of running water streaming through the moss and down the hills. We were up so early that the fog hadn’t burned off yet and we were in the sun above the clouds. We were lucky since it was only 35 F, and no rain or snow thankfully.
We peeked into a cowbarn and saw a baby cow eating breakfast from his momma cow’s udder. After Tricastela there was not much to see. Cowtown after cowtown after cowtown. Occasionally there would be a sheep or rooster. We never saw a cafe or bar. We just kept going. There was a long climb with some wet muck and stones to navigate and we took some time to watch a bossy cow in the field making the other cows get up from where they were resting, just because she could.
We wound up again on a paved road and past more of the heather fields of purple which contrasted the gorgeous spring green of the tree leaves that had just burst out.
Of course what goes up must come down so then began our steep descent. Very steep. Rocky in places and very long. We wound through more towns and saw a cute donativo site to grab a snack but really wanted our lunch stop so we kept going. My stomach was growling. I took photos of livestock to distract myself.
After many hours of this we approached Furula, As we walked toward the highway Suzy noticed an Albergue with tables outside but I suggested that the first one is not always best so we should go on. My heart dropped as we approached yet another cow town. Literally nothing but cows. I stayed back five paces because I really figured this might be it. For four weeks we have had utter patience with each other but if Suzy wanted to get mad, this was her chance! And Jackson (her walking stick) is long. But as I caught up to her she wasn’t mad and didn’t want to punch me in the face. So we kept going.
Finally we found a little bar with decent food but there was no time for photos we just needed to eat. It was fine nothing to write about sadly. We’d walked 12.5 miles in five hours without a break.
We headed on again and met up with some men from Canada and Nova Scotia, they walked fast but they’d been on the alternate route, our more direct and steep route was shorter but harder. They walked so fast that before we knew it we hit Sarria and went up the long set of steps and steep climb to reach our Albergue Magdalena in the Monastery.
The place was really empty when we got there and Julio the hospitalero was very helpful and friendly. The place was immaculately clean and we started some laundry and grabbed a bottle of wine from their little store.
We showered up and Julio told us that there was a supermarket two blocks away, well it was two blocks from the BOTTOM of the hill, but it was a big one and had everything we could need. We stocked up on food, cheese, meats and bought a half kilo of gambas for dinner.
Back at the Albergue we settled in to have our meal and a large group from a school was arriving to have their meal. They were about 14 years old and heading on the Camino as part of a class for credit. There were two men cooking chorizos and soup with fideos and hey doled these out to the kids who all had their own plates, cups and forks to eat with.
It was so fun to watch the mayhem of all these kids. Many spoke English as well. After they retired we snuck upstairs to get the guitar and play a few songs for Julio and then happily fed we headed to bed. It was a lot of commotion, many more people than we’d seen in a long time. There were also new pilgrims arriving with clean boots and tight pants unlike the clothes hanging off of us. They’re bright and eager and full of adrenaline. I wouldn’t call us weary, but perhaps we are a bit jaded and a little miffed that they’re in our space suddenly.
At lunch today we discussed our next move. We are hungry pilgrims! Both physically and mentally. We are vying for another big move tomorrow… we want to get there. We see our goal in sight and want it so badly. Hungry.
RebeccaChapa.com 