Long day today. Needs an early start. We were up at 5:00am and out the door at 6:00am. Becky got up at the same time we did but wasn’t ready to go at 6:00. She left some time after we did.
The trail led out of town quickly and again was up and down. Up over a slight rise then down to a creek at the bottom then up over a slight rise then down to the next creek. Lots of stone walls lining the path which is now universally about as wide as a one lane road and generally surfaced in tan gravel. Becky caught up and walked with Sally. At some point we connected with Rosie of New Zealand and the three of them walked together. I tried to give the ladies some space and walked a bit ahead, listening to Cryptonomicon on my earbuds.
We stopped at a number of “red chairs” during the day for Cokes or beers. Becky didn’t stop at one and moved ahead, arriving at our hostel an hour or so before we did.
The forecast was for rain and we had been lucky all day. We got to the hostel. It was the same one we used in 2019 and the weather conditions were identical. Large dark clouds looming overhead. We registered, we’re assigned our room (#1 on the first floor) and then the lightning and the thunder began along driving rain. This was an exact repeat of 2019, nearly to the minute. The lightning caused the power to go off (why?) three separate times for about 5-15 minutes each time. I can remember sitting in the darkened cafe with D’Anne and Sally four years ago.
History was eerily repeating itself.
Before the thunderstorm two women were assigned to our room of three bunk beds, making our room full. They absolutely smelled horrible! Imagine the most putrid locker room odor imaginable. Sweat and BO. It nearly made our eyes water. The window had been wide open before they arrived. Now it was absolutely necessary. They occupied the top two bunks furthest from the window, one above Becky. Becky spent the next 10 minutes standing in front of the window. She had been using a medicine called Tiger Balm to relieve the pain of her shin splints. It has a strong but pleasant odor, similar to BenGay ointment. She spread this on the frame of her bunk bed in an attempt to cover the odor. Even after they showered the smell persisted. It was in their clothing. One of them came over to the window saying they were cold and closed the window against our wishes, giving us stern looks. She let it stand open a little, giving us a little fresh air. I talked to them a bit. They were from Hungary.
We ate the €12 pilgrim meal they offered, I had chicken (leg and thigh) and Sally had pork. After dinner we tried to book bus tickets from Santiago to Muxia and from Fisterra to Santiago for next week. I had the woman who was running the place help me, using her computer. Everything was fine until I tried to charge them with my card. CapitalOne sent a text to my phone to verify my identity. Problem is, I am using a Spanish phone number with a Spanish SIM card so the text never reaches me. This means I can’t make the purchase. I stepped outside and used Skype to call CapitalOne and talk to them. There told me there was no way to rectify the situation. It had to be an American phone number (country code +1). I could have Andy make the reservations from his computer, but decided we would walk to the bus station in Santiago and buy the tickets in person a couple of days before the day we leave.
Sally spent sometime cancelling a number of our reservations and making new ones as we adapted to Becky’s change of plans.
And with that, the day was over. I’m glad we made it before the storm hit.
The people following us took this shot, then shared it with us when they caught up
Rosie, Sally and Becky entering Melide
With Rosie
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