I should have thought about it last night. I should have known – he was only one. I should have asked him to turn his phone to silent. He had all the gadgets. Why not a vibrating alarm on his wrist like everyone else. It was 5.15 am and that darn Korean was sleeping through his very very loud alarm! The nun had been clear. No noise before 7. He couldn’t hear it. I cursed under my breath. Maybe over it. Eventually he woke up. At least he didnt bang around for two hours like the tour groups.

The lady from Atlanta messaged me and we arranged to meet at the pilgrim shop at 7.30am. The walls in the nunnery bathroom were all damp. I thought someone had been showering. I had dropped my quick dry tshirt in the shower last night and tried to wash underwear and socks. Nothing was dry.

Once I headed outside I could see why. After the rain we were blanketed in mist. I had spare underwear, some dry socks and another quick dry hiking shirt. I was good to go. I pinned wet clothes to the back of my pack and threaded the shirt through one of the straps. I was good to go. We noticed a cafe opened serving breakfast. Well bread at least. We went in. Every pilgrim that saw it went in. The Australian with the bed bug bites. The Canadian who loved the sun. The Taiwanese boys from the dorm. It was a good start to the day.

Today there were no towns along the way. We were only walking 17 kilometres. Who says that at home? “I’m only walking 17 kilometres today.”

Anyway off we went navigating over a bridge, passing a spectacular hotel built into some ruins. Across a few roads and passed a petrol station. Eventually we were on it. A long straight path with no corners and no towns. And might I add very few trees for comfort stops. It wasn’t raining today and it was meant to be a bit warm.

It wasn’t “only” 17 kilometres. It was 18.32 from where I started. It was a long day. I think because it was straight and it was hot it was also never ending.

We eventually stopped at an unoccupied picnic area and ate some snacks and had a break. Then within a few minutes of restarting there was a mirage. A man with a caravan set up with fake grass, chairs and music playing. No toilet though! We stopped and had a coffee and he provided a free shot of fresh orange juice. It was a good stop. So we had two stops.

It was flat and it was straight. And it was hard at the end. Just when we thought it was almost over it went up! And then of course it went down. I could see the steeple but I couldn’t see the people!

Thankfully we made it in one piece. My feet weren’t too angry but they would not have been happy if I had walked on as others did.

We had stayed in the albergue with the pool our first visit. I had to check it out. It was pristine but the owner assured me it was frio. The chairs from summer were all packed up. Many places are closed already. I had no desire to jump in the pool and happily walked on to the Hostal where I had booked my own room for 46 euro. I could open the window tonight! (At least I thought I could).

The lovely young lady managing the place happily took our clothes to wash. Thank heavens – they still weren’t dry! We rested and had a short wander around town and saw two open stables with evidence of the french Corsican! But no ponies. I had heard from the German architect that in years past taxes were determined by the number and size of windows so people closed them in and now heritage restrictions prevented opening them again.

We went back to have a pilgrim meal at the hostal and saw the Bus stop Danes and a few others. We sat with two retired psychotherapists. They had briefly left the camino so the 70 year old wife could partake in the Berlin Marathon! WTF! I was exhausted just thinking about it. Dinner was nice by Camino standards. Not sure how they get the steak so tender but it was surprisingly good.

Anyway our washing arrived and the Lady from Atlanta realised her walking shorts were missing and asked if I could come downstairs with her to try and find them. The Brazilian worker took us upstairs to a girls room and we also found my hiking pants! I didnt even notice them missing. Thankfully there were only three of us involved in this mixup. Could’ve been catastrophic if my pants were missing! No way I was walking in shorts in this weather. Sunburn, cold, flys. No not for me.

Anyway I could open the window if I got the rolling shade down but there were some very strange beetles that wanted to share the space with me so it limited my enthusiasm for window opening. It wasn’t too hot and I wasn’t sharing with a bunch of others so it wasn’t too bad. I slept sporadically wondering if the beetles were going to crawl on me. They didn’t thank heavens.

Buenas noches.