October 4: An Albergue Like a Spa

 Saturday there was a light rain all day. Many of us chose a short walk- like 12 miles— to Baamonde, a town 100 km from Santiago.

This was very exciting but we arrived so early the town albergue was not yet open. It was only 12:30. A friend a few days ahead of me wrote to tell me about an albergue that was on a slightly different hiking path headed in the same direction. If I followed it, I would shorten my Camino by several kilometers. Plus it goes through a nature preserve. The only kicker is, you must hike a 25km section the next day.

I decided to push on; the albergue was 8 miles from Baamonde. Here’s a picture of the Camino markers, one heading north, one south. I don’t know if you can read the kilometers, but I decided to go for it.

The albergue was indeed really nice. Here is a picture of the living room, with a view out the back window.

At supper I sat with Angela, a nurse from Australia who’s here on her third Camino, a couple from Sweden and a couple from Spain.

On Sunday I am walking 15 miles to a famous old monastery that has been restored.