32 km (536.5 km)
Thursday 14th April

Today was a bit of a washout, the weather varying between foul and atrocious. My waterproofs were certainly put to the test and two hours after starting I took a break at Villavante to discover I was pretty much soaked to the skin. I hung about for an hour or so trying to dry out before once more battling the elements. I passed over a medieval bridge, Puente de Órbigo about an hour later and attempted to take some photos – I’m sure it would have been an incredible sight on a better day.

The day would have been one best forgotten, and maybe left unmentioned on the blog but for two chance meetings along the way. One was with a young Korean man who when I asked him why he was walking told me that his mother made one simple(?) request to him and his siblings – before they ever made an important life changing decision they should walk the Camino to contemplate and be sure…tough love if you ask me but he seemed to think it was a good solution to solving one’s problems and/or finding solutions. The other meeting occurred about 6km from Astorga when I stumbled upon a free drinks station in the middle of nowhere. The last thing I wanted was a drink but I took refuge in the dry nearby hut to give me five minutes out of the rain and wind. Inside was a young couple, I initially presumed that they were fellow walkers but they weren’t they were a Camino couple (?). The girl was from Australia and she had been walking the Camino a year ago when she too stumbled into very same hut…only she fell in love with the free drinks man, David (who has been in the same spot for 7 years) and has lived there with him ever since. They live off the land, with no running water, electricity and obviously no communication with the outside world apart from passing pilgrims. It all sounded quite idyllic and when I walked away I had many questions which I’d liked to have asked, primarily ‘what does your mother think?’ And ‘if you live off the land and have no connection to the outside world then why isn’t David’s beard down to his knees (if he’s been there for seven years)’. I have some way to go before setting up home on the Camino obviously as the only thing that kept me going all day was the thought of a clean, warm hotel room, maybe a sauna and a good meal which wasn’t a pilgrims menu…that living off the land doesn’t appeal I have to say… It was great to arrive in Astorga and escape the day and my only complaint is that my hotel room doesn’t have any radiators, only under floor heating, so all my wet clothes are strewn around on the floor…not sure how well that’ll work…

Today did see a marked change in the landscape I’m glad to report, the flatness is going and there are hills and mountains appearing as well as woods, we have some big hills to walk up in the next few days which will make a welcome change from the flat.

Fingers crossed for one dry day SOON.