Um, yes. I’m a bit drunk now. So will try to do this as quickly as I can.

We lost Stephen last night because he walked on to Cacabellos. So, today, the rest of us woke up really early and were on the road by 6:30 AM.

We had coffee at Cacabellos but Stephen was just getting up. So we carried on walking and he caught up with us at Villafranca Del Bierzo, shortly after we reunited with Genevieve.

Villfranca is supposed to be this mini-Santiago where, if you stand under the Church door, all your sins will be forgiven. Pilgrims who can’t make it to Santiago only have to make it to Villafranca.

I had already passed the door but didn’t stand under it. I couldn’t be bothered to backtrack. It’s not like I’ll never sin again, right? So I didn’t bother.

We stopped for another coffee at the main town and I recognized this young guy (Loic from Canada) from a photo Lorraine-in-Spain showed us at Hospital de Obrigo. She had been walking with him earlier and asked us to look out for him if ever we ran into him.

Loic told us that he had been doing long walks and, after the downhill trek, his knees weren’t doing too well. I invited him to walk with us if he wanted company.

We all walked to Pareje and stopped for lunch, whereupon I declared that I was going to take a cab to Vega de Valcarce, where Stephen had sent bags this morning. Gen and Loic decided to join me.

So here we are at Albergue El Paso and I’ve had too much wine. Tomorrow, we’re climbing a mountain so, yeah, fuck it. Will deal with it when we deal with it.

Will add photos to this when I have more patience.

Accommodation:

Lovely accom. We are a big group now (with Gen and Loic) and now have adjoining rooms.

Bunk bed is 10 euros per person. They come with those disposable pillow cases and sheets. No blankets. No breakfast.

Separate showers/toilets for men and women.