I started writing this the other day but the draft has since disappeared and I’m too knackered to do a rewrite. We had a long day today and I really need to try to get some sleep.

The long and short of it is that Raffy and Alan are a day behind. Stephen disappeared for a day but reunited with me and Rosan in Portomarin. And, this evening, I’ve somehow ended up at a different albergue from Stephen and Rosan.

It’s all good. I’m just down the street from them and we will still walk together in the morning.

After tomorrow we should be in Santiago.

Re-edit:

In Portomarin, we met up with Joey Luera (from San Francisco) and went out to dinner. All the cows on the road inspired us to have steak and, as we were being seated, we were also discussing the possibility of having pizza. The couple at the next table overheard our conversation and offered us some pizza. How could we resist?

Three become five. Clockwise from left: me, Joey, Ellen and Scott Hoffman (USA), and Rosan. At O Mirador. Totally recommend this restaurant for the great steaks and the stunning views.

Having gotten the pizza craving out of system left us free to concentrate on the steak.

After Ellen and Scott left, Federico Pugliese (Italy) found us.

And then Stephen made contact. So we were reunited with him once again.

The next day, we set out semi-earlyish for Palas de Rei. Portomarin, in the morning, was ethereal.

We were soon in the woods.

But it wasn’t long before the road got busy.

We were relieved to see some familiar faces at one of our bar stops.

With Bruce Lindstrom (US) and Ann Bodill (Australia).

In the evening, Loic got in touch and asked us to reserve a bed for him at the same albergue, and we reunited for dinner with the others from the night before.

Clockwise from left: Ellen Hoffman (US), Gregory Wright (US), Loic Pautel (Canada), Rosan Cruz (Philippines), Federico Pugliese (Italy), me (Uranus), and Scott Hoffman (US). Joey was late, and Stephen chose to sit out this dinner. At Pulperia A Nosa Terra. We had a very good meal here. Apart from the pulpo, I remember that the chipirones were also good.

The next day, we stopped at the Church next to our albergue…

… and there we met a Portuguese priest who lived in the Philippines in 1988.

We passed by a lot of these strange structures which turned out to be granaries (hórreos) unique to Galicia. They are elevated to protect the grain from animals, and they have slats for air passage.

After seeing Rene on the road for almost the whole time on the Camino, we finally walked together.

While all the tourists flocked to Pulperia Ezequiel, the Spaniards on the trail directed us to Pulperia A Garnacha.

While everyone continued to eat and order more beer, I decided to push on ahead.

Just as I was leaving town, a party was getting started. I took videos but can’t seem to upload them. Later on, Stephen and Rosan came upon the same party and stayed on for more beer. (Rene stayed on in Melide.)

While I was walking, I realized I had no clue which town we were supposed to go to and which albergue to look for. Thankfully, Rosan sent me a message (“De Selmo in Arzua”) but then Loic said that he found De Selmo creepy so he checked into Albergue De Camino. He told me he was in touch with Rosan and that they would be going to Albergue De Camino as well, so that’s where I went.

The albergue was fine, except that it was also full of children. In his defense, Loic said that the families hadn’t checked in when he arrived. (There were a lot of holidays in Spain when we were there, so a lot of Spanish families were also on the Camino. They walk sections at a time, as far as their holidays will allow.)

Because they arrived rather late, Rosan and Stephen ended up staying at De Selmo because it’s close to the edge of town, even though Stephen walked by our alebergue going to and from the supermarket.

Loic was supposed to go out for dinner but didn’t find the restaurant where the Ozzie mother and daughter team were so he bought the usual bread, ham and cheese, and some ice cream, which we shared at the albergue.

Accommodations:

Albergue San Marcos
Palas De Rei

It’s location by the church can’t be beat.

We were in the Mango room.

This was the view outside our room.

Separate showers and toilets for men and women. Automatic showers, as per usual.

We liked this albergue and would stay again.

De Camino Albergue
Arzua

Another new, modern albergue. While the manager was kind and very considerate (- he saw my reaction to the children in the women’s shower room so he cleaned it first before I used it), it’s always better to get accommodations closer to the old part of town, where the surroundings are at least more picturesque.

Hooray for the non-automatic showers!