14th June Treat

 

Llannes to Ribadasella 29km

In many ways the real heartbeat of the Camino is not the path that you walk but the albergues that pilgrims tend to stay in at the end of each days walk. For those wondering what an albergue is, I guess the nearest equivalent would be youth hostel but only open to those in possession of a pilgrim passport and undertaking a Camino, in contrast to a hostel which is open to anyone. Some are all singing, all dancing state of the art affairs with all the comforts you could ever wish for. Others are more basic, down to earth places. All are central to Camino life.

For what all of them have in common is that they are gathering places. And together people of all ages, shapes, sizes, nationalities, levels of fitness, hopes and dreams gather with familiar and new faces, in bathrooms, dormitories, kitchens, laundry rooms, lounges, gardens, shoe rooms, and other assorted locations to debrief from the day just gone and the walk that lies ahead.

Over food, drinks, tending of bruised limbs and battered feet, pouring over guidebooks and digital apps and the universal search for enough space to try to dry your washing, connections are made, acquaintances begun and friendships developed. People who you might not have seen for days suddenly reappear, whilst for others their particular Camino might have come to an end and this is a final farewell.

Some of my most abiding memories will be not of the walk or the scenery but of the places where I have stayed, the chatter over food and drink, the early morning (and I mean 5.30am) starts of people trying to repack their belongings into the world's noisiest plastic bags and zippered bags. And not forgetting the noise that has filled the intervening hours of darkness made by a veritable orchestra of coughs, snores and farts!!

Today however, after 14 days of walking and nearing the halfway point of my own Camino, I have stepped away from the world of the albergues and 'treated' myself to a night in a hotel. In the film 'The Way', Charlie Sheen's character Tom, treats his three fellow walkers to a night in a 'Parador' hotel in Leon. Think former 16th century monastery that has retained its cloisters courtyards, carved frescos and high vaulted ceilings but updated to 5 star service and facilities.

Today it appears that I have 'treated' myself to a one star hotel that Google maps struggled to find, 1.2 miles out of Ribedasella, where no one speaks English, there is no food available, no working internet connection, no kettle  in the room to make myself a hot drink and a shower that is certainly helping me channel  the spirit of Janet Leigh as it is ideal for a remake of Psycho!!

I bet Martin Sheen wishes he could have experienced the same kind of 'treat' as me, sat cooling off sore feet with a detachable shower head whilst enjoying a luxury tin of sardines in tomato sauce eaten with a spork. Saturday night and here I am living my best life.