My hotel offered a buffet breakfast at a nice pilgrim hour of 7am. I had a quick coffee and yogurt and took a sneaky sandwich to go. No time to waste today as it’s going to be a long day on the road. I was out the door at 7:24am into a day with mostly clear blue skies! It won’t last but I’ll go while the going is good.

My hotel was at the near end of town and as I don’t know how the Camino progresses thru it I have to go back up to where I left the arrows to find my way. It turns out it goes right back down to the same the main street then through some entrance gates to what may be a castle? Hard to tell as the walls are so tall.

I started walking just by myself, then met up with 2 ladies. By 4 kms there’s a little train of about a dozen of us walking down the side of the road. I can hear chatter and the clicking of poles behind me…

We soon turn off the road and several miles of beautiful green tunnels of trees and fields follow. What a beautiful country Spain is. Then we climb up into forestry land with lots of evidence of cutting and clearing all around.

The rain came much earlier than I expected, 9:35am for about 15 minutes. I did have the opportunity to stop at cafe just then and at 10 kilometers in it would have been a perfect time but I didn’t. I think I pushed on only because everyone else did, I regret that now, I could have used the rest….

At 11.3 kms we seem to have reached the top of the mountain(?) and I found a bit of a log in a small cleared area so I finally sat down to eat my sneaky sandwich and relax. I’ve had to put my fleece, hat & gloves on as even though there’s blue sky above the wind is very cold. From here it looks like it’ll be road walking and I have a perfect view of the next wave of storms off to my right that the wind is blowing towards me. I was hoping to reach the shelter of some trees to get my wet weather gear back on but I didn’t quite make it and had to suffer in the downpour.

14 kms – I reach the bar at Vilaserío and the rain has finally stopped. My fingers are frozen and my body is chilled. I feel like it’s taken me hours and somehow people I passed earlier are here already! Did I take a wrong turn or enter the Twilight Zone momentarily? I had stopped when the last rain squall came through and struggled a bit to put my waterproof socks on, was that enough time to fall behind?Regardless, I’m warm(ing) and dry and another shower has started while I’m sitting here safe inside. They seem to blow through every 10 minutes or so.

At the next pause in the rain I make a dash for it. The sun is out but it’s still cold. I’m following a line of rain jackets and backpack covers down the road. The sun is warming my back but darkness looms ahead. I’m only halfway, at this rate it’s going to be a very long day….

The next rain comes and it’s enough to wet and chill but doesn’t last long. There’s still the odd big drops that fall to remind us all that more may come at any moment.

I keep seeing the same taxi, driving up and down the road, trolling for wet & frustrated pilgrims ready to call it a day, I imagine.

Eventually we turn off the main road, go round a dairy farm and trek up a dirt road into a eucalyptus forest and down past fertile pastures. I’m trying hard to enjoy the scenery as it really is amazing but it’s hard to see out from under my hood. I throw it back every time the rain lessens else I spend too much time looking at my feet which might put me in a grumpy mood!

Another heavy line of squalls blew past at the 20 kms mark. Those in front of me found shelter under overhanging trees from the now sideways blow. I carried on until I turned the corner to face right into its blast and I succumbed to waiting out the rain the lee offered by a concrete power pole. Amazingly, 3 minutes later there’s patches of blue sky and the sun’s straining to break clear of the clouds. It’s like witnessing dawn over and over again, all of a sudden the world feels bright, shiny and new after the darkest night.

22 kms – I arrive at the pueblo of Maroñas ready for the lunch that all the signs have been advertising and wishing for my sunglasses as it’s now so bright out. Ah fake out. All the restaurants are actually in next town. Ugh, the sun faked me out too. As soon as I wished for my sunglasses it immediately started raining.

23.3 kms – I’ve reached the pueblo of Santa Maria which actually has a bar/cafe and it’s high time for a real break. A big bowl of Caldo Gallego soup and a Cola Cao should see me right.

1:45 pm and 7? Kms to go. We’ll see; the mileage has a funny way of ending up a little more than advertised. Ah good, it’s raining again.

It rained 3 more times those last several kilometers and the sun also shone so brightly I had to stop to put on sunscreen! What a crazy day.

I’m ensconced in my albergue now and it’s great. Only a year old it’s a cool dormitory and a little cafe next door that will serve dinner starting at 7pm. Life is good.

2495’ gain, 1906’ loss, 18.5 miles