29 July - Day 4 - Larendo to Güemes 28km
Kim’s awake at 4am again. Albergue doors don’t unlock until 6:30am. Bed yoga and stretches for her and a patient wait. I slept on the top bunk, and woke to find her staring at me, willing me awake.
Nothing open so no coffee or breakfast. Walk the 6km to the ferry from El Puntal to Santoña which is a 600m crossing. We are first to arrive and wait in line for the ferry in an hour. Pretty much everyone from the Albergue shows up for the ferry. It beaches its nose on the sand and some stairs are lowered for us to board. €2 each.
Find a cafe for "Desayuno Español" (Spanish
Breakfast) of coffee and a tortilla. Buy some fruit at a small mercardo. Fill up our water at the fountain, put on sunscreen and we head off to.
As we leave the town of Berria we need to decide whether to take the difficult and longer coastal route to Helgueras or the shorter inland road direct to San Miguel de Meruel. A local on a motorbike sees us were the path diverges. He circles back to help us with our decision, he is adamant we take the coastal path as it is "muy muy muy bonito" (very very very beautiful). We are sold.
The coastal path is steep, rocky, dusty and overgrown with brambles but worth it. At the top of the hill we have beautiful views of beaches on both sides. Once down we enjoy a long beach walk into Noja.
The town is rammed. We find a cafe order hamburgers and cold beers which hit the spot.
Or not…the pension is full. Walk to the edge of town to the albergue which has closed down. No other option but to walk to the next town Güemes which is another 6km. Both of us are wrecked, but what option do we have? Kim says let’s hitch!
The first car she puts her thumb out for stops. Turns out it’s the cook - Omar - from the albergue we are walking to. He's driving there to make the dinner! It was meant to be.
We arrive at the albergue at 5pm with 28km under our belt. It’s been a very long day! We are greeted by fellow pelegrino’s from the last albergue. As we check-in we are offered cold water and cookies.
The albergue is run by Ernesto an 85 year old local priest and a small group of volunteers. The place is huge and has 100 beds. There is no set price to stay here. You make a donation before you leave, paying what you can afford and what you think it is worth. There are single rooms, all the way through to dorms of 10 beds.
We get lucky and get beds in a cute little hut for 4 with a French couple.
There are 53 pelegrino’s staying this night from 13 nationalities. One is another Aussie - Will from Manly in Sydney - we are nearly neighbours - too funny!
At 7:30pm Ernesto gathers everyone together to share the history and philosophy of the albergue. As he didn’t speak English he asked for a volunteer to translate so we heard the talk twice once in Spanish and once in English. Basically it’s about community, solidarity, paying it forward and having a purpose. It was really interesting but could have been said in half the time.
At 8:30pm its time for a communal dinner. Kim’s been hungry since 6pm and it’s nearly her bedtime but she is determined to stay up to beat jet lag.
At checkin they ask if we are vegetarian and as Kim is craving veggies she said yes. Turns out there is a veggie table seperate to the main carnivore table. Vegetable soup, pasta salad, yogurt washed down with red wine. At Kim’s table she sits with a girl from Peru but lives in Barcelona, a girl from Amsterdam, a girl from Stuttgart, a girl from Copenhagen but lives in Amsterdam and a couple from Germany and Italy. English is the agreed language to use and spend the next hour eating, drinking and getting to now each other.
The carnivore table had beef and noodles soup, and chicken pallela. At Daz's table were German, Italian, Dutch, English and Chilean pilgrams. The conversation and company was excellent. The opportunity to meet others in this way is probably that best reason to stay in a place like this. The dormitory sleeping arrangement is a small price to pay for the experience.
10pm exhausted. Bed!
Link to today's walk on Garmin
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