3 August - Day 9 - Villahormes to Sebreno 19 km

We slept like babies even with the mozzies. Kim has 3 big bites up her left arm and one her right thigh. Limited damage. It’s still dark and it’s drizzling. Decide to stay in bed for a little longer. The rain stops and we are on the road by 7:30am. Rain starts again and so we stop to put the rain covers on our packs. It’s warm so we don’t put on our raincoats and instead enjoy the rain on our skin. 

Only a 2.5km walk until we find a bakery where Alfonso and a few of the other pilgrims we have met are enjoying breakfast. They run out of most things by the time we order except croissants which are just out of the oven, delicious but not enough.

We head on and find a bar which seems to be the local’s place as it’s buzzing. Egg and ham sandwich and another coffee while we wait out a bit of the rain.

Many people have asked why we are walking the Camino. We discussed this when we walked today. We agreed it’s the freedom. The last 2.5 years we have been locked in Oz and not being able to satiate our itchy feet.  There is also a physical challenge aspect, will we enjoy long distance walking/hiking for many back to back days... To date we have only done 3 days at a time…yes it’s “just walking” but with 7kg packs and walking nearly a 1/2 marathon everyday is not easy, especially with our desk jobs meaning we sit almost 10 hours a day. 

We have met several pilgrims where this is not their first Camino. Seems it can become an addiction. There are worse addictions in life. We ask ourselves if we would do more. It’s too early to say. 

The walk is easier today. It’s amazing what a good feed and good nights sleeps does for ones energy. Our Garmin watches monitor our "body batteries" and they both seem to be continually on the lower end of the scale.

The terrain is mainly country lanes, ups and downs with limited road which makes for a good day of walking. More days like this would be fine with us. 

Arrive into Ribadesella feeling physically done for the day, so much so that Darren turns off his Garmin. Then we discover the town is celebrating their annual festival. We try a few places including the albergue but everything is full.

Time to hatch a new plan, we find a cafe for lunch and check out google maps and find a 1 star hotel 2km away. We book their last room. Kim orders a very boring salad for lunch but says she needs the green stuff and I enjoy a hamburger way too much. Kim orders another wine to make up her boring lunch. 

Fed and rehydrated we literally march the 2km (mostly uphill) to our hotel. Our room is a shoebox but it’s ours. Our bags explode, we have a great hot shower, wash a few clothes. 

Our hotel is in the middle of nowhere. The only possibility for food is a camp ground up the road. We find the bar there is open. Kim is famished after only having a salad earlier  but the menu here is limited. We end up with a wine, beer and a Spanish tortilla.

On a side note it looks like a great campground  more akin to a BIG4 holiday park - multiple pools, tennis, mini golf, and that just what we could see.

Home and bed by 9:30pm.

Our Garmin map for the day without the last few kms up the hill to our hotel (which was tough going!).