I left the hostel just as it was beginning to get light—about 6:30 AM.
When I got outside, a woman approached me and asked if I would join her to hike for a while. This was the first time she traveled by herself and she was apprehensive.
Just outside town, we were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise.
Turns out that Lena had just retired and begin the trail shortly after retiring from being a teacher in the UK. This was the first time she ever traveled by herself, and was pretty excited about how she was gaining more confidence every day, making her way along the Camino.
Now most of the farm area was filled with the vineyards. We had a choice of going up over a mountain or staying on the road, and we decided to stay on the road, but then there was a slight variation that we took to the left that took us through, grassy fields and farmer trails.
Along the way we came across a beautiful field of French lavender as well as many more vineyards. The trail was pretty overgrown so pants and feet got pretty wet on this little used trail.
This alternative Trail rejoined the main Camino just as we approached Villafranca Del Bierzo.
Our trail took us down past the albergue that I was looking for called Ave Fenix which is what I was looking for but I didn’t realize it. Lena stopped for coffee and a snack, but I told her I wanted a full breakfast after I found the Ave Fenix albergue, and this café didn’t make eggs and bacon.
After asking around, some local folks showed me where it was. When I got there the owner, Jato, was away but one of his volunteers who had been there several weeks, who was from Madrid, took my information and the information my brother, Jim had given me.
Back in the Mid 90s, my brother Jim, my sister-in-law Linda, and my niece, Krista, visited with Jato who was raising money for rebuilding his burnt albergue. He read fortunes, gave out shells with inscriptions for donations, so my brother donated some money, got some inscribed shells and got their fortunes read.
Jato gave Linda and Jim fortunes but he read Krista’s palm and showed shock and would not share the fortune, but gave her an inscribed shell that read, in translation, “To Krista May the light of the stars illuminate the road of your life.”
Krista died under the stars at night in Bolivia on May 20, 1998. Krista was killed in a bus accident in Bolivia while doing community development work under the sponsorship of the Mennonite Central Committee. Her impact was so great down there that in the larger town near where she and her husband, Aaron worked, the town named a library in her honor.
In her short life, Krista inspired others to take environmental actions while in high school, taught math and science in Tacoma’s inner city where she created a peer tutoring program that was notable in Tacoma. It had a big impact and was continued after her death. She and her husband Aaron were driven to serve others.
Jim told me that they hang Krista’s inscribed shell that Jato made for her over their bed.
The Ave Fenix volunteer was really touched by hearing that and would convey the information to Jato when he came back. I left the copy of the write up as well as my email address in case he wants to respond.
I told the volunteer that Jim had never talked to Jato about what happened to Krista, she would be sure to let him know. Also, she said that he has had other experiences that people have come back and described what they experienced that was related to the fortunes he told.
After that emotional visit, I walked around downtown a bit stopped for breakfast, and picked up a quarter kilo of blueberries to snack on.
After crossing the bridge, I had two routes to choose from one was a mountainous route and the other was a near the road route. I picked the road route which ran between a bubbling creek and highway.
Throughout the afternoon it would rain just enough to put on my poncho as I walked beside the beautiful creek and ignored the highway with its fast moving cars and trucks beyond the Jersey barrier.
I followed a couple I dubbed the “Ninja Turtles” for their bright green ponchos—they were actually a guy from Italy and a woman from South Africa. I would see them frequently over the next few rainy days.
I came into a logging town of Trabedelo with stacks of cut boards and logs to be cut and came to a café that had my long looked for lentil soup with chorizo. What a treat that I tolerated eating outside instead of my normal eating inside where it was warm since it was full of diners.
It was another two hours walk to Municipal Albergue in Vega de Valcarce where they even had a wood burning stove that warmed us up.
Since I had a bit of time on my hands, I asked Lolo, the albergue manager, if there was any place, I could get a haircut and some orange juice.
I found both and felt much better after getting my haircut particularly since it only cost €15 for a haircut and shampoo. She wanted to do something with my beard, but I told her I was growing it since the start of my Camino Santiago walk and would keep it as is until I got back home so my family could see me with a beard.
On the way back I stopped at this wonderful restaurant called Arroceria restaurant. What a wonderful meal. I’m not a big fan of french fries so I always tell them no Papatas Fritas, and I’m always pleased and surprised that they substitute something better, and the dessert was a visual delight, as well as tasty, especially the chocolate soufflé all for just €27.
I saw that Thomas, the German, that I’d first met four days ago at the albergue in Hospital de Orbigo was also staying here.
The normal lights out time was 10 PM at most places. So I stayed downstairs by the warm fire and kept up with my reading and paperwork. I had washed my socks and bandana and hung them on the clothes rack but when I got upstairs to go to bed at about 9:45 PM, my socks and bandana were missing. It was lights out and everybody sleeping so I couldn’t find them. Lesson learned is to keep track of your stuff. I’m now down to two pairs of socks, no bandana, and no towel which had been taken earlier.
No comments:
Post a Comment