Day 7 Caminha 25km

The albergue of St John of the Cross is beautiful, spotlessly clean, and very well equipped. The toilets and showers are excellent, and they have not tried to cash in by having too many beds all squished together.

That said, it wasn't a great night. Once again, the lack of consideration for other pilgrims was evident. Reader, there is a rule in every albergue: at 10pm, people have to be quiet. The noise level of other pilgrims was incredible. Someone was even trying, badly, to play a piano. Because of the construction of the building, the noise was amplified considerably. Even in our dormitory, people were on their phones chatting loudly.

We had gone out earlier to a pizzeria and had dome dinner. Just as I was closing the albergue door behind me, someone pushed it open. It was four young people, Italians, I think, who barged in. I told them they couldn't stay as registration was closed and the hospitalera had finished for the day. They were not happy. They wanted us to call someone, and we told them there was information on the door, which we closed firmly behind them.

That might seem harsh, but we are not allowed to give people beds,and in fact, could be thrown out for doing so.

We set off early, and the walk was right along the coastline with a wonderful sea breeze keeping us cool. We stopped for coffee at a beach van, and it was good. Today's path was a mixture of boardwalk, tarmac, and gravel, with a short detour through forest, but mostly by the sea. The end was the eorst bit, it was boiling hot, and we were on a long straight road that seemed to stretch into infinity. It was a day of doggedly putting one foot in front of the other until we got to our albergue.

The albergue was comfortable enough, although the owner had two dogs, so I was a little bit wheezy. The room was boiling hot, and there was a large fan not being used. So I turned to an older guy, by whose accent I knew was Irish. I asked him if he minded if I turned the fan on. He replied, with the utmost seriousness asking me if I could speak in English...

I am happy to say that all the pilgrims were quiet and we had a good night's sleep.Read more