On my own...

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Thursday 30th September

Damn, damn, damn!!! I have just lost all my notes from today until the 6th Oct....I can´t believe it!! I´m going to have to redo them all.... 😞 So here we go...

Today I headed off on my own. Was very very teary in the morning, I´m really really sad to be leaving Armando, I got a lovely hug from the young american chick I´ve met a few times.

Was really keen for a day totally on my own...not seeing anyone I knew. And that is what happened!! It was great!! I really enjoyed it. Time to start making the decisions I want to make and doing exactly what I want to do.

The walk today was ok, went out to Villafranca... a very very pretty town. Had a drink, but was keen to carry on, so walked on to Perehe. It was a bit of a tough call, as I knew it was going to be difficult getting out of town... three options/paths to choose from, would I get a bed...the albergue only had thirty beds, and would I be ok walking for another hour.

Everything worked out perfectly. An old lady kindly directed me in the right direction out of town, and I was one of the first to the hostel...so no problem getting a bed. It was a really cute place in the middle of nowhere.... lovely.

Funnily, Armando turned up there later on in the evening. I thought I was far enough away and in an isolated enough place not to see him, but obviously not. I headed out for dinner, which was lovely. I love it when the food is good, I get good service and they understand my very poor spanish!!

Friday 1st October,

I headed out with morning with Jackie (Texas, USA) and Annie (Denmark). I´m never too keen to head off on my own in the dark. They were walking with some lovely young Spanish guys - they were like our guides. We walked quite quickly for about an hour and then stopped for breakfast.

Hit the road again. It was a lovely day...brilliant scenery, and mostly flat walking. Until the very end, of course, today we headed to O´Cebriero - the highest point in our journey. The last four kms was steep up hill - tough!!! But worth it.. O´Cebriero is lovely, a little ancient town on the top of a mountain.

Settled in to the Albergue. Then had some food and a wander round the village. While eating ice cream I met a very crazy bunch of Spaniards...they were on a bit of a drinking mission...and were very amusing. Had a few laughs with them...they invited me to a party later that night...then headed back to the albergue.

Had a light dinner with Jackie and Annie and then off to bed. Not a good night - didnt get any sleep due to the loud snorers.

Saturday 2nd October

Headed out very early - with Jackie and Annie again. It was dark and kinda cold. Unfortunately, very early on we decided to take a short cut, which ended up being a big mistake. We went three kms out of our way...downhill and uphill again. What a pain...especially as I expected the whole day to be downhill and it ended up being alot of uphill.

It was a good day of walking. I did quite a bit on my own.

When we hit Triacastile, Julian caught me up. So the four of us booked into an albergue that Annie recommended. It was great...good atmosphere. And then went for food.

Not too much to report, I had dinner with Julian and then we got ready to head out the next day. Nice nights sleep.....no noise or snorers tonight!!

Sunday 3rd October

OMG....crazy weather today...almost gale force winds and pouring rain. Jackie and Annie left together before 7am, and I headed out with Julian. I was glad I was with someone else as it was a little scary at times. We mostly walked along the road today, stopped for breakfast after a couple of hours and then walked a couple of hours more to Sarria.

At Sarria, we met Detriech, the guy I had slept next to in O´Cebriero. He is very sweet. So Julian headed off to a hostel and Detriech and I found the nearest Albergue. It was a gorgeous place... I really liked it!!! Fantastic shower...which was very necessary after such an awful morning!

I was totally drenched!!! Everything I had was soaked through!! I had to put everything through the wash and dryer. I ended up in my underwear in my sleeping bag, waiting for my clothes to be done. It was kinda nice after four hours in the rain!!

Once I had my clothes back, Detriech and I went for lunch. And then stopped at a shop were we both picked up some gear to be a little more prepared for rainy weather. I was really pleased with what I picked up.

The evening was very low key..I wrote notes and listened to music...nice!!

Monday 4th October

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