Having savoured a straight month of generally spectacular Spanish sunrises, it’s been rather unusual to wake to two sets of consecutive grey skies, both into Portomarin and on yesterday’s climb uphill towards Palas de Rei.

Being denied a daily sunrise isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if it is then immediately followed by climbing up through the clouds to the sort of panorama I saw yesterday morning.

On both occasions, it was a relief that the Galician clouds were not heavy with rain, as had been firmly promised in the guide books.

Instead, they were cooling, calm and quick to evaporate as the morning wore on, generating sun-dappled woodland pathways.

It was good to see Bill (Snr) and Bill (Jnr) of Virginia again on the uphill climb, following our dinner chat in Portomarin.

It was even better to bump into Duane the Free Hugs Guy in Palas de Rei later on.

Between the three of them, I think I might have learned a bit more about why people voted for Donald Trump.

That’s another unexpected moment on the Camino.

Albergue Report:

Buen Camino, Palas de Rei

After the decadence of the hotel room, it was back to bunk bed basics at this centrally located albergue, complete with a decent bar and a large terrace. Comfortable beds, unisex showers (2 for about 20 beds). But, there is a noisy extractor fan that activates whenever the light in the bathroom goes on. So if anyone goes to the toilet in the middle of the night… 🙄

Health Report:

Blisters: They’re never going to happen again.

Sock Report: One has a gigantic hole and is no longer fit for purpose.

Trips, Slips and Falls: 0 (3)

Haircut Report: A mutually incomprehensible conversation, salvaged by Google Translate, leading to a very satisfactory result.

Pineapple Solero Consumption: 2 (8)

Applications of Factor 50: 0 (109)

Filling of Water Bottles: 1 (58)

Wrong turns taken: 1 (5)

Number of times “Buen Camino” was said: About 100 again, although the new people were slightly less enthusiastic than yesterday.

Song Of The Day: The Way You Dream, by 1 Giant Leap