April Fools Day…but for us, “it is still raining you fools Day”.

Yes, we don our rain gear and were still very wet all day. The level of difficulty for today is One Shell out of Three. One being easy, two medium difficulty and three shells meant the trek will be very hard.

Remember, the challenge for today is 30kms. The walk is wet and muddy. It forced us to walk the highway again just so we can have decent traction. We even had a mini adventure walking through someone’s farmland just trying to see if we can traverse a seeming shortcut. Lucky, we were not caught for trespassing. In the end, it did not make a difference. So much for outsmarting the Camino.

We passed Columbrianos, Puentes Nuevas, Camponaraya, and Cacabelos. Upon entering Cacabelos, we were greeted by fireworks from the town center. I remarked to Marybel,”oh, they shouldn’t have prepared such a welcoming for us, really,”. Of course, they did not. The church of this town were still celebrating Easter and had a mini procession that commenced with the fireworks. We had lunch in this town and was gouged by the bar owner, where we had to pay for bread and water. Oh, well. Give and take. We have enjoyed many blessings on the Camino, so I figured it will balance out in the end.

We arrived in Villafranca Del Beirzo at around 4:30pm and found our Albergue for the night called De la Piedra. It is another good albergue to stay in as it was clean and quiet. We did our laundry this night. We are needing to do laundry every three days. At this Albergue, they charged us $5 for washing and drying our clothes. Most Albergues charged $6. See what I mean by things will balance out somehow. You save some and later you give some and then you save some again.

Marybel is hurting again on her soles. I fear that it might be tendonitis. She is padding her shoes some more but this does not seem to work anymore. We might have to get her to a doctor if it gets worse. I, on the other hand, am pain free from waist down but have developed a shoulder pain, possibly from a wrong bra…lol.

We will watch her pain from now on and if it gets worse, will definitely seek medical attention. By the way, peregrinos can obtain medical advice and treatment for free as long as it is related to walking and we must show our pilgrims’ passport.

One cannot avoid pain and suffering on the Camino unless you engage a premium Camino Tour where your needs are taken care of with each walking stage. That will be my next Camino in the future if I do this again.

As I have stated previously, I love some aspects of the Camino and hate the others (usually involving pain and exhaustion) but I shall trudge on and do my best. Hhhhppppmmmhhh!