Camino Inglés Day 5 Leira/Buscas to Sigüeiro 12/10/2023

17.4 km 5 hours of which I walked 3:34h and the rest pauses checking the map, lunch, siesta and palavers, etc. Since there was no room, not even a bed, to be had in Sigüeiro I booked myself into a hotel 7 km away and got a taxi to take me from Sigüeiro to the hotel and pick me up tomorrow morning to take me back to where he picked me up today and I will continue/finish my walk to Santiago tomorrow.

Since last night I had already walked 3 km to an off-track hotel I took a taxi this morning to get back to the camino. I had met two youngish Austrian women at breakfast who were in the same situation. So I offered them a lift in my taxi which they gladly accepted. They absolutely wanted to pay the whole of 10 € which however I did not allow. Solidarity on the camino - the camino provides as it is said. Don’t know where they are staying in Sigueiro.

I also caught up with Simone who was busy taking photographs. Taking photographs slows you down considerably. She was very enthousiastic about this “Can’t stop myself from taking photographs. There are so many lovely things to photograph!” We walked together for quite a while, came across a very black woman who was sitting in a bus shelter. I had seen her once before, also in a bus shelter. “Oh” shouted Simone “Alessandra from London!” Alessandra was a pilgrim like all of us, but surprising to me because on the many caminos I have walked only once did I come across a black person, when I was walking counterflow on the Camino Frances from Astorga to Leon. He commented on the fact that we were carrying the same umbrella. We talked a while and continued our walk in opposite directions. So anyway Simone and Alessandra had met before and a long palaver followed. Photographs were taken of the two together and we walked on.

Today we had quite a lot of forests and only slight ups and downs. Forests are mostly eucalyptus around here - fast growing and very straight. However there are efforts now to bring back native trees like oak and beech. You come across clearings where the eucalyptus trees have been removed, but efforts are being made to leave young trees which have seeded themselves among the eucalyptus - so there are vast clearings with a few odd trees growing here and there.

The sun was not too strong today and there was a pleasant breeze. Quite a number of people walking. A group I had noticed when they were picked up with their daypacks by their bus with their suitcases waiting in the hotel. I came across them again later on with Simone when we walked back somewhat to find an alternate trail recommended in her guide which we had missed - my Mapy.cz showed this too: it avoided walking for miles next to the autovia with its awful traffic.

Once we were on the alternate trail we separated because I really had to find somewhere to rest, eat and sleep - it was coming up to midday and I had not had a real pause. I opened at last a bocadillo (sandwich) package which I had bought two days ago when I panicked that I would not have anything to eat because the guide book said no commerce of any kind available. So to my relief there had been a bar not very long before my arrival at the albergue (where I ended up in an upper bed, remember) and I rushed in and asked for a bocadillo. “Small or large?” - “Large! And a bottle of red wine, uncorked, please!” And the bocadillo package, when it came, was huge. And by the time I arrived at the alberge, and found myself stuck with an upper bed, and it was getting late (7 pm) I had lost all appetite and just nibbled a piece of old bread and had a good bit of the wine. Voilà!

So this still unopened bocadillo was huge. I took a photograph - just in case I manage to sort out the photograph problem on my blog.

Finished walking in Sigüeiro, sat outside a bar with a drink and asked to have a taxi called. When the taxi arrived a couple from the next table rushed to find out whether it was free - of course I rushed too and asked the driver “Hotel Castro?” “Yes! Dona Ina?” At that the man from the next table said “Hotel Castro? That is where we want to go too!” So we went together and they insisted on paying the 12 €. But tomorrow when I will start walking from Sigüeiro they will simply continue from this hotel.

PS I have done it at last! Got the photos included at last. Have worked on it for hours. Now I have to write down how I did it before I forget! Oh! Oh!