I left the albergue in Puebla de Sanabria at 6:40 AM in bitter cold and wind: 38 deg F and with the windchill at freezing (I just wasn’t dressed for it). I could have used the gloves. After walking 12 km (7 mi) and meeting my German friend, Thomas, it became clear that the 12 beds at my planned destination of Lubian would already be gone, so I decided to stay here with him. We nicknamed our short stage: Urlaubsetappe (vacation stage). It’s crazy—Lubian doesn’t even have a store and only an albergue with 12 beds, whereas Requejo has two albergues (we‘re splurging and staying at the private one—the first albergue ever that had two sheets for every bed (fitted lower one and an upper one) and a coffee machine!! And Requejo has two hotels.
Here are some memorable pictures: the first shows the planned route of 29 km and the blue dot, my actual stay; my friend Thomas dressed in his north Vietnamese monk’s attire (from his days of studying meditation with a Vietnamese monk); third, having fun with Perry the Peregrino; then our hall of beds (18 beds, but only 4 occupied); and lastly Thomas and I having lunch with food we bought at the local store.
