Distance traveled: 35.4 kilometers

I left the albergue at 6 a.m. and walked alone in the dark for about two hours. This included some time in the woods when my imagination wanted me to feel nervous but I knew logically that there weren’t likely to be any dangers lurking in the dark. The only surprise was encountering an Italian man who I’d been seeing since Ponferrada; he stood out in my mind as an incredibly graceful pilgrim. His style of walking was so distinctive that I could pick him out from far away. Each step seemed deliberately placed; he walked slowly. He was the one I’d found singing on my way to La Faba. On this morning, he was walking in the dark without any kind of light. I have no idea how he could see where he was going; it was pitch black in the forest! But I love that he was doing this.

It took a while to find a town that had an open cafe, and the one I found wasn’t particularly promising. The woman behind the counter didn’t start off very friendly and seemed startled to have a breakfast customer; she could only offer me coffee and some toast, which I was happy to take. As I was the only one there, we ended up talking a little bit more, and eventually she asked me how far I intended to go that day. I wasn’t sure, but I told her I’d been thinking of trying to make it to Ligonde, which would mean a 34 kilometer day. This sparked some interest. “In the town just past Ligonde, Airexe, is the best hospitalera [albergue manager] on the entire Camino. She is a friend of mine. I wonder, would you be willing to deliver a hug to her?” I gave her a big smile and my assurance that I would do my best to find this woman and deliver the hug. What a great mission for a pilgrim! I took it as a sign that I should try to get to Airexe that day. (Just for context, what that means is doing almost two days in one.)

Around lunchtime, I crossed a wide river into the town of Portomarín (the recommended stopping point for those setting out from Sarría). I kept going and ended up on some kind of alternate Camino path without ever having made a choice to do so; I followed the signs and then, sometime later, realized that the Camino markers I was seeing all noted that I was on the alternate route. I guess the real route takes you into the town, whereas I’d managed to avoid entering town and instead gone into some woods. I didn’t see another pilgrim for at least an hour.

When I finally came upon another town with dining options, I stopped for a late lunch and got quite a surprise: who should be in the restaurant but Bill, one of the members of my Camino family who I hadn’t seen since before our arrival in Burgos! Although we’d been in touch with him and Lou every day, it had never occurred to me that I might finally catch up to him. He had separated from Lou a day or two before and wasn’t sure where Lou was at that moment, but it was exciting to find someone who I hadn’t seen in such a long time (and who I’d been trailing for such a long time!).

I arrived in Airexe, which consists of two albergues and one restaurant, and headed into the municipal albergue, where I’d been told I could find this amazing hospitalera. Her daughter turned out to be the one on duty that day, and she told me that her mother was ill at home but that she would gladly deliver the hug to her. I accomplished my mission!

I set about my usual post-walk routines, including sending a message to my Camino family group on WhatsApp to report where I’d ended up for the day. A few minutes later, I got a message from Lou: purely by chance, he was in Airexe too! And so was Bill! The three of us had dinner (along with Lou’s husband and their friend, as well as a Canadian woman we met in the restaurant), and it was SO good to be reunited!