Vilar de Barrios to Ourense 34 km

This morning we don't have to be quiet getting ready to leave as we are the only occupants. It made me smile when I thought that with the whole place to ourselves we were too lazy to spread out. Old habits die hard. Beds furtherest from the loo so you don't get disturbed by the pilgrims who need nocturnal visits. Stick together so you have fewer people to disturb in the morning and you have better space to share and in which to pack. Your bunk is your kingdom!
With the lights on the place feels like a fish bowl,  so i adjourn to the other dorm in the semi dark to dress. I often get half dressed in my sleeping bag.  Talking of sleeping bags, I had been in two minds about posting it home as many places had blankets up to now but in Galicia none of the municipal Albergues have them. What you get are disposable sheet and pillowcase. Most nights it has been pretty cool so I am glad I kept it.
Today is a gentle uphill out of the valley and then steady downhill into Ourense.

 There are many little hamlets (Vende in Spanish) with no bars or shops that we pass through. I keep counting the kms down. In the end we break for morning tea at a fountain in a scruffy square in one of these little settlements. While resting, several people come to the fountain to fill up bottles or buckets of water. It makes us wonder if they have running water in their homes. Most of the towns have wells and fountains which must have been the main water sources originally.
We walk through many farms and a pig farm that you could smell in advance and from which you could hear pigs squealing. We pass old men, always with a stick in hand taking their dogs and themselves for a morning constitutional. It is a lazy Sunday morning until we hear a veritable stampede of walkers, chatting and walking really fast. I think they are a group of Sunday ramblers so we let them pass. I need a loo stop and hop behind a stone wall and growth of blackberries thinking they have all passed. Next minute some fellow coughs and rushes past. I hurriedly get decent and return to the path only to catch him taking a pee! Thundering down behind us are more walkers whose pace is really unsettling. They are all clean and tidy and we speculate on their purpose. Eventually they all pass us and it is quiet and we can settle into our rhythm again. By now we are keen for a coffee break but the only place  open appears to be where the walkers have gone to and they have credencials which they get stamped at the bar. Camino lites! Later we see them get into a bus to avoid the tedious part of walking through the industrial outskirts of Ourense. They would have missed so much of the scenery walking at that pace but we are at the just over 100 kms minimum mark which can be walked to gain a certificate.  It is getting hot now and we still have about 12 kms to go. We are all feeling the slog as we pass through little town after town with Ourense appearing in the valley below but not much closer. Peter is feeling the heat and so we have an ice cream stop at this little bar where the waitress asks where we come from and where we started our Camino. She then appears with a stamp for our credencials telling others we have walked from Seville. We hit the ugly industrial area. Dead rose bushes poke through fences,  weeds and closed factories abound. It seems to go on and on ( I think about the bus travellers with envy). We cross a railway line and finally hit the outer suburbs of Ourense. We are all tired and on dogged auto pilot now. At last we find the address where Karen has hired an apartment through AirB&B for our two rest days. We fall in the door with relief but not as exhausted as our mountain crossing. It is a fabulous little place with three bedrooms and a well appointed kitchen.  Karen has prepared ratatouille and spaghetti with salad for dinner. Delicious. It is a happy reunion and Karen looks great. She has had her hair cut in a funky new style which really suits her and has bought new clothes. She met a couple who run an ethical clothing shop where she bought her new gear and they befriended her and took her to a folk festival on the day we were walking into Ourense.
While Karen's walking pilgrimage has been stymied by her injury, she has had an alternative experience equally as rich  though different to ours. She is a lovely person and while in the end her Camino may have been by bus and train, she has had some interesting experiences and met so many kind people who have been wonderfully helpful. We are all continually impressed by the warmth and generosity of the Spanish people.

Ourense Cathedral 

The number of confessionals suggests a very devout flock. This is only three of the eight that were at each pillar in the main church.

After a long delicious sleep in, cereal and strawberries for breakfast we head off to the famous thermal springs. They are located along the edge of the river and while our initial plan was to get the little tourist train we are told it isn't operating today. We head for the public bus but miss the stop, find ourselves at the roman bridge only to see the train disappear up to the Plaza Mayor. We decide to walk (we are supposed to be having a rest day!?)  and of course it turns out to be further than we thought and the train goes sailing past! Oh well what's a couple of kilometres to us. The weather turns grey and spotty. At last we get to the thermal pools, pay our €5 for two hours of pool hopping. We start inside and move progressively through a series of pools of different temperatures. The weather gets wetter but it is still pleasant feeling the cool light rain on our faces and bodies as we move from pool to pool. Some have jacuzzi bubbles and one bench blows my swimming knickers into a huge bubble like a balloon that I have to press down. After two hours we are all languid and relaxed. No one feels like walking back so we eat and wait for the train.
Karen and I order Japanese ramen noodles. The waitress tells us there is only one available. This happens a lot. The inventory in kitchens doesn't match the offerings on the menu. They are only instant noodles anyway.  Karen has miso soup and I share some if my noodles. We take the train and then settle back into the apartment. I am a bit cold so take to bed with sleeping bag draped over snugly and get waited on by my very kind generous companions. Fruit juice, tea and finally wine. Although I am being Lady Muck I did bring in the washing before I settled down to write this blog.