My Journey to Santiago de Compostela Part XVII
Today was a real easy stroll physically I mean. Mentally, it was starting to get heavy on me. Listening to Enya on Spotify injected its dose of sadness into my heart and I split from Art and company to “enjoy” my loneliness.
We bordered the Canal de Castilla, where I met a woman fishing sweet water shrimp. The canal is used also by cruising boats and it is a favorite tourist area. After we passed Frómista the trail soon turned alongside the highway that offered not much to see but harvested fields on both sides. On the way, I bumped into YuCai Huang and his wife Tan Peh Tin who are from Malaysia. We met several times during the Camino and a long lasting friendship was born. I exchange messages on FB with YuCai quite frequently.
I arrived in the early afternoon by myself, having left Lindsay, Art, Kim and Peter behind. I got to the Albergue Casa de Espiritualidad Nuestra Señora de Belen and dropped my stuff in the room to go and have lunch. I was starving! That’s when I met Juan and Gaby! We had not seen each other since Pamplona. We had octopus together and enjoyed a few beers. Then it was time for me to go back to the convent and wash my clothes. This turned to be a hand wash in the laundry room next to huge washing machines and dryers only available to do the Sisters laundry. I was shown the area outside to hang my clothes and after I did, I went back inside. Two of the older Sisters who were working in the laundry room called me back in and offered to dry my clothes for me because as they said “it was already kind of late and cloudy for my clothes to dry up outside”. I sat in the lobby and waited until these two old sisters came with my clothes all folded up neatly. I asked them to pray for Haiti and gave them the card that Felix had given to me.
Right before I went to bed, the Sister at the reception told me to go back outside and walk towards the right of the building to watch the sunset. It was really worth following her advice for this was one of the most beautiful sunset I have seen in my life!
