Day 10: Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis - Monday, October 3, 2011

Every town on every Camino should have a hot spa

Once again the first possible breakfast stop was too far into the day for our liking but we were lucky to pass a panaderia where we were able to buy a couple of pain au chocolat, and bread with which to make bocadillas for lunch – we had obtained cheese and ham on Sunday.

After a few kilometres we stopped to eat the pain au chocolat but we had completed more than 9km when we finally had a coffee. Already at the café were two Portuguese men and we learned from them that, contrary to what our editions of Brierley claimed, there is indeed an albergue in Caldas de Reis.

The two Portuguese men were no sooner on their way when Hari and Marika appeared and they were soon followed by three German men who had a great deal of experience of the various Caminos.

It was the apparent lack of an albergue in Caldas de Reis that prompted us to plan a stop at Briallos. We could still have stopped there but the night before I damaged my phone charger and I was without a phone which I was using as a camera, to make all my notes and to check on distances covered and remaining. There was a chance that I could buy a replacement in Caldas de Reis and indeed a visit to one of the China Bazaars, that have sprung up in Spanish towns, proved fruitful. For the princely sum of €4 I again had a working phone.

On arriving in Caldas de Reis I wanted to stop at the spa but Pauline was anxious to get to the albergue so we returned to the spa later. The spa, in the town centre, is a sunken water trough with two spouts pouring the hot spa water into it. At 40C I initially found it difficult to keep my feet in the water for long but eventually I was reluctant to take them out.

That night we were with Hari and Marika looking for a restaurant. We stopped outside one to read the menu and a member of staff immediately came out to turn the board to the wall and said with a smile ‘no food tonight’. At another restaurant we were told emphatically that they would not be serving until 9:30pm (it was around 7:30pm). I know that the Spanish eat late but the towns and villages on the Camino Frances catered more effectively for the strange ways of the peregrinos.

At the third, close to the albergue and probably the one we should have tried first, we were well looked after by the very friendly Jose. The three Germans that we met earlier were in the same restaurant and we got to know them a bit better.

The Caldas de Reis albergue opened in temporary premises in 2010 and the organisers are hoping that the politicians will step up to the mark and agree to fund a custom-built unit. It wasn’t the best albergue we stayed in but perfectly adequate.

I still have qualms of conscience about letting my phone dictate that I should bypass Briallos and continue to Caldas de Reis. When I had last spoken to the Iranians I said I would see them in Briallos and told them that if they had trouble stocking up on food I probably had more than we needed.

When we next met I learned that they and one other person were they only peregrinos in what they said was a beautiful albergue. They also said it appeared to be closed but that they eventually found an unlocked door.