A600AASS Day 9 - Rabanal de Camino to Foncebadón
22.10.22
5.6 Km
Soooo…
We made it 5.6 Km today before the fever and the nausea got the getter of me.
We slept — if that’s the word for it — at a large Albergue in Rabanal de Camino. The vibe was off from the get-go. A large group of Korean pilgrims stressed out the hospitalera. She, in turn, cursed the Koreans in Spanish as she handed them their pork steaks, fried eggs, and kimchi.
Come bed time, someone was snoring on the bunk beneath me and someone snored to my right. I’m a light sleeper at the best of times, but when fighting a cold in a cold, damp room surrounded by snoring, last night was set to be rough. By morning, I was a far-from-happy camper. I was properly ill, too.
Today was the first real climb I’ve encountered on the Camino. Had we made it all the way to Cruz de Fero, the highest point on the Camino Frances, we would have ascended 355 metres. In the end, Chris encouraged me to call it at Foncebadón — a tiny hamlet —, after 290. It was more than enough.
I fairly fell in the front door of the Albergue Monte Irago, glad to find a crackling fire and a French host and his cat only too willing to help us feel at home. Chris fetched me a cup of tea and an orange juice and secured a private room for the night. Sat by the fire, it was all I could do to hold back the tears. By the time I got to our room, they just flooded out of me. It felt like some kind of purge.
As I made my way up the mountain today, all I could think about is how I came to believe that rest was something that came after the work was done, not something that came before, or during. Throughout my life, more important than getting fully rested or fully well has been keeping the show on the road, keeping up appearances, and keeping up the achievements. Today — the past couple of days, really — have been an extension of that mindset. And, unsurprisingly, it’s made me sick.
Soooo…
An early night for me, then. We shared a lovely dinner with Aussies, Americans and a Croatian. Songs were sung and rosemary-flavoured firewater set our spirits alight. And now, as the party chatters and cheers on beneath me, my body is calling me to sleep.
