For forty days and forty nights have I wandered in the wilderness.
Next to the albergue, and part of the old buildings, is a horreo. This is a typical Galician structure, found near every farmhouse and many other buildings as well, traditionally used for storing corn. The storage compartment rests on flat stones, and these are mounted on piles. This is to keep out the rats, which it seems, are unable to walk upside down. For the same reason, the steps used for climbing up to the horreo are never attached to the structure. One climbs the steps which seem to lead nowhere, and then steps across the gap to the horreo.
As you can see they come in different shapes and sizes, of wood, stone and brick.
As I walked out of the albergue this morning there was a taxi outside loaded up with packs. I didn't see any pilgrims inside so I imagine they were walking unencumbered.
At the little town of Pinor I passed an old lady washing her sheets in the lavoir. A communal washing pond, the lavoir is often as old as the village itself, built before the advent of plumbing in individual dwellings. Every old town has one or two, sometimes in ruins, sometimes restored. Usually, if there is water at all in the lavoir it is scungy and stagnant, but in this one it was clean and flowing. To see someone using one was a rare sight.
I was intrigued by a herd of cows resting in a field. They obviously seek solace in one another's company. Notice how they are facing each other. Except for the lone black cow who is turning her back on the others. Why is she avoiding them? Or is it a vaccashun?
The closure of the albergue at A Laxe has forced me to abandon my plan to walk longer distances each day and arrive in Santiago a day earlier. However, I did walk a longer distance than necessary today, because I took a short cut. All morning the Camino was leaving the road to go up and down a hill to rejoin the road on the other side. So I thought I'd take the road instead, only this time it diverged from the Camino and I had to walk an extra three kilometres to arrive in Castro.
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