Day 17. May 9, 2019. Puente de Villarente to Leon. 12.5 kms

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Very pleasant albergue, the Albergue San Pelayo. Usual assortment of characters ranging from the American who spoke in such a loud voice that you could hear him wherever he was in the building to a Brit who was so softly spoken I could barely make him out even with my hearing aids.

Ex-army, bald, he had walked 22 Caminos, he said, and proceeded to give you advice whether you wanted it or not. I suspect his Camino walking was partly an inability to resettle into civilian life. He camped in a large tent and was anxious to help people with foot problems. Genuinely, I think.

I walked into Leon with Mark, an Australian, from Brisbane, who admitted, before I could react, that Queensland was where all the nutters come from. He worked in the public health field as a project manager in those parts of the world where Australia has an interest. He had even worked in Tonga, so I thought the issue of its pronunciation would be solved, but in the course of our conversation he pronounced it both ways.

Much of his work has involved trying to reverse the effects of western diet on traditional peoples. He spoke of the tragedy of obesity and diabetes in the Solomon Islands, for example. It was very complicated, he said, trying to balance the demands of government funders wanting quick results against the behaviour of local people who moved slowly.  His message? You can’t force change on any one; it has to come from within.

I passed a three-generational family walking the Camino: a mother, daughter and granddaughter, two years old in a pram.

After an easy 12 km walk, I found my place at the Hotel Alfonso V (65€). I visited the magnificent Gothic cathedral and the the Romanesque San Isidore. Sitting in the church I was puzzled by a peculiar rumbling sound vibrating through the church. Was it a problem with the organ? Or road work outside? No, it was a fellow snoring on the back pew, taking advantage of Christian charity.

This is the end of my Camino. I take an ALSA bus tomorrow to the airport where I’ve booked a hotel in readiness for my early flight the next day.