I packed up my tent, met the girls and then head towards the cafe to get a nice big cup of coffee. 

It was closed. 

Not the best start of the day I will admit but I wasn’t going to let it bring me down. I can get a coffee somewhere else!! LETS GO!!!

The destination was 16km in a sleepy little town called Liendo. There was a 250m mountain just before and a 250m mountain just after. By unanimous vote we decided to stay the night in the middle. Get one out of the way today and another tomorrow with 3 pairs of fresh, strapped up legs. 

The initial walk started with the standard hill climb (I swear they do that on purpose) and then it was off to relatively flat ground before the beast at the end. 

After a couple of km on the road the path turned off to some really quite lovely scenery. 

At some point throughout the trip I stumbled across two slugs that appeared to be having a smooch.

You will notice the shape they make together. A Ying and a Yang. An analogy for the ups and downs in life. The peaks and troughs we go through. Reflecting each other. A 6 and a 9 if you will……..

Anyway, after pondering on a couple of slugs not doing much we started the incline up the mountain. It was a very pretty path but you struggle to appreciate beauty when you’re sweating your tits off, worried about your heart rate and staring at your feet. Also, my caffeine addicted brain had started making mumours about its lack of stimulant. I drank some water and persevered in the hope that it would battle the coming headache. 

The three of us mounted the summit together and jumped for joy as it was all downhill from here. We then realised that walking down steep hills is about as much fun as walking up them. My legs started to burn a bit. 

After a short while we got to the bottom and the start of Liendo. Another 2km to the Albergue where a shower, bed and some relaxing awaited. 

We turned a corner and there it was………completely closed for the weekend. I saw a taverna on the way in and I said to Jenny “right, I need a coffee” and wandered off to get one while Sandra and her sat on the Albergue steps in disbelief. 

“One coffee please barkeep,” I said. He replied “we don’t do coffee” 

I felt my brain twinge.

“Fuck it, I’ll have a beer” 

I sat outside in the sun nursing my ice cold beer and smoking a cigarette pondering on what to do next. There was no other option. The second mountain and another 8km were unavoidable. I put that thought to one side and savoured my beer.

Once we had built up the will to get up and start the unwelcome second part of our trip we headed off towards Mt Everest 2. 

It was hard and I had a full blown headache now. 

Knackered, hot and aching we managed to get up and over it and make our way into Laredo.

We passed a kids play area which Jenny couldn’t resist. 

After admiring some Spanish electrics I took myself off to have a bit of food at a pretty gorgeous spot. 

We finally made it to the Albergue and were shown to our room by a nun. It’s pretty cool. We have our own beds (no bunk beds) there are only 6 people in the room and the beds are actually quite comfortable!! 

Anyway, I’m tired and I need sleep. Here is a photo of Jenny looking a bit mental with her head torch on in the daytime. 

Our walk ended up being 24km in the end. A lot more than us rubbish pilgrims are used to. We are lucky if we make double figures most of the time!! I never did have a coffee in the end so I just boshed a bunch of paracetamol. Seems to have worked. 

A rather sleepy BUEN CAMINO