Back on the bikes today! We had muesli in our room and left by 8:15am. After 30km we excitedly crossed the Ria de Ribadeo which marks the border between the states of Asturias and Galicia. It took us a while to find a pastry shop in Ribadeo, but eventually we did and brought pastries to a cafe.
We lucked out and our route finally took us past a decathlon where we stopped to get an inner tube and pump up tires to full pressure while viki napped.
At 65km we stopped in Mondoñedo for spanish omelet and patatas braves. Viki says the patatas were a great addition to afternoon snack. In galaicia we’ve noticed that there are still grain houses all over, but they have spiked roofs and are narrow (compared to the square footprints of the Asturian houses). We’ve noticed that drivers are better here than the last few days about leaving lots of space and passing slowly. We see octopus offered at most restaurants. And surprisingly, we found that there’s a different Galician language (eg beaches are labeled “praia” instead of the spanish “playa”).
There was a big hill, 400m of climbing near the end of the day. Fortunately it was low grade and we triumphed over it. Near the top Viki went to a gas station to pee and I chatted with the passenger of a car that had bikes on the roof. He said he was from Latin America, and when I asked specifically, he said Ecuador. He said they were doing the Camino by bike as well. After he left, the gas station attendants excitedly told me he was the former president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa (who I googled and saw fled to Belgium where he now lives). Half an hour later we biked past their car parked at pullout and I waved and they waved back. Then another half hour later the car drove past with just the driver who honked a hello to us.
We arrived at our Albergue, which is much nicer than the last (€14 per night per person for a bed in 8 bed dorm). Then half an hour later Rafael shows up (with two of the others from his car, seemingly his brother and son)! So now we’re off to bed, and you can check out the grainy candid shot I took of the president.
