Day 70 / Chantada - Lalín / 46.99 km

I went to sleep the previous evening after a dinner consisting of a lot of meat and patatas fritas. When ordering the wine I went for the housewine which I understood was 13 € but eventually was only 3 €.For the bottle. When I woke up, at 6.30, I was positively surprised that my legs, after yesterday’s trot, were still functioning. Strangely they felt rather good.  

Around 7.00 I leave the hostal and have breakfast in a bar. Around 7.30 I start to run. Today I will either run to Rodeiro or Lalín (The blog’s title gave already away it will be Lalín). The first 8 k is going up and down. Today more then 2000 height meters are to be covered, most of them are a climb to above 1100 meter of the Monte Faro The weather is grey, cold, good running weather. The climb is a mix of road and path, sometimes quite steep. The views, again, are beautiful. The mountain ridge is used as a windmill park. Before descending to Rodeiro I traverse the entire ridge encountering maintenance teams of the  windmills.

After a climb one descents. I follow the Invierno via small paths to Rodeiro,  a small city and commercial hub of the local villages in the region. When I reach Rodeiro it’s 11.30 and have covered 27 k. Rodeiro is a dull,small, place, with some commercial activity but not a place where you want to spend a lot of time, less want to sleep. After a self made bocadillo queso I continue to run. When I leave Rodeiro what was in the air, rain, decided to fall down. Not a lot of rain. Lalín is roughly 20k further. The Camino continues to follow small paths through fields and small villages. Sometimes I think I’m in the Ardennes. Most of the time the Camino ascents but before I reach Lalín I ascent 4 hills and pass zillion dogs. Every house has at least one dog, often they are on the street, unchained. When you pass It’s not always clear if the will bite, or not.

Around 15.00 I arrive in Lalín, a city slightly less dull than Rodeiro. On my way to Lalín I booked a bed in a private dormitory hoping I would be the only guest (I did not encounter another pilgrim since 2 days).The dormitory is perfect an indeed I’m alone, no snoring tonight.After showering and washing I take a long siesta. Around 20.00 I wake up, it’s raining. In the evening I have dinner, Pizza at the restaurant of the albergue’s owners. The pizza is great, ham mixed with anchovies. The owner is a Camino friend and offers me dessert, coffee and a liquor on the house. 

Lessons learned 

- Pizza in Spain ? Yes ! 

- It will only go down from here.

- dogs, dogs everywhere.

- 50k to go.

Song of today : Happy Man - Jungle

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