Day 30

An upset stomach and dry throat yesterday had me taking a few vitamins and whatever I could lay my hands on in order to ward off this threat to my Camino. Have agreed with Anne that a broken limb will probably slow me down but not stop me but anything short of that I will just treat as a minor irritation.Walked 17 kms into Astorga this morning. At the first village , a Korean girl and I missed the turn and found ourselves 200 metres on searching for a yellow arrow--in vain. We worked our way back to the centre of the village, where I was prepared to methodically check all the intersections but she, much more practically walked into the bar and asked and the batman came out and pointed to the street where I had just spotted the arrow I had missed. I waited for her to catch up and thanked her for asking and we walked together for 40 minutes to the next village. Binnie was doing an Arts degree in Korea but loves travelling any walking so the Camino seemed the perfect choice for a Uni break.I stopped for a coffee in the next village and she went on and in the bar I met Colin and Anne from Perth who wanted to know if South had won the Grand Final. Told them I wish I knew the answer so I could get a bet on. They were walking from Leon to Santiago as they thought the whole Camino too far to walk.They may be onto something there.then walked on my own for an hour or so,very peaceful, lots of birds and lovely bushland but a rocky road which made for difficult walking.In the middle of a long 13 km stretch without bars or villages, I came across a Spaniard who lives in a little hut right beside the Camino path. He has lived there for 5 years and each day puts out a table full of fruit and nuts and olives and juices, coffee and tea. He just wants to serve the pilgrims and is perfectly to live in his little but without electricity. He had a billy on the boil if anyone wanted a hot drink. He had a wonderful, welcoming energy so I stopped and had a banana and some nuts and took my boots and sox off to give my feet a break. I really enjoyed my 20 minutes or so with him and he gave me a warm hug as I left him.made my day!As I left, a German girl, Marina, who I had seen a few times along the way,also left and we shared the last 6 kms walking into Astorga. She also had a lovely energy and made the time and kms go quickly. I met up with Anne near the Cathedral---she had got a cab in this morning and had toured all the sights of Astorga while I was walking in. We then walked on to Murias together,5 km out of Astorga where we are staying in a private home where the owner rents out a couple of rooms.Our room is delightful with lots of space and its own bathroom. Another wonderful day on the Camino.