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22 kilometers, 5 hours, passing through Mondoñedo.
For some damn reason, everyone got up at 7:00. The sun didn’t get up until 9:00 for Pete’s sake. To add to the darkness, it was cloudy outside. The last of us—eight in all—I got up, still wondering why. Hendrik was the first to go. He had good reason.
The evening before, he had washed his pilgrim credential with his clothes, which completely destroyed it. Without your credential, you cannot stay in the cheaper pilgrim-only albergues. I asked about a replacement on a Facebook page for the Norte and we learned that he could obtain a new one in the next town, Mondoñedo. The very next town. How handy could that be?
So, off he went to see for himself. His Plan B: take a bus to Santiago to get a new credential, then return. Fortunately, there were two places he could buy one in Mondoñedo: the tourist information office and the cathedral.
Under streetlights, I ventured through Lourenzá, past the Mosteiro San Salvador, and went into a bar to have breakfast. When I hit the trail, later, it was still pitch dark.
Creaking eucalyptus trees, the hoot hoot of an owl, wind rustling the tree canopy above, and a crescent moon peering through an opening in the threatening clouds high above gave an ominous feel as I walked alone. My trusty headlamp lit the trail ahead.
The path led quickly up and over a short ridgeline then down into Mondoñedo where Hendrik was sipping hot chocolate in a bar across the plaza from the cathedral. Nothing would open for a few more minutes. His rush had saved him nothing. He waited.
After my second breakfast and the cathedral had opened, I went over and paid three euros for a tour of this magnificent structure, constructed in 1258. To add to my delight, I ask for and received another stamp in my credential. The tour used a handheld device that talked of the cathedral’s history in English.
After the tour, Hendrik caught up with me in the plaza. He had a new credential. It had cost him three euros. We left town, making for the biggest climb we’d had in a while. At the summit, well above the tree line and near 2,300 feet, the wind blew, and it rained lightly. Soon enough, we were going back down and toward Abadín.
From Mondoñedo there are two routes to Abadín. One mostly on road and five kilometers longer. The other mostly on a dirt track, shorter, but more climbing. We chose the dirt track away from the roads. From the summit, we quickly dropped down and into Gontán, then Abadín.
There were several options for the night, too. We chose a very new albergue beside a small store and near to restaurants. The Xabarin filled a sparkly clean and super modern environment. Getting tired of not knowing if the place we planned to stop at was open or not, I had made a reservation for this place the night before. It turned out there was plenty of room, but because I had gone to the trouble, they gave me a room all to myself. Heaven.
Still early afternoon, we found a menú del dia across the street from the Xabarin. The usual hearty, warm, delicious meal we were always happy to find powered us through the rest of the day. Later, we would only need a light dinner and have a little vino.