After an incredible organs breakfast at the beautiful albergue in San Martin De Camino I headed out for another day of walking, walking and more walking.

Unlike every other town on the Camino de Santiago San Martin De Camino was kind f unique as the first thing that appeared from the town was not your usual church tower – it was a UFO huge water tank (that looked supernatural from afar).

I said farewell to the town and UFO and headed on my way.

After following yesterdays highway for a few kilometres the Camino de Santiago finally diverted back to natural tracks and it felt good to be surrounded by corn and dirt once more.

After spending some quality time with some cows along the way I stopped for breakfast in a small town and joined a nice young British couple sitting outside.

We exchanged some typical Camino de Santiago words and started to discuss the most important topic on the trail – our feet.

I shared my foot horror story and admitted that even though my foot was not in pain it happened to be twice it’s regular size which was beginning to become ever so slightly concerning.

The British lady perked up and handed me some pills: Take these!! They work!!

The Camino de Santiago had made me a very trusting pilgrim and I took her word for it.

I plodded along feeling positive with my new meds.

I passed through the bigger town of Hospital de Orbigo just before lunch and as I walked over the beautiful bridge leading into town I had a revelation: I needed to shave.

Determined not to gain a reputation as the hairiest pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago (after my bold move in getting to use the men’s shower the night before) I visited the nearest store I could find and used my skilled body language to imitate the act of shaving to communicate my needs to the small Spanish lady behind the counter.

She giggled and handed me a 20 pack of razors… I didn’t think my legs had gotten that hairy and I convinced her that one would suffice.

Armed with a razor I already felt slightly liberated and walked through the afternoon with a new feeling of confidence.

I had spent most of the day alone so was very happy to be joined by an American Jewish pilgrim, Steve, from Boston to keep me company through the afternoon.

Having a friend during afternoon walks always made the kilometres fly past and soon we had reached Astorga, the very attractive larger city that marks the beginning of the Maragateria, where the Camino de Santiago would transform from the hay-covered trails through the Meseta into another mountainous region.

As per usual I had no interest in spending my evening in the crowded city and after admiring the main sights in town I said farewell to Steve and headed on to quieter places.

I spent the afternoon completely alone on a dusty trail out of town eating all of the juicy blackberries I could get my hands on along the path.

I eventually stumbled upon a small town called ‘Santa Catalina De Somoza’ at the top of a hill where I saw a couple of small groups of pilgrims enjoying the afternoon outside some of the street-side cafes.

“Is this place nice?” I asked them

Everyone said yes so I walked int the first albergue and got a bed.

There was a small group of younger people in two – two German men and a Polish women. I spent the afternoon strolling around the small deserted village with them and instead of joining them for a joint played on the swings in the ghost-like playground with a young local boy who was wandering around singing.

It was kind of an eerie town but it was nice.

And with only one other man in my dorm room (who didn’t even snore) I got another good nights sleep knowing that I was halfway to Santiago…