The late afternoon/evening sun was nice to be sharing with Mark and Helen having a quiet beer waiting for a seven thirty dinner. There was Amelia, the two poms, sisters from the States, Karen and Donna and two other lady pilgrims, and of course our hosts Susie, an ex pat from Australia and her Spanish husband,and me. The wine started flowing straight away.  The first course, a very nice pink rose with soup. Second course, a rice and vegetable dish,followed by a yoghurt and coconut milk mixture. Gorgeous home made food washed down with lots of red. We all had to get up,say our name and reason the camino brought us here. Always very heartening stories. I finished with a cup of tea and stacked many thousands of zzzzz s. This morning, like most, I laid in till seven.I don’t normally eat breakfast till later in the morning, but sat down to cereal, yoghurt, toast and VEGEMITE, you little ripper,and a cuppa. After putting my pack together, I filled my trusty flask and walked out at eight thirty , the latest I have ever left. The first ten ks was slowly ascending towards the highest point in Galicia and a close second to the highest point of the camino. Many ks were along a road, but only very little traffic. Lots of streams running beside the trail made for pleasant noise. Also the bells around the cows necks clanging,  as they peacefully munched on the grass was also soothing. Way up in the sky, you could see the motor way. From up there looking down, you could imagine being in an aeroplane. I did chat and see pilgrims I hadn’t seen for a while, including Bill from Las vegas, a lovely guy. After a stop at a cafe,I joined up with Helen and Mark for an assault up towards the top. Now away from the road, a muddy terrain straight up. I had to grab a horse’s lead and hand him back to its rider as he was descending. I would gladly have bought this fine looking animal saddled and ready to mount. We finally made it through a couple of villages and I thought I must be getting close to my albergue. Then all of a sudden, a farmer moved his cows from a barn onto the road and about one hundred metres into a paddock. It was a lovely sight and Bill like the rest of us enjoyed this experience. As we started climbing again, I felt I didn’t have much further to go and could only see mountain ahead. I yelled to Mark and he said they only had a mile and a half to the top. I then realised I had done it again. The excitement of the cows,especially when the bull was mounting one of his girls, I again had walked past. I headed back down, thankfully, only three hundred metres and checked into another lovely albergue. As I write, there are seven beds, but only four occupied. Just got my washing in and placed it over the heater, as even with sunshine, I don’t think it would be more than five degrees. It will be icy tomorrow,doing the last bit into O Cebreiro. On one of the camino forums, a pilgrim has placed photos of the Pyrenees, and it’s snowing. Four weeks ago,when I was there, it was a heatwave. Crazy weather in Spain. I’ve always wondered why there are so many dilapidated houses left to collapse in so many of these lovely old villages. The people here are friendly and make the pilgrims most welcome. Last night, Susie, our Australian host revealed in her story after walking three caminos,she wanted to leave Australia and be part of the camino. It took her two years to purchase this old barn, and then another two to realise her dream. Then she met her Romeo, and now they are living their dream. Many people try to purchase these properties but give up and throw it into the too hard basket. Why?I ask, this is farming country. Dairy and or cropping. Yesteryear, every body had five to ten kids to help run the farm. It was a way of life. Then enter automation. Namely, the tractor. Kids then became obsolete and left for the city. When mum and dad died,the house was left to the kids. But they have moved on. They are all on the deed, but probably like my family, live all over the place and not necessarily in contact with each other any more. So to buy, you need to find and contact all stakeholders before negotiations begin. Not an easy task.