Camino de Santiago – Part 13

September 16, 2024 would mark day 14 on the Camino. The day started early at my Albergue in Trabadelo. The gentleman who ran it gave me a lot of advice before I left, much of it repeated from the previous day. The advice was:

1. • Make liberal use of my bicycle bell. This was because many walkers were listening to whatever on their earbuds or headphones. To be honest, I learned this a long time ago.
2. • The day would entail a long uphill climb. This, I also knew from my map.
3. • A suggestion on where to get breakfast a bit west down the Camino.

 

He also kindly made a reservation for me at another Albergue in Barbadelo, called the Casa de Barbadelo, which was about 80 kilometers down the Camino.

It was a little tricky finding his breakfast spot, but it was worth the extra time and energy doubling back to find the place.

Shortly after that, I braced myself for a long uphill climb of about 760 meters (2,500 feet) in elevation gain. That may not sound so bad, but keep in mind I had a lot of weight in three pannier bags and it wasn’t the only biking I did that day.

This steep uphill section consisted of about three hours walking my bike up a windy road, which was not directly on the Camino. Another biker did it riding his bike, but he took so many breaks that we passed each other numerous times. He never spoke to me. I got the sense he felt I was cheating by walking my bike, but I have another opinion. As long as your muscles are getting you down the Camino (as opposed to doing it on an electric bike), it’s all good.

At the top of the mountain range, I passed through a little town full of tourists that were bussed there. I believe it was near here that formed the border between the Castille and Leon province of Spain with that of Galicia (Galacia in English). This was another marker that my trip was coming to an end as Santiago, the usual end of the Camino, is also in Galicia. This, I believe, would mark my high point on the Camino, including those sections in France.

After enjoying a break there, I did a long downhill section. After that, I went through an up and down section along some obscure roads where I felt I was the only soul for miles. Eventually I found myself at a nice spot for lunch.

There was another pilgrim there by himself who invited me to join him. He was a German guy about my age. The topic quickly turned to one I had heard many times on the Camino – How could our Republican candidate for president even have a competitive chance of winning our election. I did my best to explain it, but it only served to get him more emotional to the point of being angry. Eventually, I had to play a card I didn’t want to, but it was needed to shut him up. I asked him how “you know who” won the German federal election of 1932. That did shut him up other than agreeing with the point.

After that interesting lunch, it was back on the Camino for a few more hours until I reached the very small town of Barbadelo. It would have been easy to miss as the town was pretty much just a few farms and a rather large Albergue.

Before I continue, a word of explanation. The minimum distance required to get a Camino certificate in one of the three approved ending points is 100 kilometers on foot or 200 on bicycle. This converts to 62 miles on foot or 124 on bicycle. What many people do, especially Americans, is start barely 100 kilometers from Santiago. A convenient place to do this is Sarria, which has a train station.

As I write this newsletter, I see that Barbadelo is only three miles from Sarria, which itself is about 110 kilometers from Santiago. The Casa de Barbadelo was unlike every other rustic Albergue I had seen. It was spread over a big area with lots of grass, a restaurant, bar, store and even a swimming pool. There were several private rooms. I saw a mobile masseuse arrive at one of them with a massage table. The common rooms housed about five sets of bunkbeds and were similar to what I had seen elsewhere. However, the amenities were the best I had ever seen, by far.

The Casa de Barbadelo was full of big groups of people, mostly speaking with American accents, who obviously had just started the Camino. I spoke with one young woman from Dallas who had just started. As I recall, she had joined a friend or family member who was doing a much longer distance.

As I tried to adjust the derailers on my bicycle another cyclist took interest. He watched for a few minutes, which seemed to be all he could take of my amateur show of bicycle repair. He spoke to me in Spanish that was too fast for me to understand, left, and returned with a host of bicycle tools, rags and lubricants. He not only adjusted the derailers perfectly but gave the chain a good cleaning and lubrication. I thanked him profusely, but he seemed to say in his very fast and loud Spanish that I wasn’t taking proper care of my bicycle. He was right.

After eating I sat around, hoping to make a temporary friend, but was completely unsuccessful. It seemed everyone was part of a group and excited for the start of their 100-kilometer journey. Is it just me or is there a negative relationship between the probability of truly meeting people and the number of people in the group?

As I would continue to learn the next two days, there was a complete change in the vibe on the Camino before and after Sarria.

 

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Puzzle Section

Here is the puzzle from last week:

The king wants to marryoff his daughter. Three suitors apply -- a logician, politician and an attorney. The king may ask each one a yes/no question, for which the suitor must know the answer. The logician always tells the truth. The politician always lies. The attorney says either yes or no randomly. The three men do not know each other. The king seeks only to avoid choosing the attorney for his daughter. What question should he ask of the three suitors?

Here is the solution:

Any question will do that the logician and politician will answer differently. This would exclude questions like “Are you the logician?” Something simple like “does 1+1=2” will do. This will ensure a 2-1 split in the vote. The attorney must be in the majority, since however he answers, either the logician or politician will answer the same way. Then, pick the candidate in the minority. You won’t know whether he is the politician or logician, but all you need to do is avoid the attorney.

The puzzle for this week is the same as last week except the king may only ask two candidates and the candidates know do each other. To put the whole thing in words:

The king wants to marry off his daughter. Three suitors apply -- a logician, politician and an attorney. The king may ask any two of them a yes/no question. The logician always tells the truth. The politician always lies. The attorney says either yes or no randomly. The three men know each other. The king seeks only to avoid choosing the attorney for his daughter. What question should he ask of the two suitors?