The lesson I learnt today was not to stay in albergues with creaking floorboards! There was a dorm above my room and every time someone moved, the floorboards creaked so incredibly loud… add to this the fact that people in my dorm started getting up from 4am and it was my worst night’s sleep yet. I also have my first blister at the end of my little toe, a very tricky spot to cover with band aids.

​When I stopped for breakfast and took off my shoes and socks to let them air, a Canadian lady called Senja stopped and gave me some bandages and tape for my toe, it was very kind of her. I then started walking with Steve, a Canadian man who was doing the camino for the 4th time – it wouldn’t take much to convince me to keep walking along a different route once I reach Santiago! Oh and I took my first fall today! I kicked a big rock then went flying and the weight of my backpack ensured I fell flat on my face and grazed my hands, it would have been hilarious to watch but boy did it hurt!

​My destination was Foncebadon, which is 2 km downhill from the iron cross, ‘Cruz de Ferro.’ The iron cross is the place pilgrims leave behind the stones they’ve brought from their home country. It’s believed that when you leave the stones at the cross, you leave behind the issue the stone represents. I had 3 stones. I decided to go up to the cross in the late afternoon (4 km round trip) hoping there wouldn’t be any other pilgrims there, rather than at 6am the next morning when everyone would be on the move. I got to the cross at 5pm, stayed for a couple of hours and had it all to myself… I then parted with my 3 stones, walked back to the albergue and had an early night.

A horse in front of a crumbling down building in Foncebadon

Iron Cross