Village Life

Cynthia Piper
Oct 12, 2025
2 min read

It's easy on the Camino to lose track of days and dates. But stop in a village and the traditional patterns of life remind you that in this case it is Saturday. As in many villages the local parish ladies were busy cleaning the church while the men were in the bar playing cards. The little church of Santiago the Apotoro (St James the Apostle) is obviously well loved. One of the ladies pointed out their cleaning roster, how most of the villagers take turns. She hunted up the pilgrim stamp for me, and let me know Mass is at 8 o'clock tomorrow. I gave her a card of the Maori Madonna, had to use Google translate to explain. Check out the doors on the little church, doors within a door. Stopped in at the bar and watched the old boys playing a form of bridge. From the number of men there it is a great time to socialise.

The hostal I am in is just 3 months old and is very nice indeed. It has what pilgrims want, individual light, power point for charging phones, somewhere to store your pack, and best of all a curtain for privacy. One thing you have to get used to is lights that are motion sensored, including the toilet lights. You can be quietly minding your own business when the lights go out. You then have to wave your arms in the air to make the lights come back on. I have this image of people in hostals all over Spain siting in the toilets in the dark waving their hands in the air.

On the way here, Villadongas, we passed through La Virgen De Camino where there was a very modernistic church, a complete contrast to the Leon Cathedral. The alter piece looked like it came from an older church, but the whole building was very sympathetically done.

If anyone is comparing my daily blog with the itinerary on the holyblisters.co.nz website you will have noticed a few, well more than a few changes. That's because at times we struggled to get accommodation and because we recognised our limitations and cut back the distances we are walking. Let's face it, I am old and not as fit as I was 6 or even 2 years ago. I guess a heart attack does that to you. I'll have ago at updating the itinerary in the next couple of days. The offer is there if anyone wants to join me for a couple of days walk,