Camino Day 43 – Bed Bugs and Octotopus

Camino de Santiago

Thursday 1st June 2023

Distance 14km / 8.7 miles

Ribadiso da Baixo – Salceda

I woke this morning to discover more bites on my arm and some on my stomach too. It was a but worrying and I was concerned that this was going to spoil the final days of my journey. At this stage there wasn’t anything I could do so I applied more cream and took more tablets. I continued with my routine and sat beside the river and said Morning Prayer. Whatever else was going on this was why I was walking, it may have been a pilgrimage to Santiago but I was very consciously now walking with God.

I climbed the hill out of the village and was able to enjoy a beautiful sunrise over the valley. The colours of the sky just took my breath away, though maybe the steep hill had something to do with it.

I walked into the town of Arzua hoping to find a laundrette which Google told me would be there, Sadly on this occasion Google was wrong. I had gleaned from forums that the best way of eradicating bed bugs was to put clothes and bedding through a very hot tumble drier. I continued on through more beautiful scenery.

I had booked a hotel room for tonight and once I arrived there I got some breakfast and waited until I could check in. It was a good room with and en-suite bathroom. I could get my stuff sorted and the things which needed to be heat treated in separate dry bags. As the restaurant at this hotel was branded as a Pulperia specialising in Octopus I decided that this was the time to try it. It turned out to be something I wouldn’t have again and I was glad of the bread and wine which came with it. On principal I eat it all.

I only now had one more stop before I reached the end of my journey.

Similar Posts

  • Pilgrimage

    An unexpected change in my life occurred in 2022, Walking became intertwined with pilgrimage. I had been living quite contentedly without faith for over twenty years and I had no plans to change that. I had also made walking the major theme for my retirement. While reading around the subject and dreaming of the walks…

  • Camino – An encore

    After a seemingly long time getting through the rush hour traffic into the centre of Paris we finally arrived at the Coach Station. After finding refreshment and facilities at the railway station up the road I felt a bit more human and decided I had loads of time so I would walk to the Gare de Nord to get my Eurostar train back to London. This was my first visit to Paris, though I still wasn’t in full tourist mode yet.