Day 3 - August 24 - PART 2

Day 3 - part B

"Ju" is a Taiwanese- American woman my age, my size and who has my spirit! She also has this real deadpan sense of humour.  We met her in the middle of a forest path trying to shove thirty pounds of "stuff" back into her pack pack. We advised her to purge at the next hostal that night. We stop for a snack, climb a hill to cross a major hwy and who is on the other side dumping stuff into a big garbage bin? Ju! We cross

over and find out that her hubby paid for her trip and packed for her- 30 days supply of Starbucks coffee, blister packs, Mole skins, Metamucil, you name it. You name it, she had it. She threw clothes out- she was a walking department store. Jesting we said "We could have used some of that stuff!" She tips the bin and dives in to haul out stuff to give to us. Honest to God! I have the picture.

She took a liking to Nancy and me and we ended up shadowing each other all day. We arrived at the Municipal Hostel, a real dump run by Godzilla, but there was no place else to go, we thought. Ju walks in, throws her backpack on an upper bunk and declares "I have high blood pressure. I can't sleep in a top bunk. Watch my stuff. I will be back". She was back in 10 minutes and declared" I found us three bottom bunks in a private hostel close by, and I paid for breakfast too. Come on, we are out of here!" Nancy and I were speechless. She wouldn't let us pay, told Nancy in an aside after "not to worry , she was loaded"; that we had helped her, end of story! We accepted with graciousness and gratitude, so happy to not have to stay at that awful municipal hiatal. We told others we knew there that we were leaving behind three bunks already paid for, and to pass that message on to new arrivals. Such is The Camino! The Avellano hostel was wonderful. We paid for Ju's supper but it was not in repayment. It was just The Camino Way"!

I have two days blogging to catch up up. J'espère que Louise pourra afficher mes photos de Ju!