"I´m so tired
I haven't slept a wink"
-The Beatles
As hard as Ponferrada was to get into, it seemed almost impossible to leave. Ended up spending an extra night there due to not getting any sleep at the hotel where I stayed. Don't know what it was, just kept tossing and turning all night. The upshot is that I knew I would'nt make 21km on 2 hours of sleep, so I didn't even try. Next day I changed hotels and essentially spent the entire day sleeping, waking only long enough to take a short walking tour of the templar castle that the town is so proud of. It's pretty cool, but it's a bit misleading when they say it was built in the 9th century, as most of the more dramatic features were added in the 15th and 16th. In any case, despite sleeping through the day, I still had the best sleep ever that night.
Left the hotel just as the city hall clock was striking 9. That's when the problems began. See, Ponferrada is under such heavy development that many camino waymarks are completely obscured or oblitterated. Ended up wasting an hour and 6k trying to find my way back to the camino. Once I did, the rain started to set in. Pouring, driving rain. Made the first 6km into Camponaraya seem twice as long. The sun did eventually make an appearance to dry things off a bit, but it can't restore the energy lost from fighting the rain.
Managed to get a bed in Villafranca in Jesús Jato's albergue. Was a very cool place, but unfortunately, no quiemada ritual that night. Place was very comfortable for an albergue though, and I slept like a log. A very loud log, if my fellow pilgrims are to be believed.
Tomorrow should be a short day; only 16k scheduled. Just need to get to the base of O Cebreiro (the next, and last major mountain pass to cross). After that it's 14k up and over.
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