Day 21 El Ganso and the Cowboy Bar

Yes, sirree, it´s the Cowboy Bar!
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Today´s walk was generally flat, but it did go ever so surely uphill toward the end.  Since it was Megan and Diane´s first day, we had decided to walk a short 14 kilometers out of Astorga.  The guidebook mentioned an albergue run by the town.  Luckily, there was another one.  But I get ahead of myself.  The weather was cool, and we walked at a decent pace, in intermittent showers.  We stopped for breakfast in Murias de Rechivalda, about 5 km from Astorga.

We decided to take a walk through a town being restored, a few kilometers farther on, Castrillo de Polvazares.  It was interesting to see the crumbling ruins coming to life, and we walked along the main road through the town, looking every bit the old Roman road it once had been.

Does that sign say "Cowboy Bar" ??

Leaving Astorga... the sign tells all.
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At Santa Catalina, we stopped for drinks, then continued the last 5 km to our destination, El Ganso.  It was described in my Camino guidebook as a "hauntingly crumbling" village, and I think you can see why.  But as we entered the town, I spied an amazing sign above the usual little restaurant/ bar that these towns have, the sign said "Cowboy Bar."  I am not translating the Spanish, that was the name of it.  We decided to find the albergue, and then go back, you can´t pass up a cowboy bar, can you?

Gees, is this town occupied?
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Our initial destination was the municipal albergue, which seemed bleak as we entered it.  I didn´t see a bathroom.  The light bulb was broken, the cord hanging from the ceiling.  There were 8 sets of bunks.  The cleaning crew had been gone for weeks.  But I didn´t think I could walk another 7 km up the mountain to the next town of Rabinal.  We decided to tough it out, Megan unconvinced.  She said it looked like a place where they would film a horror film. We decided to go get some lunch at the Cowboy Bar.

Fixer-upper in El Ganso
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When we got there, I asked the señora about the albergue.  She asked me, which one?  I said the municipal albergue, but then asked if there was another one.  She said, yes, it´s only been open a few months, it´s private.  She told me where it was, and I left Megan and Diane in the bar, and went to reconnoiter.  That´s a cowboy word, I believe. And, Yes, Crista, I asked in Spanish, and actually understood the answer! (Yes, Maria, in Spanish.)

It was beautiful, modern, with electric lights, heat, running hot and cold water, showers, bathrooms, and a drop dead gorgeous view of the mountains.  There was a big gathering room, with a cast iron stove.  The manager said that €8 included breakfast.  Yes!! I immediately ran back to the first place and removed our 3 backpacks lickety-split!  Then I hightailed (another cowboy word) it back to the Cowboy Bar to finish my wine.

Great new albergue in El Ganso. Megan and Diane in the kitchen, cast iron stove roaring in the background. Did I mention it is in the mountains?
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Later on, Megan wanted a photo of the first place, and she and Diane walked back with her camera.  Snapping the photo, she spoke to the lone pilgrim sitting there, telling him about the new albergue we had found.  He was French, and his name was Yannick, a nickname for Jean, sort of like Johnny.  He came back with them to the new place.  We didn´t ask for a commission.

At dinner, he joined us in the Cowboy Bar.  We were all very glad not to have to sleep in the hauntingly crumbling albergue.  Megan still has the scarey place photo; maybe I´ll add it later.

Sun goes down in El Ganso, Ellen walks under the evening sky. Rainy day tomorrow
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This albergue was one of my favorites, mainly because it was nice and we had a good crew of pilgrims there.  Here´s who they were:

Yannick, mentioned above, and on the far right in the "Cowboy Bar" photo.

Esther from Germany - who walks farther than us and will finish her camino the 29th.  She is also in the Cowboy Bar photo, between Diane and me.

Tommie from Finland who travels withhis guitar in a plaid cloth cover.  Tommie walked 42 km today.  (We did 14!)

Me standing in the street of the restored town of Castrillo
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Aries from Hong Kong, who noted that the fact that the balls of my feet hurt indicated that I was not walking heel down first, but lkanding on the ball of my feet with each step.  Sure enough, I realized that I had been putting pressure on the balls of my feet to keep my heel blister from hurting; but that´s been healed for awhile now, so tomorrow I start walking heel down first.

Krista and Ellen, both from Germany, are "take it easy" pilgrims.  They try to spend more time in cafes and bars than on the road; they will finish when they finish, an attitude that appeals for sure.  Ellen lived in Palo Alto for awhile, so her English is perfect.

This was our pilgrim group in beautiful El Ganso.