Last night I stayed in Ventosa in the beautiful new alburgue Saturnino.
8 Euros
8 beds to a room
Kitchen
Laundry, washer, dryer
Sitting room with woodstove
and a CUTE little store, where you can buy small amounts of anything you might need.
The store was such a sweet surprise. She has things like single or double servings of rice, instead of those huge bags, pasta, canned fish, tomato sauce, wine, water, and a fridge with cheese, yogurt, milk, and other cold things... and small packs of things such as shampoo, soap, toothbrushes and paste, etc.
It´s really brilliant!
After doing my little routine spray of the bed, despite the cleanliness of the place, 5 minutes later a chincha reared its head and marched up the wall. She was horrified, and stripped all the beds and sprayed the place. It just goes to show that it does NOT matter how clean a place is. The poor hostpitaleras clean and spray, then next day a pilgrim brings chinchas right back into the alburgue!
I stayed up at Monjarin this summer, where there was no water for washing anything. The beds were scarily soiled and the mattresses were not on frames, but on the floor of the attic. I was sure I would get chinchas, but not one showed up! So honestly, the only way to know is to spray your bed with mosquito repellant, wait 10 minutes, and watch. If they are there, they will come out. They do not like the spray at all!
Right now it is raining HARD outside. I have just walked from Ventosa to a truckstop about 4 k before Najera. My
ALTUS raincoat has been brilliant. My pack and I are dry. My feet, on the other hand, are DRENCHED!
Joe is in Logrono tday at 3:30 so I will walk very short stages today, maybe only to Najera. Then tomorrow I will wait for him in Azofra, where he will catch up with me.
That´s all to report, pilgrims.
Buen Camino!
Annie