I stayed in Leon to rest for a day. The albergue that we slept at last night is also a youth hostel and we were so lucky to have a large bus group of teenaged boys staying there that night too. In the morning I felt like I had slept at a circus with a hundred elephants running around in circles with the noise the guys made opening and closing doors, running and yelling in the halls. In the morning I took pleasure in the fact that mysteriously only the girls washroom had hot water for the showers. Interestingly enough this is not the first time I have encountered this situation in an albergue.
As I was getting ready to leave I went to the reception desk to complain about the noise and found the French couple I had been travelled with on several occasions quite upset and rightly so. For the first time on the trip the albergue had requested to keep the ´credencials´or pilgrim passports at the desk overnight. The couple had been about to leave and their credencials were missing. Having started their trip in Le Puy en Velay in France som 1300kms earlier it was to them as if their entire trip had disappeared and they were so frustrated they were ready to go home. I ended up being translator/mediator in the situation where there seemed to be two different stories. The solution or next best thing was to have a letter written explaining that their credencials noting the completion of the previous kilometres had been seen, but then were lost. It is not the first robbery or whatever you want to call it I have heard of. One guy had his papers and money stolen while taking a shower, another girl had had a purse go missing and then in Leon I was forewarned to not take out money or walk alone because there are a group of guys that have been specifically targetting pilgrims. Basically like any big city or in public places because albergues often have a doors open policy you have to be careful.
With all the excitement of the evening and morning I wanted to take it easy for the rest of the day.
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