From Zombie village to artist's stew

Yesterday we had a hard walk in the blazing sun with nowhere to get water for 9kms. As we crested a very dry and dusty hill we suddenly saw something strange: lots of green grass. A golf course?! Here in a very arid part of Spain? Then we noticed the rows upon rows of empty apartments with all their windows shuttered:

And swimming pools and parks - totally empty of people:

Everything was for sale - the whole darn town! We started to feel creeped-out:

And then we heard from someone that we'd better hurry up and find an Albergue (place to sleep) as the town was not safe at night. We imagined Zombies coming out from the abandoned buildings groaning "brains - pilgrims' brains!!"

That's me n my dad running away!! 

Naw, just kidding about the town being unsafe and the zombies. We did manage to find a simple but cute and affordable place to stay in the non-zombified part of town, run by an artist who made us a terrific lentil stew. He told us he did the Camino three times in one year and then decided to open up this Albergue. Here are some of his paintings in the common room:

We got a room to ourselves with a non- rickety bunk bed (our host told us it's because it's from IKEA) and I slept well for once. Here's a view from our room: 

So far I've managed to lose my favorite pen, my Concordia water bottle and my quick-dry towel (been sharing my dad's which feels slightly gross).It's somehow incredibly easy to lose stuff on the Camino with all the daily shuffling. Not to worry because each hostel has a "take what you need, leave what you don't" bin and I scored a new waterbottle and a foam mat so I never have to sleep on a shaky bunk bed again - I'd rather sleep on the floor! :)