Arco - Revolta

Dear friends. A BIG WARNING!! After Ponte de Lima, there are two somewhat unadvertised ”albergues” in the village of Labruja. These are very convenient especially if you have stayed at Casa Fernanda the night before. Labruja is a quiet mountain village with but one bar/cafe and it is right before the big climb (it was closed that day for a holiday.) The two albergues are called O Conforte (on the internet) and the other Casa da Valada (signs posted along the Way). We had made a reservation (€15pp) with O Conforte since I found it in the internet. However I did not read the google reviews (bad decision) It was a holiday and we rang her to confirm. She said that she would not be at the house when we arrived because of the holiday. She said just go in and pick a bed. Our other members of our Camino family were booked in at the other albergue . So we walked down there to meet with them. The lovely proprietors said they would sell us an end-of-the-day cold beer (or two!) since there was no one home at O Conforte. At one point I returned to O Conforte to fetch my guidebook for planning our next few days, when the owner of O Conforte drove up with her family and started screaming at me (in Spanish). “Eh! Do you have a reservation here or at Casa da Valada?!” I replied I “a reservation here, you told us to put our bags inside; I am just walking down to speak to my friends.” She then started screaming at me “no, no!! You cannot go down there!” You can imagine my confusion. She repeated more than once “no you stay here and you cannot go down there!“ (apparently she does not get along with the owner of the other albergue- her brother!!) She then threatened to lock the gate/door so I couldn’t get my backpack. I then said “do you want me to call the police?” At that she then insisted that she did not want any bad reviews, and that she was going to do check-in at 4:30, and then if “you are not here, I will put your things out!” And this is the abridged version of the story! In the end we returned at 4:30 prompt, grabbed our things and slept on the floor at Casa da Valada. Whatever you do, AVOID O Conforte if you can. This woman treats Pilgrims like a paycheck and that is all. (We heard that for 5€ our friends that did stay there received a hard boiled egg and a tomato for their dinner. Oh! She also demanded that one of them pay for us since we left! Even though we had no shower or anything. Thankfully, they were not bullied by her.)

Perfect Bar Cafe very nice owner working very hard and always with a big smile!! There is also a little supermarket inside. Very important this is the last facility for hours, before starting getting up the mountain.
(Profi Pelgrim, 14 Camino’s, 360 days food and beverage in bars)

There’s a new albergue just before you begin the climb called O Conforto. Number is +351 968 432 059. Call ahead to make a reservation! It costs €15 to stay plus another €5 for the meal.

Die Bar ist eine der grässlichsten am ganzen Camino. Ich würde dort nichts essen. Wasser kaufen eventuell, aber auf der Landstraße kurz vor der Bar gibt es eine herrliche Quelle, die als Trinkwasser ausgezeichnet ist. Und geh lieber im Waldstück davor auf's Klo, denn in der Bar ist es eher nicht empfehlenswert, außerdem gibt es eh kein Papier.