Rolling On to the End

Hi,
I had a nice time in Sarria. It was my birthday and I had dinner and a wee brandy with a very congenial Irishman, Poriag from Port Loise. However left Sarria at 5.30 with no great regrets after a fitful nights sleep. The walk to Portomarin was very good, kind of uphill most of the way but through a lot of lovely, Scottish like, forest trails. I suppose forest trails are the same the world over.

As staed earlier, I push it a bit to make sure I got an bed in an albergue and fortunately I did (just). Many others were less fortunate and had sleep on the town hall floor or outside in the park. It is said that you have not really experinced the Camino unless you have slept outside at least once. Well that is a pile of compensatory mince constructed by those who have had to do so (in my humble opinion, which will be a first, ie a humble opinion).

I like Portomarin, nice wee town focused around the main square dominated by the big though architecturally suspect church. I think in this place the design idea was more along the lines of BIG rather than asthetic. Good food and a good sleep, ie no one snored.

Again off in the early hours heading for Palas de Rei. The walk is now through groves of eucalyptus trees which continue almost all the way to Santiago. Very peaceful and since I had given up the urge to charge ahead, I had the chance to relax and really enjoy the walk. A bit long at 18mls but when you do this at a stroll it gets to be enjoyable.

Kept passing and being passed by the same group of people which is part of the process of the Camino. Wee chats at rest times, sharing food and patter and developing relationships which tend to last until we reach Santiago. No pressure.

Got to Palas de Rei and found a bed easily enough. This town lacks any sense of history and is pretty much a place to leave asap, which at 5.30 the following morning, was exactly what I was doing.

On the exit route I met a German girl, Fransica, who had got lost and ended up in the woods getting pretty frantic. It is pitch black at 5.30. She was in tears when I found her and being the hero told her not to worry but I would take us along the right route. She was praising my gallantery until we both realised that I was leading her back into the woods from which she had just escaped. Took the same wrong turn as her didn`t I. Dumpling, you don´t have to tell. If your looking for an eejit I know one personally.

Finally took the correct road and she was reunited with her brother and the others with whom she was walking. Next time she gets lost I am looking the other way.

Having recovered what little dignity I had left I hoofed off quickly towards Arzua, another stop on the road which did not over impress me with its architectural grace and design. In fact it had none. Met up with a French Canadian, Lucas, who cooked a chicken stew which was to die for. Absolutely wonderful and the best meal by far I have had in three weeks.

We were joined by a lady from Lichenstien who has been on the various Caminos for the past 3 years. She is not a tramp, just a mendicant with no desire to go back home. She is now on her way along the Camino Portuguese towards Porto and after that it looks like Rome followed by Jerusalem. That takes a special type of mind set.

Up and out at the crack of 6.30.



The past two days had been pretty heavy walking and being a bit tired I was debating throughout the morning whether to stop after 15mls at a place called Arco do Pino or carry on for the full 23mls to Monte do Gozo. I made up my mind that I would stop at Arco.

Guess what, I was chatting with a Spaniard called Nacho and walked right by it without even seeing it. During our conversation I mentioned that I was stopping at Arco. This generated one of those, "This guy must be spacer" looks from him and he proceeded to tell that we had passed it an hour ago. So it was Monte do Gozo or bust and bust was a likely result. Nevertheless I made it and producing my first blister of the walk in the process. It was a belter but, No, I did not burst it.

There are 500 beds at this blight divided up into units of 8 people across a number of huts. The first person to calculate the number of huts gets a special mention in the blog.

By 6.30 it was full and people were being turned away. That gives you an idea of the number of people on the Camino during the 1st week in August, the first week of the annual holiday for most of Spain. If you plan on doing the Camino make sure you schedule the Sarria to Santiago section outwith the first two weeks of August.

Monte do Gozo stands for Mountain of Joy. This is the height from which the medieval pilgrims got their first glimpse of Santiago. Nowadays you get your first glimpse of the sports stadium.

The traditional reason for stopping here is that people could wash off the road from themselves and their clothes in preparation for entering the Cathedral which is only 3mls hence. Much ahs been said about how dreadful the albergue is but it is just fine, clean beds, hot showers and places nearby to eat. Not a lot of style, I grant that.

And so the big morning arrives. Up and out by 7am (long lie I know) and off into Santiago. Surprisingly quiet. The walk is mainly through the suburbs along the main road into town. However the mind is set on reaching the end point and the traffic, little though it is, matters not.

And then you are there.

Pictures etc. from another site at: http://www.santiago-compostela.net/frances/en_cf32.html

Will update tomorrow, when I return home.
cheers,
Arthur