Day 36 Portomarin - Airexe

We left Portmarin by the foot bridge

and we walked through woodland ....

And then along the road .....

Havn't worked out what these are yet
but there are lots of them!

John and Mo before the rain really set in

Finally met up with John and Mo last night. John has been walking for 6 days and so far no sign of the pilgrim feet and leg problems. It s still common to see people hobbling about with bandaged feet, especially if they have recently started. So John is doing really well.

We talked about the accomodation problems and it looks like we will have to start booking ahead in order to ensure a bed. It really is quite stressful arriving I'm a strange town and panic booking the first thing available. John has yet to have the albergue experience and may miss out as you can't book ahead for the municipal ones.

I have to say I am not raring to go today. There is a definite feeling that the best is over and this is the tail end. The atmosphere on the camino is different since Sarria. The weather outside the Pension window changes from grey drizzle to lashing rain. We have to make sure that everthing we own is in plastic as the last month of hot weather has made us a bit careless.

The days walking was Wet Wet Wet! But we missed the pilgrim rush hour (6am-8am) by leaving at 9am. So there were far fewer pilgrims on the road. The few who were visible had dark plastic capes over themselves and their rucksacks and looked like strange hunchback creatures roaming around the countryside
We met up with John and Mo en route at the first coffee stop. Thereafter it was head down, teeth gritted until we got to the planned destination. Fortunately, John and Mo had booked a room with 4 beds so we are all in together tonight. Ruth is talking about a taxi tomorrow?? What a thought!

For dinner, we met up with Australian Sharon who we first met on Day 1 of the Spanish camino, Peter who was on the same flight fr Birmingham and Brenda from Denver. We had a jolly pilgrim meal. We have learned that we like the local soup Caldo Gallego - think it is made with potato and swiss chard or similar green vegetable. Also like the local cheese that is served with quince jelly (membrillas).

Day 36 Portmarin - Airexe

Galician gardener

Day 35 Barbadelo - Portomarin

100Kms to go - stones tell us every 500m now

Pink cape, hairy legs and leopard skin umbrella

Pilgrims outnumber the locals

Arriving on Portmarin

This is going to be a moan!

Woke up in the amazing Spanish house with clean white sheets about to luxuriate on the fact that we had time to stretch and come round as we wouldn't be turfed out at 7.30am. The German lady from Bavaria who had walked all the way from Geneva came back from the bathroom saying she'd had the worst night ever- and she had been on the road for over 60 days. She was bitten to pieces and had been fighting bedbugs all night!! She had their dead bodies and terrible bites to prove it. Although one reads about this, this was our first experience. The german lady had all the right sprays but they really went for her in her corner of the room.

Neither Ruth nor I were bitten but we were shocked into jumping up and getting out as quickly as possible. On the way out, I told the lovely Spanish lady who had welcomed us. She was mortified and I got a barage of incomprehensible Spanish, the gist of which was that she kept a very clean house and they must be mosquito bites. I showed her the dead bodies and gave her a hug and said the house was beautifully clean but she needed to know about the bed bugs Not sure there is a lot she can do about it as the place is so ancient with so many nooks and crannies. Just really grateful that we weren't attacked.

The bed bug room!

The whole atmosphere of the camino changed today. We got off to a bad start and things didn't improve. There were hoards of people en route and loads of day trippers with big hats, big boots and small rucksacks covered in shells. And it rained. The first rain for over a month so can't complain but I am!

To cap it all the whole route smelt of manure, muck spreading and slurry. It was wet and sticky under foot.

We knew from the numbers on the road there would be a problem with beds and there was a generalised frenzy to get to Portomarin. I wondered why I was here and my instinct was to get out. Thoughts going through my mind like ' stuff the Compostela', get off the camino and find a nice quiet pension somewhere to spend the next few days.

Inside Monastry

When we arrived we headed for the first albergue with lots of beds - completo - what a surprise! Went in everywhere with rooms/beds signs and eventually ended up in an Ok pension sharing with Ruth. Trouble us they are not set up to deal with wet clothes which are hanging all over the room now.

John and Mo have arrived in Portomarin and will meet up shortly. Hope they are in better spirits. They have been doing quite long days to catch up with me.

Now we have 89kms left to do and 5 days to do it in. Should be a breeze? We want to get into Santiago on Sunday, do the Compostela stuff on Monday and do a day trip to Finisterre on Tuesday. We'll see.

Church Portomarin

Peter (who I got on the plane with on Birmingham)
- just a wee bit p'd off with the
change of vibes en route today

Day 34 Samos - Baradelo

Paddling

Monastry at Samos

Sarria

Left the monastry at 7.30am and had breakfast in the bar opposite. On the road for 8am and walked through beautiful oak woodland by the river for most of the morning. Lost Ruth and all other pilgrims in front and behind so walked alone. Not very well waymarked as this is a scenic diversion so was slightly worried about being lost.

As paths diverged about 5km before Sarria, more pilgrims appeared out of the ether. Passed through Sarria without stopping but loads of accomodation here of every ilk. Apparently, Sarria is the nearest place to Santiago that one can start from to earn the Compostella prize. So lots of people start here. Pressure on accomodation will be increased even more no doubt.

Walked onto Barbadelo to get back into the countryside and tried to get into the albergue. This tiny village has 3 albergues - all completo. We were directed to a private house next to the church - pure gold!

The house is huge and ancient - probably built at the same time as the church - 12th century and probably for the priest.

My washing - just to prove I do it!

Church and house where we stayed in Barbadelo

Pilgrim in the 9th C church in Barbadelo

Day 33 Fonfria - Samos

Arriving at the monastry st last!

Where I found Ruth today at her lunch spot

Walking through the mist

Slept badly despite the beautiful spacious building. Probably too animated after all the camino discussion last evening. Really interesting communal dinner.
Such a collection of people at dinner last evening all on a journey of self discovery but choosing to do it with lots of others. It's a very safe road to take and many people do it alone. It's easy to keep yourself separate or mix in as the mood takes you.

Last night at dinner I sat next to Jurgen, a police dog handler from Germany. He showed me a picture of his dog. There seem to be loads of German Shepherd dogs around here as pets and farm dogs, all roaming loose or just snoozing and totally ignoring pilgrims. In England, I would be frightened of walking past a farm house with 3 loose German Shepherds outside but these seem really docile. Jurgen says they are not the proper breed.

There was lots of discussion about why people were doing the camino. Escaping from work, stress, relationships. Trying to break out of the rat race, taking time out of normal life to ' find yourself'. Lots of peole doing it to mark retirement but lots of young ones as well. All in all, it is a therapeutic experience to walk through beautiful countryside day after day and have no worries except finding one of the plentiful beds. Social life comes with the package if you want it. To be recommended.



Today I walked with Ruth again through Galithian villages in the early morning mist. The mist lifted and we walked through woodland along a river bank. Prolific mock orange perfumed our path.

We planned to stay at the monastry in Samos - the largest in Spain and one of the oldest in the western world - 9th century. Has been receiving pilgrims for over 1000 years.

It took longer to get there than we thought and we didn't take enough rests to pace ourselves comfortably. So we were tired and a tad irritable on arrival to find queues. There is a pressure for beds and people start queuing early. But it ended up not being full. This is always the balance to be drawn - take your time, enjoy the walk, stop frequently, arrive about 5pm - and find the albergue full - or not as the case may be.

Just a word about food - the pilgrim fodder is starting to really pall. We are not getting access to real Spanish food. It is so frustrating. We were looking forward to a late Spanish lunch on arrival. The locals were eating all sorts of wonderful stuff and we were offered the 'pilgrim' menu. I said I didn't want it and pointed to what the Spanish were eating. Not possible!!!

With the beautiful Viking!

Day 32 La Laguna - Fonfria

Alto San Roque

Inside the church at O Cebreiro

Inside the church at O Cebreiro

Photo taken by Ursula - by the flowering hawthorn

Dinner at Fonfria

Slept with 6 Italians who were gone by 6.30am so decided I may as well move too. I climbed up to the top of O Cebreiro as the sun was coming up. So lucky to have the sun and clear skies for the amazing views.

O Cebreiro is quaint and very touristy but I did have a special camino moment in the church. It is 9th century and the oldest church on the camino. It is so beautifully simple and I was there just as the sun was shining through the window slits behind the altar. Surprisingly for an earthbound, irreligious and rational person, I was choked up. Maybe it was just reaching the top. But I think it was the sheer magical beauty of simple stone, wood and light. No stained glass, no blood and gore effigies, no gold or silver.

Once over the mountain, I'm walking into the damp mist that you can see from the top. It is pleasantly refreshing after the heat of the last few days. The guide book says that the weather changes dramatically in Galicia as the westerly winds from the Atlantic hit the mountains.

A lady who liked having her picture taken

I have met Ursula, German living in Spain, on this stretch. She had the OK in March after treatment for throat cancer. So this is really a camino oh thanksgiving. She's going slow and valueing every moment.

Clara at Alto do Poio (1337m). Walked last little climb with Matts who emerged from the mist. Matts is the self confessed alcoholic Viking who tells me he is 34. I guessed him to be 40.

Ruth and I have walked together off and on today. She takes off, I linger. Then she stops and I catch up. So we arrived in Fonfria together and decided to stay. We could have walked on but the next albergue is 9 km away. The landlady said she was full but agreed that we and about 10 others could sleep on the floor on matresses. That's fine. More than fine. The building is a palloza and it's tons better than the military style bunk beds in the usual albergues.

Walking alone - why I can't get lost!

Inside the palloza where we are sleeping

Where I am sleeping tonight

John and I passed through O Ceibreiro where it was misty and attmospheric.Sometimes the surrounding mountains could be seen, sometimes the mist was too dense. We walked on to Triacastela but arrived later in the afternoon. The place was full! No beds to be had anywhere. We went to the local alburgue and were directed to a Casa rural place 2Km back. The owner came to collect us. We were told to bring food but she then locked up the kitchen, leaving us with a pile of uncooked food and no alternative! I was not happy, but we managed to scrape together some cold food that we later shared with three Spanish people who were brought later and faced the same situation as us. We had our own room but the beds creaked and there were rustling plastic sheets. We put the mattresses on the floor. We won´t be recommending that particular billet to anyone. Mo

Day 31 Trabadelo - La Laguna

Ruth and I shared a room last night with a young Spaniard who started screaming in the night (about 12.30am). Ruth started screaming in response and it was the most blood curdling noise. He was thrashing about on the top bunk and I was terrified he was going to fall off.  He didn't wake up. People in other rooms started moving around, going to the loo, outside for a smoke but NOBODY came in to see if we had been murdered!  In the morning, it was obvious that everyone had been disturbed but didn't want to be the next victim. 

We were only going to go to Rutelan today. 10km. To have an easy day and because the Albergue had been recommended. But we were there by 11am and it was too early to stop. We had picnic lunch at Las Herrerias en route upwards to O Cebreiro. Ruth and I  decided to part company for a while so we could go at our own pace. She took off and I lingered at the lunch spot.  

O Cebreiro is a steep climb up to 1330m and quite a milestone on the camino. Ruth and I had planned to stop halfway up and do half of it in the morning when it is cooler.

Everyone seems to be rushing upwards with intent and just to be perverse I have dipped a cloth in the river to put around my shoulders and decided to go up as slowly as possible. I am stopping at every bit of shade and despite the intense heat I am on a mission not to get hot and sweaty. It is not a day to increase one's aerobic capacity. Easy does it. As Ruth has gone on, I am a free agent to be as perverse as I like.

I stopped at the German hostel in La Faba and decided not to stay there. It was 2pm and I thought I could go on a bit. It was a big room with a lot of bunks. 

Trouble is going higher is above the tree line and it is very hot with little shade. Have I been hasty in turning down a bed. Will there be one at the next place?? This is what goes through one's mind when alone. How risky to be ??

Scary stuff. Got to La Laguna, the last post before top of O Cebreiro and ...... COMPLETO!

She rang around a bit but no joy. It's a very tiny hamlet so there's not a lot of options. 

So I took a deep breath and tried not to cry, ordered a clara (shandy) and decided to sit for a while and then push on. It's only 2.5km to the top and probably a lot more beds there.  

While I'm sat having a drink, a guy from Croatia meets some mates coming up who ask him to go on with him. He cancels his bed!!  So the lady is so pleased to tell me I'm OK to sleep after all. I gave her my credential for stamping and paid 9 euros. That's expensive for a albergue so don't know what I'm getting? 

I'm in a room for six on a top bunk (which I don't like) but the village is lovely 
and Ruth is here too. We didn't realise this for a while. So we had dinner together 
and now I'm appreciating the last of the evening sun looking at a field of cabbages which have just been ploughed by a horse. 

John and I also walked up to La Laguna, the day after Jenny. After the experiences of the previous day we decided to get our bags carried and have another early start to avoid the afternoon heat. The walk was steep but not as difficult as the previous day. The path was stony but scenic, with views of the mountains as we climbed. It was hot but not overpowering. We arrived in La Laguna at 12 noon and spent the afternoon sleeping and relaxing in the room. We rejected the domitory option! It later cooled and the clouds came in, obscuring the views. Mo