We are getting close! This will be our 18th day on the road and we are less than 60 miles from Santiago. Scoreboard please! Walked so far (Portomarin) 252 miles. Still to go (Santiago) 57 miles. Today we will whittle off 15.43 of those miles in walking to Palas de Rei.
It was nice to have our own room last night, especially when it comes to getting up and out in the morning. We can actually turn on a light!! I was so tired yesterday that I did no preparing for this morning. I had my stuff flung across the room. But, with the light on and the ability to move about the room without worrying about making noise I was packed and ready in about 10 minutes.
Downstairs, we had yogurt in the kitchen for breakfast, deposited my pack to be transported to our next destination and were out the door at 5:58.
Navigating by GPS thru the small town we found the “way”. We dropped steeply to the river/lake level, crossed a tributary arm on a bridge and began the long but not difficult 8 mile climb out of the town. We climbed 1200’ over those 8 miles, with a few short downhill moments.
I have to admit, the days are beginning to run together. The terrain is beautiful, and interesting, but there is little to distinguish one day from the next. Rolling hills, forests and fields, tractors and cows, “way” side cafes and albergues. The walking takes us about 8 hours a day, about 13-16 miles. We stop every few hours (or sooner as the day wears on) for soda, ice cream, cake, or beer. We walk with the crowds. We see hundreds of people a day. With Sally, we recognize or are recognized by many of them each time we stop at a cafe. The number of people has increased again. When we walked into our albergue in Palas de Rei for the night and got to talking to Manuel, the manager he told us there are 2500 beds in town and nearly every night they are all filled!
We met two adorable girls today, Erica from Mexico nearly finishing her PhD in sociology, in particular, immigration policies (very timely) and ?? from Japan. We walked and talked with them, sharing a table at a cafe rest stop. We saw Raluca and Jergen again, as we have nearly everyday for 3 weeks.
Once in the albergue, we looked for my pack which we had shipped from Palas de Rei (3€) but was not there. hmmmmm. Manual was wonderful and called to determine what had happened. He said the van was so full of packs and suitcases that mine was buried and they were not able to get it out when they stopped by. They were going to deliver to other albergues to empty the van, then return to deliver mine and another womans. While waiting, we walked down the stairs into town to the grocery store and bought breakfast, lunch and dinner and checked out the restaurants on our way back.
Arriving at the albergue, my pack had arrived. We showered, then started dinner-noodles, carrots, mushrooms and a leek with a chicken buillon cube. Delicious. I wrote for an hour, then we went to town for local dinner. We sat outside with the “party girls” that we had met on the “way” (Sally named them). We enjoyed scallops (10 on the shell, delicious) and French fries.
Satiated, we wandered back up the steps to our albergue and into our room, prepped our packs for the morning, and were asleep by 8:45. Great day.
Typical town scene
MJ from South Korea
?? From Japan and Erica from Mexico
The crowds
The crowds
The “Party Girls” (as Sally called them)
The “way” is beautiful much of the way.
RaLuca and Juergen
Two ladies from Ireland
Sally with her two favorite beverages
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