Day 29 to 32 Sarria to Santiago 110kms

Hello here we are again, apologies for the radio silence since the last blog.


We walked 27k to Sarria which is located a strategic 100+ k from Santiago and therefore is a popular start point for the minimalist walkers who can qualify for a Pilgrim´s Certificate by completing 100k minimum. We stayed above an italian restaurant and fell into conversation over dinner with 2 elderly ladies whom we had often seen on the Way. It transpired that they commenced their walk from Nancy in France and to date had walked 2000k they were so unassuming and modest we consider them to be the Amazing Pilgrims.

The next day saw us elbowing our way thru the 100k starters which was reminiscent of a sponsored walk, however having a clear way in front of us we had a delightful day covering an easy 22k through ups and downs, thru small farmyards, lots of cows, yapping dogs, clucking chickens,suspicious cats and silent farmers, the countryside was very green the fields and meadows on an english scale. Nikki kept searching for a place where she had breakfast last time she did it - we found the place 2 days later...and had to endure a gruelling 12 kms without breakfast in the mean time. We bumped into a German couple along the way a 38 year old lass(Manuella) and her dad (Harald) whom we had exchanged pleasantries with a couple of evenings previously and together we covered the last few K into Porto Marin. A curious town which had been relocated due to the building of a dam which flooded the original village, the church had literally been rebuilt with each stone carefully numbered. The next day we set out for Palas de Ray a town some 25k away.

If planning to walk 25k,Here is a clue, do not drink 4 double grappas and a bottle of wine each the night before...Here is another clue, pack all your clothes properly in waterproof bags do not shuff everything willy nilly into your backback in the morning as it rained and rained and was cold and blustery and reminded us why we had left England/Melbourne.

On our last legs at Lunch we had hardly anything to eat and were still suffering from the night before we came across an isolated bar with dark interior and stone flagging floor and there we discoverd the delights of the local Galitian speciality a hearty vegetable soup - "caldo gallego" with crusty fresh bread mmm - delicious it should be bottled.

We stayed in a very quiet hotel (but warm!!) in Palas de Rei which itself is a rather disappointing town...

The next day (day 31) we walked to Arzua (which is close contender for the most horrible town on the walk apart from the "fluvial depression") the day´s walk was beautiful with lots of woodland and hills and farmyards. We saw (again!) the 2 french guys whom we had befriended along the way who made a habit of stopping every 2 hours in a bar and sharing a bottle of red wine together... we think it is the only way they were able to combat the muscle pains. The Amazing Pilgrims were floating along as well - they seem to cover the ground with no effort at all.

At dinner that night all of the pilgrims seemed to congregate in the restaurant of our little hostal and it was a party atmosphere as most had at the maximum only 2 days to go before absolution (so to speak) - with only 40kms to go the mood was light, little rain was forecast, and the pilgrims knew that the end was in sight, manageable and actually quite easy if walked over the next 36 hours.....We dined that night with Steve and Terry - the former a 67 year old Irish Catholic lawyer from Connecticut and the latter a 68 year old ex Merchant Navy sailor from Norway who had covered over 1600kms from Le Puy...two lovely guys who made friends during the camino and walked together for most of the way through Spain.

Day 32 dawned (supposedly our second to last) and we had a leisurely morning having breakfast before we left - as usual witha few drunks in the bar! And off we went at 8am....by 10am, having walked the first hours with a hoard of pilgrims through the woods, we decided we would try and walk the full 40km in to Santiago rather than stop half way as planned, as long as we could book ourselves into a hotel room....

At lunchtime we did precisely that and gritting our teeth off we went at 1pm for our last 4 hours of walking.....And actually it was not so bad as we were mostly alone and it was a lovely afternoon.....we ambled (well marched actually) through more villages, past the airport (wow - we were getting real close now), found a very popular local where heaps of pilgrims were lunching with wine and huge steaks at 4pm (what on earth were we walking for!)....by 5pm we had reached Monte del Gozo - a small hill around 5kms outside of Santiago where the Pope had addressed the masses back in 1989 when he did the pilgrimage (presumably he was a 100km - er) and one was meant to see the Cathredral (nope - never saw it...) . We also passed the biggest refugio along the way - capable of housing 800 pilgrims....a few of our fellow pilgrims stayed there so that they could amble in for mass at noon the next day......somehow the 800 bed barrack did not appeal....

The last 5kms were the most painful as ever....we played hide and seek with the Cathredral as we walked in - it felt as though we were walking in circles and really would never find it when suddenly it appeared tall and overpowering right next to us....and when we entered the square and headed to teh shell in teh middle..guess what...the cyclists beat us to it...argh....

So off to get our Compostela (the certificate for our`pilgrimage)...and guess what...we beat the cyclist that tried to push in front of us...you´d think that after 30 days walking against 10 days cycling (if that!) they allow us the privilege of going ahead just this once....