Day 41

I am never going to be able to pick a favourite day of the Camino, but today was special. It had its challenges with a climb to Alto Riocabo 905m (what would a day be without an Alto!). The Way is along a soft path with moss covered drystone walls built so many lifetimes ago. There are views out to rolling hills with the beautiful horned cows gently moving around their fields.

It’s so quiet there are hardly any pilgrims around and I spend most of the day on my own in a walking daydream. I do see other pilgrims at a beautiful Donativo cafe where I stopped for morning coffee. We are all in awe of the offerings and the peaceful place that had been created along the Way.

I stop for lunch later on at a cafe and order food in fluent pretend Spanish and sit watching the world go past – we’ll actually a couple of pilgrims and a farmer on a tractor.

As I leave I call Ron at home and walk and talk with the camera on until I remember my walking poles. After retrieving the said poles I push on!

I am very conscious that once I arrive in Sarria my Camino will feel different, many many many pilgrims start from Sarria, it is where you can start from and get a Credential in Santiago, as you need to walk at least 100km.

I arrive at the Alburgue which is modern and has all a pilgrim needs. A shower then to the laundry there is both a washer and a dryer I opted for both, it cost €7 but there was a bit of ‘queue rage’ so I hightailed it to the closest laundromat to get my bag of wet washing dried.

I wander up to where the restaurants are in search of dinner and find two Australian pilgrims from my stay at Trabadelo, I join them for burgers and patatas frittats with hot sauce, just what I have been day dreaming of as I walked, well along with baths and hot tubs, facials and foot massage, but I will leave it there. Another Australian pilgrim joins us we all met at Casa Susi. One of the pilgrims is an artist from Yackandandah, Gordon was at the Camino conference I attended last year in Melbourne. He has walked several Camino’s and paints along the Way. His work is beautiful and really captures the Camino.

Distance walked 18.7km plus 500m to go back and get my walking poles.

Elevation 905m

Gordon Dickson Art