Sarria to Portomarín 25 km

I’m getting closer to the finish line. Today I packed up in quick time, to keep warm. I threw away the last of the washing powder, as I won’t need it again, and I wouldn’t want to cause a customs incident with a bag of white powder. Incidentally, I had a small bag of sugar and one of washing powder. They were indistinguishable, yet if I needed to taste one to see what it was, it was always the washing powder. Yuk.

I was walking out of the campsite by 8:00, and heading a few kms into Sarria. Now, anyone who knows anything about the Camino will know about Sarria. It’s the closest town to Santiago de Compostela, that if you  complete the Camino you get an official al compostela. Therefore, every man and his dog starts from here. I did in fact see a lady stamping a Dog Credencial.

The town was really busy, both with day to day life, like kids going to school, but also pilgrims everywhere. To my cynical eye, they all had tiny bags and brand new shoes, and were just blocking the way. However, the more I thought about it, committing to walk 100 km is no soft undertaking. I’m planning on walking The Ridgeway with two friends in a few weeks. It’s 90 miles long, and we will be staying in pubs along the route. The two are so similar that it became clear in my mind. Its harder to spot friendly faces, but I did see the Columbians a few times, and we contrasted the silence of yesterday. So I put the whole thing out of my head.

It is a really nice route, on paths and small lanes. You can still find significant lengths of solitude, just before you get stuck behind a big group of teenagers with music playing. It’s either groups of girls or boys, never mixed. Another striking feature is that the quality of the Camino side food offerings have gone up in style and quality. Most look like National Trust tearooms.

They key point of the day was to pass through the 100km mark, and get into double figures. This occurred in late morning, and there are marker posts everywhere, so there is no chance of missing it. The marker posts have the kilometre to three significant figures, which seems a bit overkill. In the event, there was a piper playing us over the threshold. I expect this is the most lucrative busking spot on the Camino, well certainly so far.

When I headed off this morning I had this grand plan to blast 48 km, to a campsite in Palas de Rei. This would let me do a 35km day on Thursday, and short day to finish on Friday, and fly home Saturday. You need to allow time to get your Compostela, it almost sounds like you have an interview. You have to go to the Pilgrims Office, and take a ticket. There is an online queue, so you don’t have to wait in line. If you finish in the afternoon, you may need to wait until the next day.  By about 18km, I was starting to feel pretty tired, and 48km seemed like an unnecessary punishment. I hadn’t stopped since a coffee and croissant for breakfast in Sarria, and had been eyeing up all the posh food places. I decided I would stop a the next food place, my watch was at 3% power so I needed to stop (I’d hate to loose the geographic data on it). The next place was only Vending Machines. I stopped anyway and had enough change for a packet of crisps! There was a bus shelter and a collie dog so in fact it was a good spot.

I used the time to have a look at flights home, and the prices have shot up since a last looked. I grabbed a flight for Monday evening, only €44, plus €49 for a checked bag. I don’t need to check a bag size wise, but i do so I can get my Swiss army knife home (and my walking poles). This takes the whole pressure off the walking, which suddenly felt a really nice place. My watch had 40% charge so I headed off again, until the first National Trust tearooms.

I ordered my chicken sandwich, and got my food buzzer (see, National Trust) and got a nice shady table. It was busy, and I was joined by an elderly French lady and her Belgian female friend. They didn’t speak much english, and my French has been long forgotten. I had them down as starting in Sarria. They had actually started in Burgos, 180km before Leon, and its taken me a week from Leon. They have walked all the way from Le Puy En Velay in France in stages over the last five years and should finish in about a week. That’s over 1,500 kms, full respect, and a humble lesson learnt about judging people.

With the pressure off, I really enjoyed the walk into Portomarín. Yesterday, I was becoming a bit emotional thinking about getting to Santiago de Compostela, and wondering how I would handle it. With the crowds this morning, all that went and I couldn’t imagine having any experience amongst such a crowd. That has changed. {As I am writing this outside a bar (obviously), a family group has just walked up the hill with little kids, and and adult pulling a collapsible trolley full of rucsacs, like a beach trolley. It was an impressive sight. I saw it being pulled empty in Sarria, and at the time, I thought…. Idiots. I’m pretty sure they are South Americans. I think there are lots of South Americans here, and maybe not everyone can afford the bag transport services. Anyway, it is dedication beyond my understanding}.  I’ve changed!

Enough of that – let’s stick to the facts. There was supposed to be a campsite in Portomarín, however it was a bit out of town. Any Google search revealed it as a rustic farmhouse at €120 and no mention of camping. I wasn’t feeling like a walk to find out. I decided to book the best scoring albergue and got a very nice small dormitory for €16. I’ve done three €10 nights on the trot, I’m due to splash out soon.

Portomarín looks a nice little town on a river, although the river looks suspiciously wide so I expect there may be a dam involved. The dormitory looks right over the  river, and I expect my (much younger) dorm fellows are eyeing me with suspicions of snoring. I dozed off after my shower, while trying to write this, so I may have shown my cards early!

More pilgrims equals more life in the town. By about 6pm the bars start bustling, but I’m going to eat early. Last night I went to the Campsite bar (it’s a proper resturant) and was told I would have to wait until 9pm for the “big” Menu. It seemed crazy as I was the only person eating and they were tidying up around me. I’ll eat early tonight, and enjoy lying in a proper bed for longer.