May 23, 2015 Day 28 - Biduedo --> Sarria - approx. 25 K
Got off to an early start, since we had a little longer distance to make up in order to get back on track to reach Santiago on Thursday. Another cool, bright, clear day to come, although not as cold as yesterday. Our new friends, Simon and Millie from Australia, shared some of the musilie they had been carrying around to get everyone started before stopping for breakfast down the road. Millie taped Suzanne foot, as she injured it coming down the mountain yesterday and was experiencing some pain. Donna and I got out first.
We descended the mountain down a series of paths and dirt roads. Again, the scenery was gorgeous. Mountains in the distance and rolling hills and farmland immediately surrounded us. Also, a lot more cows grazing and "interacting" with us.
Mille and Simon caught up with us and we visited for a while. Simon began his journey about 5-6 months ago in South America. Traveled through Chili, Peru, and Argentina primarily, although he may have hit a few other countries as well. If I have the story right, he had met Millie through mutual friends before leaving Australia, and they had been corresponding. She met him for a few weeks in South America. Simon then went to,tour Europe, intending to end with the Camino. Millie decided to join him. They met John and Suzanne on their first day walking from St. Jean, and the four have spent a lot of time together since then. John and Suzanne are betting that Simon may pop the question in Finestere after the hike is over. At any rate, they are a delightful couple, and you can tell that everyone is pulling for them.
Went through a couple of small villages until we reached Tricastela, a nice sized little town which was very clean and had quite a few nice-looking little hotels and albergues. We were originally supposed to stay there until we modified to shorten a couple of longer hike days. Stopped for cafe con leche and I had a chocolate croissant looking item. Donna had tea. Nothing much else to eat except some sort of pastry or bread. But I was hungry.
After leaving Tricastela, we headed back uphill through forests and along streams. Several pretty severe climbs up steep and muddy rocky paths for an hour or so. Every once and a while, we would come out onto a small paved road between sections of dirt paths. Eventually everything leveled out for the most part. Lots of cows along this stretch. Looked like dairy farming.
We stopped at a lovely little road side bar for lunch and had a salad - it was good to get some greens. By now, Chris #2 and Marianne from Canada had joined up with Millie and Simon, and we got to hear some more good stories. Marianne is from London, Ontario, and I shared that I had spent a night there on one of my cross-country rides.
At about the 20K mark, my feet started hurting again. They had felt pretty good up to that point, but I did carry my backpack. Don't know if that was the cause, or all the rocky descents on the dirt paths - those are killers.
Finally reached Sarria around 2:30 pm and checked into our little hotel in tow. We are on the top floor with large windows overlooking the city in s huge room with three double beds. Nice clean bathroom, and breakfast included for 40 euros. We spent most the afternoon lining up accommodations for the rest of the week leading up to Santiago, so we don't have to worry the rest of the week and can enjoy our remaining time. More and more people join the Camino from Sarria on and we have heard it can be difficult to find a place to stay. At one point, I hiked up to the International Hostel and enlisted the help of the desk clerk there to call an albergue in Spanish and arrange a reservation.
For dinner, we went to a small restaurant up,the road for a pilgrim dinner. We were almost the only people there since it was early, and the owner bent over backwards to take care of us. We had some more Galician soup, which we are becoming addicted to. Donna had veggies and eggs, and I had a delicious grilled chicken. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for chocolate ice cream.
Tomorrow we have a relatively short day of 21K to Portomarin. Since the hotel here actually serves breakfast early, we hope to get going and arrive early enough in the afternoon to rest a little. The following two days will be longer leading up to two shorter days to conclude the walk into Santiago.
Buen Camino!
Kim
