May 24, 2015 Day 29 - Sarria --> Portomarin - 22.1 K
Started off a little after 7 am. Hiked to the top of the city, then took a very steep descent down a road to the outskirts, where we picked up dirt paths for quite a while. Saw a number of old Roman bridges, as well as a modern highway bridge in the distance.
We more or less wound our way most of the day through more farmland and rolling hills. Lots of dairy cows in this region, and you could definitely smell it. After one stop, a farmer guided a herd of dairy cows down the street next to us to a pasture further down. The cows seemed to know exactly where they were going and proceeded with "purpose." It was fun to watch. Also saw a lot of horses, dogs just hanging out, and cats.
On occasion, the path ran through heavily wooded areas, just adding to the variety of paths we walked today.
As we approached Portomarin, the walker traffic increased, and there was a stream heading over the bridge into the city. We reached our hotel around 1 pm, immediately went in search of a pilgrim's meal before restaurants closed for the afternoon, then returned to soak in the tub, rest and re-group.
I emailed John & Suzanne, and learned that they are in the same hotel a couple of doors down. So, we arranged to meet for dinner. Suzanne had to take a taxi yesterday from Triacastella to Sarria because of the pain in her foot. She ended up going to the doctor and getting an injection. She took the taxi today to Portomarin, and plans to rest again tomorrow. She hopes to be able to walk the last couple of days - especially wants to be able to walk into Santiago on Thursday. While she has kept a good outlook, it is disappointing for her to have come this far and then have to stop for a few days. Understandable.
We saw Simon and Millie strolling by as we were having dinner, and they joined us for a bit to catch up on the day. Simon told Donna she had gotten him addicted to Magnum Ice Cream Bars. Donna and I recounted how we had not seen anyone we knew today on the walk. It was kinda strange. We all have reservations at the same place Tuesday night, so will definitely hook up then. Otherwise, it is as the Camino goes.
Tomorrow we head to Palas De Rei - 24.8 K. Since there are some more climbs involved and because it is a fairly long day, I think I will send my backpack ahead to give the feet one more day to recover. Hopefully, I should be okay to carry my pack the last few days to Santiago.
Buen Camino!
Kim
