We arrived in Santiago at 10:30 after hiking the last 12km! First glimpse of the cathedral. 
A couple of funny sights as we walked – bread delivery (we saw loafs in bags tied to doors) – and a coke delivery in the middle of nowhere when a van pulled over to a group of pilgrims and threw open its doors to them.
The way was crowded but eventually became less noisy until we reached the old town. Winding, narrow roads with many shops, and many tourists and pilgrims. The cathedral’s square is massive. And busy. We were emotional for our long journey. 
After contemplating the significance of it all, we headed to the Pilgrim Office to get our compostelas. There was a huge line. Here we started to see people we recognized, and watched other happy reunions. With our documents, and Don’s satisfaction with having completed something so meaningful, we bought bread and manchego cheese for lunch and ate in a sunny corner of the square.
A few hiccups with accommodation but we finally found something just outside the old town. We then went to grab a beer. We ran into the Icelanders, who told us about the 7:30pm mass in the cathedral. After our beer, we bypassed the crowds at the front waiting to enter and touch St James’ foot, by going through the side door for the service. It was all in Spanish but a special end to our walk. 
In the middle of the photo is the incense burner or butofumerio. We got to see and smell as it was lit and swung during our mass – which was a surprise as there apparently needs to be enough donations for that to happen. It was swung very high up and filled the space with a smoky frankincense. Eight men operated the butafumerio, which weighs something like 60kilos!
After, we exited straight into an orchestra playing in the square beside. It was surreal. 
Walking 318km over two weeks is tough. You quickly notice every body part that isn’t working perfectly. But the things you see and experience are extraordinary. And the sense of accomplishment makes you feel powerful.
The terrain was pretty similar to the last few days. It was so misty that felt like we were being aerated. Trees were also dropping so much dew I thought it was raining. I kept my gloves on til noon, and welcomed the cooler temperature. 
Many roosters let us know of their presence, but not all went to the same yodelling school – Don pointed out some were vastly inferior in their calls.
The initial walking was under cloud cover on paths with oak and pine trees. At lot of needles and leaves had fallen, making it smell like fall. I wore my gloves as we kept entering patches of cold air. We could even see our breathe from time to time.
Our highlight was hitting this marker and then seeing a vending machine with a Camino design. When you look at the numbers on the market, you’ll see they are not even in any way. All the markers – and there are plenty! – have odd numbers. Don thinks that’s cool as he loves odd numbering. We gave some serious thought to buying a coke.
Just when we thought we couldn’t push on, we saw palm trees and beautiful gardens. That convinced us an accommodation must be close by. Yes, that’s Don’s boot on my pack – I’m that awesome when it comes to shin splints – he changed into sandals and carried the other one.
We kept going for another 3 or 4km and took the first thing we found – 300m off track was perfectly fine. It’s 6pm and still 31 degrees. We’ll need sunscreen just to have a beer 😉
Thankfully Don read somewhere that we need 2 stamps a day in the last 100km – so all covered there.
We crossed two old stone bridges and walked by these dancing pilgrims.
A lovely morning, mainly because it was cloudy. Soon the sun peeked out and it became very hot. Melide’s main church – in the heat of day few people about.
As we walked through this very small town, I looked everywhere for ice-cream and it was not to be found. Sometimes the days go like that. We did eventually score some of the good chocolate stuff about 4kms away. I was happy since I saw the sign for ice-cream and the place we stopped had exactly what I wanted. Sometimes that’s all you need.
It was dark and foggy because we again were walking in the mist above the clouds. 
Most of the day we walked along minor roads and trails nearby. A little rugged uphill but easier than yesterday. The big difference is the volume of people on the way. At one point, a woman exclaimed that Don had such a big backpack, giving herself away as a Camino tourist = in for 4-5 days of walking ie a long weekend with bags brought ahead to reserved accommodation and lunches prepared at cafes en route. Sheesh, without a backpack Don and I could run the Camino 😉
As we reached our destination, for the first time on this trip we were told an accommodation was full. Not once but twice. Both times we could see suitcases stacked by the reception, so we shouldn’t have been surprised but somehow we were and also a little offended I must say (me not Don) that Camino tourists were taking up our spaces. Ah well.
In the evening, we wandered by the main church just as a service was getting out – good people watching opportunities. 
We saw Martin – the Aussie who’d met a lovely woman on Camino last year and they’d met up to walk it again, plus loads of day trippers (you can tell from the dress), a fellow we’d seen a few times who seemed to know everyone, a family singing so badly we’d run ahead to avoid them (yes it was that bad!) and others we didn’t know with whom we nodded.
We’d been warned that the last 100km into Santiago is busy and less friendly, and based on what we saw today that is accurate. We had coffee after the first two and a half kms. By this point we’d observed taxis trawling for – we assumed – stranded/tired/passed out pilgrims like tow trucks trawl the 401.
We’re still finding many people we recognize on the trail, which makes us happy 🙂 And we are still drinking plenty of coffee along the way. 
As we dozed after a long day, it rained so we got up to watch from our balcony – the best viewpoint. Later we walked around the town to investigate dinner options. We dropped into the church, which was fairly busy with mostly pilgrims. We saw the Spanish who shared our room on the first night and a few others we knew. 
We saw big patches of evergreens and a couple of foxes watching us watching them before they bolted. At one point, an oasis popped up out of nowhere. In an abandoned building, someone had set up shop with fruit drinks and snacks. As we were leaving, “Jesus,” who ran the place, gave us both a four leaf clover. This Camino is definitely a winner now.
As we entered Sarria, en route to the next village, we encountered a serious set of steps. At the top was a beautiful church and a woman tending flowers across. She saw we were out of breath and offered us a room. We declined as we wanted to get in a few more kms, but commented how clean and friendly our Camino has been. 
Our walk took us through a lot of shrubbery, evergreens and pines. But I must point out that it was shit-filled – obviously many a horse and cow had come this way. In fact, at one point, we stopped to let a herd of cows through, which took longer than it seemed it should, as the dog in charge didn’t really seem that interested in corralling the cows.
Today was the coldest day yet. All my jackets made an appearance, even got the gloves and hat on. Mainly because for a good portion of our walk we were in the midst or mist of clouds. At one stop, I warmed up in front of a fire. And I was not alone.
As we go, stretching is always a good thing. Separates the rookies from the pros. Sometimes there are observers. Thankfully they don’t usually make comments.
As the day wore on, the weather cleared up and even became somewhat sunny. Our walk was almost all flat along a side road on our right and a river with overhanging trees on our left. The rain made everything smell fresh, like being in a rain forest. 
There were tons of cafes on the way so no shortage of cakes and cafe con leches. We bought some fruit at a stand and sheep cheese at a grocery store. I’m feeling smug about the spoils: 
I swear no one really knows how far anything is as we see signs with all kinds of distances that don’t quite make sense. At this point in our journey we figure Santiago is about 160-170kms, but look closely at the number below. 
The first hour or two of our walk was in and around neighborhoods and gardens. Very green with lots of pear and apple trees, a few corn fields and spotted a couple of poppies before seeing this crop of prize-winning pumpkins. 
Don pointed out that our mornings are generally about finding breakfast as well as some of the pilgrims who are travelling at our pace – today it was Poland, Maryland, and the Icelanders who stayed in our same hotel.
Last push until our final destination today. Made it to an alberge for the night and collapsed.
Ele's Travelling Adventures 