Day 28 - Portomarin to Palas de Rei

???'s name is Kat.  I met the Philippines gang at an Italian place which seemed to be one of the best options in town.  There don't seem to be any places the locals eat here.  It's all catering to peregrinos and it feels like a rip-off.  In Portomarin there seems to be a level of contempt I haven't felt before.

I booked a very reasonably priced 4 star hotel not far from the Cathedral for two nights for about the same price as one night in the Comfort Inn in Goderich, Ontario.  Robert pointed out that if they had to have "comfort" in the name it probably wasn't.  I am now committed to making Santiago two days from now.

Last night I heard rain all night.  I got up with my 6am alarm but I was moving slow.  It didn't help that my phone SIM plan ran out at 28 days and I needed to re-up.  Thanks to Google Translate I was able to figure out the code I needed to send to downgrade my plan and pay for it.  Unfortunately, GT also translated the words it had to text and it didn't work with the translation.  Orange sends me a text in Spanish I ignore and then my Internet barely works and I get the message.

I was in the bar across the street getting coffee just before 8am. Wayne walked up and got a coffee.  I was ready to go and headed out knowing I would see him later.  It was raining but not too hard. At the end of the street I paused under a parking lot roof and suddenly the rain came down hard.  Missing that dump made the day a bit better.

I headed out of town and crossed a bridge where I found confused pilgrims looking at a choice.  Somebody saide right is shorter and I went right.  I found out later Wayne when left and it was just longer.  Usually, shorter means more climbing but not this time.

The rain was coming down pretty hard all the time.  I was walking on the road beside the path to avoid the puddles.  After a particularly hard bit of rain I decided it was pancho time.  The on pancho is hot but I was getting cold.  First slightly less rainy spot I got it on but needed the help of another pilgrim to get it on place.

A little later Wayne caught up to me and we walked together for a few hours trading glory days rugby stories.  The rain was heavy, lighter, heavier, really bad and lighter again.  We were soaked.  At a cafe we saw Geo and Kat, Yaz was on the bus with a bad knee.  At about the half way mark it mostly stopped.  I was getting tired and Wayne powered ahead.  Not many pictures of the rainy bits because ... just try to use a phone with cold wet hands.

Now that it wasn't pouring I could see we were in rolling farmland with cows and many little hamlets of stone houses.  Lots of farm smells, of course.

Even though my feet were soaked, I could tell the Compeed patches I put on my feet were helping a lot.  My feet felt better than the last few days and the soreness I always feel in my right foot from when I broke it in grade 7 didn't happen.  I think preventing the collapse of my foot by half of a millimeter made a difference.

The walk without rain was a walk and then I was in Palas de Rei.  I found my pension and cleaned up as quick as I could to get some food.  A nearby place fed me and I was headed back to my room to blog.  I ran into Jim and as we were saying hello Wayne walked up.  So many beers and a few wines and dinner later ... here I am.  Time for bed.  Clicks change tomorrow?  All I know is 29km to do and 40 the next day.

Did I mention the water in Galicia is kind of brown?  I still drink it out of the tap, but it is a funny color.

Day 27 - Sarria to Portomarin

Last night I thought I should go out and get some light food but lunch was huge and I just stayed in.  I'm trying to heal as much as possible for the final push so less walking is good.

I headed out about 7:30 after a coffee at the hotel made with the help of the owner.  She really loves what she does and said I would probably be back.  A very nice lady.  I did like her place and will certainly stay if I come this way again.

I knocked off 8km before it was light.  For most of the day I saw my English friends and Becky on and off.  It was pleasant walking and not hard so I just plodded along.  It was rolling green hills with collections of stone houses every few kilometers.

About noon it started to rain pretty hard and the last hour and a half was wet.  I could see Portomarin in the distance for over an hour and I avoided stopping just to get there faster.  When I finally got to town I walked up the main Camino street and found a bar and got a beer. Sitting outside I dug out my towel and dried off.  The tapas was tortilla and it was really good.  It wasn't particularly cool but it was nice to have the towel for warmth.

English and Becky walked up and joined for a few drinks.  The English couple are Wayne and Angela.  Wayne started the same day I did from SJPP.  Why have we met before, I asked.  We did, he replied, on day one, I said hi.  Oops, sorry.  Wayne had blasted ahead the first few days which is why we had not seen each other since.  Jim, from the UP and Alaska, joined us.  He was already showered and cleaned up and he left an hour after I did.  He walks fast.

We all headed to our places but exchanged contacts to meet up for dinner.

After showering I went to the pharmacy to get some Compeed pads.  My plan is to get to Santiago in the next three days.  This will likely destroy my feet so I will apply these things as needed and keep walking.  I booked two nights in Santiago already so I better make it.  It should not be a problem.  I have days with 25km, 29km and 40km.  That 40km will be a long one but it will be done. 

In town I saw Geo, Yaz and ???.  I walked up the street and we talked about our day.  They were looking for a cafe and I had to blog.  The wind outside is crazy now.

Day 26 - Triacastela to Sarria

Last night I met Robert for a glass of wine and some dinner at the same Parrillada Xacobeo Restaurante where I had lunch.  A few glasses of the house red, a bit of pollo and fries and a bit of a planning session.  After Sarria there is just a little over 100km left and my schedule says 5 days for that.  The Camino is supposed to turn into a bit of a crowded mess after Sarria so I booked a place for three of those 4 nights.  The last two days are only 40km combined so I think I can mash that out in one day and damn the blisters, sore knees or whatever.  I will finish the day in a nice bed and a hot bath with no walking the next day.

Turns out Robert was one room over in my hotel and as we walked back he was planning on leaving early and covering extra distance today.  We enquired at the albergue/bar across the street at the opening time which was 8am.  That would work for me but Robert would be long gone.

I was under the covers by 8:30pm and was falling asleep to an episode of John Oliver.  I was feeling exhausted and beat up.  I slept until 7am which had to be the longest sleep of the trip.

At 8am I was first in the bar across the street and had a Napolitano and pod coffee.  Better than no coffee but disappointing.  I was about ready to leave and Robert walked in, having slept in.  So much for his early start.  He passed me later after I was over the top of the mountain.

Out of Sarria there are two routes.  One follows the river and is 6km longer and the other has a 400m climb.  We opted for the shorter distance.  I could see the path of the river and while it may be a nice walk it can't have the vistas from the mountain.  The mountain walk had no excessively steep climbs or descents.  It was really nice.  The sun even came out.

On the last part of the climb and some of the descent I walked with Becky who lived in Spain and was walking with her English friends.  She came to Spain via England and Canada having left Hong Kong in the late 90's.

In the last town before we joined back up with the other route I left a coffee bar at the same time as a group of three from the Philippines: Geo, Yaz and ??? (two out of three isn't too bad).

The four of us walked the rest of the way to Sarria together.  Geo and Yaz were brother and sister and she had started in St Jean.  Geo and his fiancee joined her about 10 days ago.  Geo is a software developer and we talked shop the whole way in.

Sarria is kinda big but doesn't have a while lot of interesting stuff.  My hotel is cute - La Posada de la Casona de Sarria.  Old style rooms with modern bathroom.  Originally, I had a private external bathroom... so just for me but outside the room.  The very nice lady with perfect English moved me to an in room bathroom.  Very nice of her.  She also gave me some restaurant recommendations.

After cleaning up I headed over to one she recommended called Roma - not an Italian restaurant.  It was very nice and the 18€ menu del dia looked ok I thought I'd stray from that.  I had very good lentil soup, excellent bread, very good house wine, a salad, fries and veal grilled perfectly.  It seems this place gives you seconds of any of the things you order.  I was offered more meat; took one because everyone else was taking seconds and turned several others.  The waitress offered me more fries; thank you, one plate was plenty.  The salad which she had described as very small would have been good for four people with that meal.  3 glasses of wine, desert and coffee and I was full to bursting - all for 34€.  Lunch took about an hour and a half and that's about the time all the tables were taking.

This being a rest and recovery day I waddled back to my room and took a nap.

Day 25 - Pedrafita do Cebreiro to Triacastela

One of the three restraunts (by far the lowest rated one) in Pedrafita do Cebreiro opened at 7:30pm and I staggered over after having partied with the old people.  The elderly waitress was shuffling around between three tables and also seemed to be babysitting.  The food was decent but for the first time in my life I sent something back to the kitchen.  The pork ribs had good flavor but they were bright red under the surface.  They came back cooked and tasted very good.

My place was dark and looked empty when I got back.  I may have been the only one in the building that night.  In the morning the bar was manned and I had a coffee and paid.  Old school Spanish places collect in the morning which is a little odd to me and my early morning getaways.

To get up to O Cebreiro I had a steep climb on a dirt road in the dark.  It was a little creepy and very hard.  I imagine this is what the Camino path was all the way for 8km; I did about 2km.  After most of the climbing was done I joined the main road and soon came to the town.  I was back on the Camino.  Actually, I had been on the bike Camino the entire detour and had yellow arrows directing me.

I picked a random albergue bar and went in for a quick coffee.  Robert was there and we walked together for an hour or so. 

The sun was coming up as we left and it only rained very lightly sometimes.  I was hurting and moving slower and slower.  I plodded along and took my shoes off often.  The last climb to the peak was incredibly steep.  I rewarded myself with coffee and an excellent tortilla.  The really good ones are moist and the yellow yolk runs slowly out of the center.

Afterward I felt good walking along a flat at the top for a few kilometers.  Unfortunately, I was at quite an altitude and had to descend about 1000 meters in about 10km.  Going downhill really hurts and I was going slower down than up.  All I could do is plod along.  Oddly I was walking faster than a guy from Bend, OR who I passed today about 5 times.  He didn't take breaks and passed me when I did.  I would overtake him a little later.

When I finally got into Triacastla I was limping and hurting pretty bad.  The downhill hurts my right knee for some reason.  I was also raising some blisters.  Not sure if my shoes are breaking down or my socks are thinning and bunching or what, but it is new the last few days.  Maybe the wetness?

When I got to town I had a nice menu del dia and came back to life in a nice hot shower at my hotel.  Writing this up in the place I had lunch and I'm not sure if my waiter, who answers me in English, would rather I stopped butchering his language and just ask for things in English.

The menu del dia at Parrillada Xacobeo Restaurante had desert and I tried a O Cebreiro cheese with quince.  It was excellent.  A really nice combination of soft cheese and fruit.

Suddenly, it feels like the home stretch.  Tomorrow is Sarria which is where all the pilgrims start to do the minimum 100km walk.  I feel like if I blow my feet off I could do that in 3-4 days instead of the scheduled 5.  Two nights in Santiago might be nicer