Two days to go.
Day forty-five started early as we had to be out by a certain time, 6 or 7 am, I’ve totally forgotten now, and I got caught up in the mass morning exodus of pilgrims. There were about eight or nine of us scattered on the trail at the same time, and the trail was a tiny one-way path by the side of a busy main road. We all walked in a line. I really, really hated it. The feeling of constantly having someone nipping at your heels is so uncomfortable.
There was no denying it was an exceptionally fine morning though. It was early enough that the sun was only just rising, its vibrant orange glow cutting through the chilled, dark spaces of night-time.
Most of us set off without breakfast since it was so early and made for a cafe about half an hour out. I arrived to find a small gathering already outside… and discovered that the cafe was closed. Excellent. And the next stop wasn't until a few hours later. I sat down with two other walkers and ate some of my snacks, taking a moment to be hangry - it was way too early for this sort of disappointment - and also wait for the pilgrim traffic to disappear.
It was going to be a hot day again and I was still struggling to walk at my usual pace. I had to push through to make it to the next village where there was food. I came across a group of familiar walkers but they were already finishing up, so it was a late, lonely breakfast of the usual tostadas for me. When I set off again, the heat had finally broken through. Hot hot hot. I tried not to focus too much on how far there was left for me to walk. On the way out a new pilgrim came up and asked me if there was anywhere to find food; another British pilgrim! There haven’t been many other Brits on this particular trail.
Thankfully, there wasn’t really that long left of the day. I thought there was maybe eight km left, a couple of hours - it actually turned out to be less than an hour! Small mercies.
Near the end of the walk, the British pilgrim caught up to me again and we walked and chatted together all the way to the village I was stopping at, and he carried on. It was sweltering by this time and I was glad that I’d stopped for food earlier.
I arrived in the afternoon - it was a short day after all, even though it felt incredibly long - and the albergue this time was huge. It looked like a renovated old house with multiple extensions. It was beautiful and so modern. I’ve noticed most of the Galician council-managed albergues are like this; it’s wonderful to see and experience the effort and money invested into this kind of thing.
Inside was warm too; the heat came through strongly and the bedrooms were toasty. Too hot now, but I look forward to not being cold during the night for once. There was a communal eating area downstairs where I sat for a while, and at one point a new four-legged friend, a stray I think, joined us.
It was busy in the albergue and I saw a lot of new pilgrims, no familiar faces at all. It was tense though, and I could hear arguments every now and then. I didn’t catch much but from what I could understand from the woman who checked me in, it seemed there was a group of people who’d arrived by car and taken up a batch of beds. Not many were pleased about this.
In any case, I was so knackered I couldn’t find the energy to be that bothered. There’s always drama on the Camino. The evening was slightly strange already as there was some kind of filming going on with a local political party and we were asked to stay put upstairs until they’d finished. I went out for a nice dinner and came back before being locked away upstairs, spending the rest of the evening in my top bunk (alas, no bottom bunk for me today) indulging on Netflix.
Until next time,
A.
About me
Hey! Ameena here - I’m a freelance portraiture and documentary photographer based in London. I enjoy telling stories about adventure, the outdoors, and our relationship with the natural world.
In this newsletter, I’m digitally retracing my steps on the Camino de Santiago. From March to May 2019, over 45 days, I walked over 900km along the Via de la Plata (the Silver Way) route of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain.
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