We made it! After taking a rest day in Sarria, we both recovered from our stomach bugs and made good time, arriving in Santiago at around 11am on Sunday the 14th.
The final days of walking were very picturesque, passing through rolling green fields and heather covered hills. The similarities to Ireland were amazing, not just in the landscape but also in the music and lifestyles. Gone were the continental style bars and cafes we had seen in Navarra, La Rioja and Castillia y Leon, the bars in Galicia resembled Irish pubs, with warm welcoming fires, hearty stews and traditional music.
Perhaps the nicest albergue we stayed in during the last quarter of the hike was in Ribadiso, just a few kms short of Arzua. Housed in a refurbished traditional pilgrims hospice it is located along the banks of the Iso river, perfect for soaking sore feet after a long day!
We walked the last 15km to Santiago with a lovely Irish woman from Co Down, Irene. We left here at the office where pilgrims receive their compostella, as she had planned to take the train to Madrid that night so we were surprised to meet her the next morning in front of the cathedral. Apparently not long after we had left her, she had taken rather poorly and had to go to hospital. The doctors diagnosed a form of gastroenteritis which is quite common among pilgrims. Luckily one of the women who work in the compostella office took her to her own house after the hospital where she was able to recuperated and she seemed in good form as we waved her off to the train station.
A large number of pilgrims we met along the route, especially the last stages, were suffering from stomach problems. This is not really surprising when one considers that the municipal albergues in Galicia are often very dirty, in particular those at Palas de Rei and Arca. I'm sure not too many pilgrims would mind paying an extra 50 cent per night if it meant that the albergues were properly cleaned and stocked with toilet paper and soap.
Thankfully no major bedbug sightings to report in Galicia, perhaps the colder climate isn't to their liking or maybe we were just very lucky. If I have time next week I'll write a post dedicated soely to the little critters, outling the does and don't and the hard lessons we learned along the way.
Now back in Ireland, we'll have time to upload some more photos but not just now, tomorrow we are off for a week long tour with Anna's parents, down the west and southern coasts, from Westport to Cork and back up again, by car thankfully, we have to give our feet time to recover!
Slán go fóill.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Day 26
Day 26 and we are holed up in a town called Sarria in Galicia. The last 6 days have been continuous walking, between 25 - 35km per day, including passing over the mountains between Villafranca in Castilla y Leon and O Cebrerio in Galicia.
This was to be our hardest day but we were both surprised how easy it was {My apologies to David and Nora who had found it to be the most difficult stage, but bear in mind that we took we took a rest day in Astorga!}. The trail climbs from about 500m up to a height of 1,300m at the end of a 30km hike through a river valley, which sounds harder than it actually is. The scenery through the valley was amazing and the final push to the top wasn't too difficult, probably owing to our 3 years of hiking mountains in Korea.
The weather is definitely as lot colder and wetter in Galicia, more in tune with Ireland than Spain. Today is our final planned rest day before we hike the final 5 days to Santiago. We are both in good shape, Anna's blisters are getting better, there hasn't been a bed bug attack in a few days and I've thankfully not had any cramping of late. Both of us do have stomach bugs however, so the rest day is definitely well timed! Neither of us have any appetites which is a bit of a problem when we need to be taking on at least 3000 calories per day while walking! Last night we stayed in a fantastic albergue in a private house called Don Alvaro. Tonight we will probably stay in a private room however, to make sure we get a proper nights rest before tomorrow.
Yesterday's walk from Tricastella to Sarria was spectacular, starting off through a river valley and passing through abandoned hamlets perched on hillsides. Sarria itself is a bit of a one horse town, the only reason it is popular is because it is 117km from Santiago. In order to get your compostella, certificate of completion in Santiago, you have to have walked at least the final 100km. Thus the town is full of scout groups, church groups and other ne'er do wells. Full of first day enthusiasm they all woke up a 5am this morning, fumbling around in the dark, trying to pack their bags, while veterans like Anna and I looked on in dozy amusement!
Fingers crossed our bugs will be gone today, we'll have a big dinner and be on our way tomorrow, arriving in Santiago on the 14th.
Hasta luego
This was to be our hardest day but we were both surprised how easy it was {My apologies to David and Nora who had found it to be the most difficult stage, but bear in mind that we took we took a rest day in Astorga!}. The trail climbs from about 500m up to a height of 1,300m at the end of a 30km hike through a river valley, which sounds harder than it actually is. The scenery through the valley was amazing and the final push to the top wasn't too difficult, probably owing to our 3 years of hiking mountains in Korea.
The weather is definitely as lot colder and wetter in Galicia, more in tune with Ireland than Spain. Today is our final planned rest day before we hike the final 5 days to Santiago. We are both in good shape, Anna's blisters are getting better, there hasn't been a bed bug attack in a few days and I've thankfully not had any cramping of late. Both of us do have stomach bugs however, so the rest day is definitely well timed! Neither of us have any appetites which is a bit of a problem when we need to be taking on at least 3000 calories per day while walking! Last night we stayed in a fantastic albergue in a private house called Don Alvaro. Tonight we will probably stay in a private room however, to make sure we get a proper nights rest before tomorrow.
Yesterday's walk from Tricastella to Sarria was spectacular, starting off through a river valley and passing through abandoned hamlets perched on hillsides. Sarria itself is a bit of a one horse town, the only reason it is popular is because it is 117km from Santiago. In order to get your compostella, certificate of completion in Santiago, you have to have walked at least the final 100km. Thus the town is full of scout groups, church groups and other ne'er do wells. Full of first day enthusiasm they all woke up a 5am this morning, fumbling around in the dark, trying to pack their bags, while veterans like Anna and I looked on in dozy amusement!
Fingers crossed our bugs will be gone today, we'll have a big dinner and be on our way tomorrow, arriving in Santiago on the 14th.
Hasta luego
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