For the last two days there has been no sign of wifi. Here in Sarria it seems more available. Contemplating next move and I think I will have to take a bus about 15km down the route to be able to find a place to sleep. The sheer numbers people is causing some headaches now. When I left the albergue this morning at around 6.15 I soon found myself playing follow my leader with the groups who had the also left in the gloom before sunrise. Now for what happened yesterday which, after a bad start was superb as far as the scenery was concerned.
3/8 Today started out as a disaster. The significant increase in the numbers of tourists/pilgrims caused the albergue in Valcarce to be full. This wasn’t a problem earlier on because most people were real Camino travelers, but now I have hit the tourist belt. Many people join the trail here, and later on, to walk the last part as a 0ne or two week holiday. However, last night I had a chorus of snorers in a horribly stuffy room with about 30 sleepers. I was forced to leave around 4.30 and started walking through the cold night. Later, even more ominous signs of the explosion of walkers came when at a roadside bar. I watched as two successive, huge groups came to get refreshment.
I passed be several albergues still silent before any of the walkers had stirred.
When the sun eventually began to rise at around 8am, the sky told me that it was going to be another hot day. This part of the Camino is very sparsely populated with only an occasional overpriced bar so I was to be without a decent breakfast for the whole day – which turned out to be a very long one.
After climbing over 2000 feet, I the scene was of a sea of cloud below me with the peaks of other hills like islands.
A long way below lies Triacastela. Just above centre about 8km away.
I thought the trail would start to descend from there but it undulated following a ridge for more kilometres than I wanted. At one point I passed a giant statue of a pilgrim peering into the distance – like me when I cant see any reassuring signs to the track.
When I finally saw my target, Triacastela, it was way below me and still some 8 km away. The path down was extremely steep in places – descending like that is just as exhausting as climbing at the end of the day. I finally arrived there in the heat of the afternoon around 4pm. I had walked about 10 hours to cover about 34 km which was far too much on a hot day. All the albergues were full but in a stroke of good fortune, a group of 5 girls decided that 3 of them would sleep in the church, so making a bed available for me. This was exactly the situation I had been dreading when I saw those groups up at the bar in the hills. Also, something that should not happen, is that many beds had been reserved by the affluent holiday makers doing their so called pilgrimages.
Triacastela appears to have nothing endearing about it unlike the quaint little villages I had passed through during the last few days. Lots of new looking albergues. I am sure now that it just a business opportunity without the traditions that go along with the Camino.
But there was something to see after all when I came across a group of Catalans with their dancing giants which are very traditional in their culture. They call themselves the Giants and Grallers Colla of Sant Celoni. These over 3mt tall giants dance a swirl around with a man underneath supporting it on his shoulders and head. Great fun. They are gradually moving from village to village until they reach Santiago.
Portomarin. Not quite what I expected - a holiday resort!
A walk round the old walls of Lugo while waiting for the next bus to Leon
Portomarin. Foot doctors at work (and below)
above and below. Dawn on the way to Sarria
Have arrived back in Leon and will do walk from here to Astorga which I missed out. Its a long sad tale that forced me into backtracking but as you might deduce from the pictures in Portomarin (70km from Compostela), it was full to bursting. I had already decided that Sarria was not going to be a good place to stop so I carried on hoping for something better. Exhausted, I found that Portomarin was full to bursting point with literally coachloads heading off along the way. Of course, no where to sleep so I so had to sleep in a small grassy area behind a chapel. I felt sure this situation wasn't going to improve and successive nights bivying behind holy places was not very appealing, to say the least. The only other option would have been cheap hotels which are at least 6 times the cost of the albergues. Went through Lugo on the way back which is one those important cathedral towns with a long city wall to walk around. Hopefully now I can wile away several days before I get to Astorga and then get a bus to Compostela, to be there on the 16th August. This is the crux of the matter, I have a flight home on the 20th and I cant spend too much time in Compostela because the cost would be astronomical. But still, feeling good now because I found a bed in Leon, and had my first shower for 2 days. Must find somewhere to eat now. Ola
