28km (757.7 km)
Friday 22nd April

I left the Albergue as early as possible but was still part of the droves leaving the town. It was 7:30, none of the peace of the last few weeks was left and had been replaced by a noisy throng only intent on getting as many stamps in their passports as possible. This meant that the lovely little cafes that dot the route were now stuffed like a Starbucks on a wet Saturday afternoon, only no one was buying anything, simply stamping and running. At one point there was a queue to cross a river, I resisted the temptation to wade through the river although frankly at this stage I don’t think my feet could be any wetter and are looking as if I’ve had them steeped in something for a very long time (I’m sure they’ll recover :)). The change in atmosphere is startling, all the people who have been walking for weeks are looking rather bewildered by the influx of so many folk carrying nothing and skipping along in trainers. This of course is great, all these people who have come out to walk 100k, it’s better than being stuck at home on one’s iPad, that’s for sure – it’s simply a shock to the system after four weeks of peace.
Today started out in eucalyptus-scented woods then on through some marshlands, but as we are so close to the end the ‘Friends of the Camino’ have placed large slabs over the mud to stop all the new pilgrims from getting mud on their new trainers. I passed through the usual little villages, Casanova being the one that I remember most. It had these strange small thatched ‘houses’ that the villagers keep grains in? The rest of the day was mostly through woods but also through some built up areas. I passed a few trust cafes, where you take what you want and leave a donation, it’d be good to this working in real life…

The day was strange, I felt as if there was an invisible thread/wire attaching me to Santiago and pulling me along. I didn’t stop to eat until after 20k and when I stopped at 28k for the day I had a strong urge to just keep going and reach Santiago at midnight tonight. Common sense prevailed and I did stop but I am not stopping tomorrow until I reach Santiago. It’s 40km but I’d much rather arrive late than on the following morning surrounded my hoards of people, it has been such a peaceful experience and it would be a real shame to destroy this mood at the last hurdle. Also, if I walk a bit further tomorrow I will have a rest day on Sunday, my first day off since March 25 :).

The Granary

A granary house