Gabe's Travels

We started late on purpose today, so that we could get into town after the supermarket opened. We all grabbed some pastries from their surprisingly good bakery section, and then headed out for our last full day on the Camino. The walk today was packed. So many people had joined the Camino at Sarria that it felt like an entirely new trail. We dodged tour groups and packs of middle schoolers, passing by people just getting their walking legs and being passed by people wearing almost no packs at all. While I hold there's no "wrong" way to do a Camino, it was certainly interesting to see the differences between the groups. Many of them were shocked and impressed when we told them we'd walked from Saint Jean, even though for most of the trail that had been the default assumption. I couldn't help but remember how we'd reacted the same way to the people who'd started in Le Pui, and wonder if they'd felt the same about us at the time. F...

One of the things you read online when preparing for the Camino is, "it's gonna rain in Galicia". While we had, overall, some truly incredible luck with the weather on this Camino, this was the day that proved true. We had breakfast at our albergue, a collection of things we'd bought at the store yesterday and things from the attached bar. Then it was time to hit the road. It was so nice to finally be walking with other people again, that I almost didn't mind when it started to rain. We saw some salamanders on the road, and spent some time trying to guess what the purpose of a structure we'd been seeing since we entered Galicia was. (We later found out that it is a hórreo, a Galician granary which has become a cultural symbol.) At lunch time we had made it to one of the larger cities for the day, and, following the advice of one of our friends from earlier on the trail, skipped the first few restaurants we saw. I...

This was the final long day I needed to walk in order to catch up with my friends. Unfortunately, I had to get a late start, as I had only been able to reserve my albergue with breakfast included, but for some reason they didn't start serving breakfast until 8:00, over an hour after my preferred departure time. But I wasn't gonna let that money go to waste, so I ate my yogurt and orange juice, put the apple and water in my bag for later, and set off. I was about 10km out from Portomarin, the normal stage town after Sarria, and got there around 11:00. On my way there, not much happened except for one notable milestone. Literally. I passed the 100km marker! Upon arriving in Portomarin, it turned out that the trail did not actually go through town. I took a brief detour to go up to the town gate and see the view, then kept walking. And walking. And walking. For the entire rest of the day, there was only one memorable stop, which was when I got to take a det...

This may be the shortest post on the blog, as it felt as though I did not do anything on this day. Other than walk, of course. I chatted with a few people briefly on the road, but for most of the day I was just plodding along. The one big noteworthy thing that happened was that I finally passed Sarria. Sarria is the last city before the 100km mark required to get your certificate, so it is the most popular starting point on the entire Camino. While I think starting there is perfectly valid, I also think it's an extremely different experience from starting earlier, and that is reflected in both the people and the businesses you encounter afterwards. The people are less friendly, as they tend to view this more as a fun hike than as a communal experience, and the number of them playing music on portable speakers increases dramatically. The businesses become more about, well, business, and much of the charm is gone. Also, there are way more vending machines. I d...

The hardest ascent on the Camino is pretty universally agreed to be getting over the Pyrenees on the first day. The second, in the opinions of most people I've talked to, is O Cebreiro. In the morning I woke up and headed out early, deciding not to eat breakfast at my albergue, so that I could instead eat just before the climb, both to break up the day and to ensure I was fueled up for the ascent. I was still almost 10km out from where the trail got serious, but it was a smooth walk along the highway, and I got there with minimal trouble. During breakfast, a tour van pulled up to the cafe and about 20 people filed in to get stamps and use the bathroom. This was a sign of the changing nature of the Camino, as after O Cebreiro it becomes much more touristy, and this trend doubles down after Sarria. Once I'd eaten, I headed out and began my climb. The ascent was tough, but not exceptionally so. I've always liked climbing hills, a...