Thankfully, a relatively short walk today, well 23kms, as every part of my body ached, but a really hot shower, some stretching excercises (well quite a lot) and a delicious breakfast in the beautiful restored Pazo de Sancta Maria set me up for the day. The weather was dry though it took a while for the dawn to break, over the rolling hills but it looked so peaceful and calm. Yet, by the time we set out it had begun to rain quite heavily. It seemed so much worse as we went through the old town as rain poured straight off the pan tiled rooves onto the street below.
We seemed to be in a much larger group of pilgrims as we set off relatively late this morning. If I’m honest we were loathe to leave the comfort and luxury of the Pazo, but we still had over 41kms to go to Santiago over the next two days, but it was definitely a case of head down, and putting one foot in front of the other, until the rhythm of the walk was restored.
Another, group with their spiritual leader began the days walk with prayers, may be a decade of the rosary as their spiritual leader started with “Ave Maria” and continued until it was the group’s turn to respond. Their concentration on prayer appeared to add a spiritual dimension to their walk and I didn’t even have the dawn chorus to cheer me.
I decided to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other, on paths gravel or over trails, at least you could feel the rhythm and it was accompanied by the rhythm of hundreds of other feet. However, today was a day of walking beside national roads on asphalt, or crisis crossing them, to reach Amenal this evening it added another dimension but it wasn’t as pleasant as walking through pine, or eucalyptus forests or emerging from them out onto beautiful countryside.
A break for lunch, brought a change in the weather, which lifted our spirits and made the walk a lot easier. We peeled off our wet gear and set off refreshed. It was easier to pay attention to our surroundings, to notice the wild hazelnut trees, or the wild vines growing at the edge of the paths. Or to dodge the water laden chestnuts as they fell from the trees. A brush against wild fennel released a faint aniseed aroma but thankfully the scent lingered on my hand.
We crossed through a number of river valleys, small and large rivers, streams or mere brooks, all rushing, spewing, and foaming following the recent rain. Then on to another walk through another forest, still lush and verdant in October though in the past couple of days Autumn began to appear as oak leaves turned yellow, orange and burnished gold, but green leaves predominated.
A fork in a road reminded me of a poetry line on the road not taken, this one like many others was a “Complementario” or alternative or easier road across a valley, but it definitely wasn’t taken on this occasion, we just wanted to take the shortest way to our next destination.
A s the day wore on our spirits flagged, the final walk of the day through a fragrant eucalyptus forest, down into a river valley only indicated that we’d need to climb out of it again to reach our hotel and overnight stop.
The hotel was a welcome sight and we sat on the sunny terrace sharing our experiences with other walkers as we enjoyed a welcome beverage or two.
A bath in the room, a long soak in a hot bath so, very welcome, to ease the weary bones and an early dinner, before retiring to bed. This hotel was outside the town but right beside the Camino path for the following morning.
Some photos of the day.
Ger Moroney 