Camino – Day 33

This morning was another lovely walk through a peaceful rural landscape. As usual, I started walking in the dark, and as usual, the night sky filled me with a powerful sense of awe.

Someone on Facebook asked me why I start walking in the dark. I offered a three part answer. #1 – the stars! #2 – the stillness! & #3 – it lets me arrive at the next place before the albergue opens, thus ensuring that I have a bed for the night.

After the sun came up, but before the heat set in, my walk carried me through the beauty of this Galician countryside. It was a mix of walking on roads (almost completely devoid of traffic at that hour), walking next to roads (with a bit more traffic), and walking down wonderful country lanes (just for peregrinos) lined with trees and low stone walls. It was a peaceful morning.

By late morning I had arrived in Sarria. It feels like a significant shift in my Camino journey is at hand, and I find myself feeling a bit sad. Up until now I’ve managed to not make reservations in advance, but I think that is coming to an end. LOTS of people walk only the final 100km of the Camino, and Sarria is where that begins (we are about 115km from Santiago). There are more albergues here than I have seen anywhere along the Camino so far. So there will be much larger crowds of peregrinos from now on. There are some albergues that don’t take reservations (so if I arrive before they open I will be able to find a bed), but I need to make a few reservations between here and Santiago to make sure I actually have a place to sleep. I also suspect that there will less peace and stillness to be found. It feels like a loss. More opportunities to learn to adapt and be flexible. And, even with this shift I would not trade this experience for anything. It has been, and continues to be, transformative.

Buen Camino!

Here is a link to today’s photos – https://photos.app.goo.gl/snZYK9Pq9fGdySPx5