Overnight - Albergue Val de Samos
A generally aimless day today. My pre-booked schedule means that I need to be in Sarria in two days, but it's only about 25 kilometres away. So this morning, I took my time getting up and didn't leave until 7:40am, by which time the reasonably full albergue was all but deserted.
From Fonria, it was a mostly gentle downhill for about nine kilometres into Triacastela - precisely the opposite of yesterday's opening to the walk. At 900 people, Triacastela (meaning ‘three castles’, none of which remain) is probably the largest town I'll see today.
With no pulpo on the menu, I stopped for a long breakfast/lunch anyway, sitting in the sun for well over an hour. The outdoor cafes adjacent to the track are a feature of this walk and have been great places to stop and relax.
Walking out of Triacastela, I ignored the optional Samos route to Sarria and headed along the conventional path, which ran alongside a road for a couple of kilometres. It then turned up into a sensational bush path with a very pretty tree canopy up and down some hills for a while. About an hour into it, I checked the book and then asked some nearby walkers about which track I was actually on. Each confirmed I had taken the Samos route after all.
Not to mind. Apart from the great walk, Samos itself turned out to be a wonderful little town, with a spectacular monastery which was open for tours. I decided to take the fascinating guided tour where the guide helpfully gave us handful of English speakers a short version of the talk she was giving to her 50+ Spanish customers.
In the evening, I had a lovely long dinner, which included pulpo, with Martina (who had somehow taken the same wrong turning as me and found herself in the same albergue dorm!) and, later, two other Belgian girls - Katrina and Sondra - who I’d also been meeting up with at various points along the way.
Weather - If it's ever going to rain on this walk, the evidently unpredictable Galician climate provides the best and last opportunity. So far, it's been anything but unpredictable.
Health - Again, all good. I'm maybe feeling a little tired after taking hours to get to sleep the other night, and another long while last night. But if an occasional yawn during the day is the worst thing that happens from here on, I'll live with it. And another thing - my trousers fell down as I walked out of the albergue this morning. I obviously hadn't tightened the belt enough to support them as they've become looser and looser over the past few weeks, despite all the pastries and other crap I've been eating. It's just another burden I'll need to bear, I suppose. But I'll do so happily enough.
Food - Pot of tea at Fonria albergue; Mushroom tortilla with bread and salad + pot of tea at Triacastela cafe; Small biscuits x2; Pots of tea x2 at Samos cafe; Pilgrims dinner at an excellent nearby Samos albergue (scallops with lettuce, pulpo, cheese and honey desert, bread rolls, pots of tea x2)
Expenses - Accommodation - 10.00; Food/Drink - 27.70; Other (Monastery tour - 4.00) Total - 41.70
Walking time - 4 hours, 55 minutes (start 7:40am, arrive at accommodation 12:35pm)
Brierley distance - 19.3km (total 650.3km)
Daily Steps - 32,327
Total Camino steps - 1,032,501
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