I have been to the mountain top…

Day 29 I think

Start of week 5

KM to Santiago : fewer than 40

Ok I haven’t actually been to the mountain top.

But tomorrow I will. Monte Gozo. You can see Santiago Cathedral from there. And on Thursday we arrive

Good news today. Sandra (who I stupidly called Barbara on a recent photo) and Vinny – the most uplifting couple I have ever met – have finished the Camino.

I think they did something like 40 km today but are now in a bar in Santiago Which is nice.

Not much to say today. Woke up with hangover. Alan had left door of twin room open. Cleaning lady walks in. Sees me naked on bed. Laughs. (which I thought unnecessary) and walks out

Started and finished with hangover. Walked alone.

Starting to bond with plastic pilgrims. Mellowing a little.

Oh and one thought in My head

I don’t think I’ve ever really finished anything I’ve ever started

But I’m bloody well finishing this

This bed bug problem is getting out of hand

Taxi for walkers….

Day 27 I think
Monday July 30

Ferreiros to Palais de Rei

Miles left to Santiago at end of day:42

I imagine on the Camino pain scale that snapping your ankle or knee ligaments within sight of Santiago must rate pretty highly

But its probably closely followed by sitting bolt upright in the bottom bunk bed while having an alcohol -befuddled dream and smacking your head on the (hard) wooden slats above.

Which is what I did

The dorm was rent with the kind of language that should not be heard on the sacred way of St James

And I now have an amusing Harry Potter/esque cut in my bald head. To add to the bed bug spots. What an attractive sight I make

Look, I know we should be mature about this.

I know the Camino is all about tolerance, acceptance , and understanding

But since we hit Sarria yesterday it’s all been a bit too much.

You see, Sarria is just 100 km from Santiago, the minimum distance required to get a Compestela, a religious certificate that proves you have walked the sacred way of St James.

And if you are a Spanish student it also looks good on your CV

So after the mishap of trainee priest Barry missing the Albergue last night(get a map Baz) and spending a night as the ONLY pilgrim in an isolated hostel , we were reunited today

but it’s now a bit like a pilgrim highway. As someone who has walked close to 500 miles it annoys me that these “plastic pilgrims” can get a Compostela after only 100 poxy km

You can tell that things have changed
by the number of taxis plying their trade along the Camino , either picking up exhausted day trip pilgrims or taking their backpacks to the next stop

And they block the track. It takes a real effort of will to say:” look mate, get outta my way. Ive been doing this since St Jean Pied de Port

“Johnny come latelies ,” as Dan has called them

Or Juan come lately as Alan points out

Having said that …..at least they are here. It’s really rather good to see whole families walking together and old couples holding hands

They smell better than us as well. And it means that at long last I am going faster than others. Five year olds mostly.

Passed a few “returnees” today

These are the psychos who have already walked to Santiago …and are heading BACK the other way

I met a guy the other day who had walked from Switzerland and was heading back

You can normally identify these guys by the hollow , haunted look in their eyes. And the fact they are going in the opposite direction

God knows what problems they are enduring in their lives. But most of them don’t even acknowledge a Buen Camino

Their eyes are on the prize. Whatever that is

Nearly there

I’ll tell you what I want

Day 26.
Triacastella to Ferreiros 33 km

Something odd has happened to the Fellowship of the Ring as I like to call our group of disparate travellers

I don’t know if it’s the growing belief that we are going to make it to Santiago.

Or the fact that today we passed a marker which told us there is less than 100 km to go

But we were in schoolboy/girl end-of-term mode today

Jokes. And lots of singing

In fact for general silliness we rivalled a group of teenage Spanish girls often heard singing Spice Girls songs and whom we wittily named “The Spice Girls”

At one point Sinead raced to the top of the hill. Hid behind a wall and jumped out at us .. making me choke on my camel back tube

How childish. But funny.

Stop press. Just been taking to a posh English woman who tells me that parts of Lord of the Rings were inspired by Tolkien’s visit to this part of Spain.

Therefore my Fellowship of the Ring reference is justified

Mind you, she also told me she talks to her troublesome knee to keep going

Tonight we stay in the most flyblown (literally) village we have been in yet

It is muck spreading season. And boy can you tell

Danish Aaron and the Americans have being playing a guess the next vehicle Game

Dan said tractor and won

Then Kurt said tractor. And won

Then Aaron guessed tractor pulling trailer of crap. Just for variety. And won

The aulberge here is small cramped and the single beds are jammed together. Tonight I’ll be effectively sleeping with a stranger.

Should be fun

Time of your life…

As Green Day wrote: “another turning point a fork stuck in the road”

Octopuss

This is what they were serving in huge saucepans at a festival yesterday

Crossing into Galicia

Does a bear …

Day 25 (yes I know I’m mixing them up but days mean nothing on the Camino)

O’Cebriero to Triacastella. 21 km

Distance the Santiago : 96 miles

So while everyone else in the world was watching what seems to have been a spectacular Olympics opening ceremony, I was in the basement of a refugio doing two loads of washing in an attempt to finally rid myself of those bloody bed bugs. I’ll know soon enough if it’s worked

There was some surprising and not altogether welcome news today – imparted while gazing at a tourist information sign in the middle of a secluded woodland track.

Local wildlife in the hills around here include otters, foxes., badgers

And bears

Yes, bears.

The great Bill Bryson, preparing for his Appalachian trek, noted that the guidebooks state that “Black bears hardly ever attack humans..”

“But here’s the thing,” he wrote

“Sometimes they do.”

The views from O’cebreiro to here are stunning, looking across spectacular mountain vistas.

Or so the guidebooks say. I can’t vouch for that because almost the entire 21km hike (just a stroll for us these days) was competed in the thick mist that often shrouds these hills. It only cleared as we descended into the valley to Triacastella , a town which used to have three castles but now has none.

To lose one castle could be seen as unfortunate but to lose 3 could be seen as carelessness (thank you Oscar)

From now on the Way is marked by concrete posts counting down every km to Santiago. It currently stands at 130

I don’t think I mentioned Otto the German yesterday?

Actually I dont know his name , but if it isn’t Otto then it should be.

I met him just as I left Villafranca , both of us veering right to take the quieter (and very steep) route to O’cebreiro.

“I went up ziss hill yesterday to see what it voss like ,” says Otto as I struggled for breath and sweated copiously

I literally stopped in my tracks and stared at him in disbelief

“You climbed up here yesterday.? What the hell for?”

“I am walking ze Camino viss my wife but she is exhausted mentally. So she stay in ze bed while I explore”

“I think ze climb gets more easy now,” he said as we turned a bend to face yet another 35 degree slope

Within 5 minutes he was out of sight.

No wonder his wife was exhausted.

And probably relieved this maniac was away from her for the day .

We’re going up sunshine mountain

Day 22
Villafranca to O’Cebriero
Miles to Santiago: 115

We have left behind Castille and today crossed into our last province: Galicia

I know this for two reasons:
One: The language Nazis are out in force. I’m assuming there is no letter G or J in the Galician dialect. So every road sign that incorporates those letters is defaced and replaced with the letter X. It’s like being in Wales back in the 70s.

Mind you, the sign vandals are no worse than the so-called Pilgrims who feel the need to write their names and mindless messages on almost every Camino sign along the Way.

The second reason I know we have crossed into Galicia is the murderous mountain we staggered up at the end of a 35 km day

On and on and on it went. A track of broken stones ever upwards. It was the hottest part of the day. I have never – and I mean never – sweated as much.

I had to stop to fill up my camel back for the third time at a middle of nowhere village.

I had my head under the cold water spout when I heard the sound of cow bells. Then three of the biggest meanest matador-killing bulls came round the corner (oh ok they were cows) butted me out of the way and started drinking from the trough

“This is our turf dude, don’t be messing with the Galician gang …sorry, xang”

Just before this I filled up the camelback in another small village and was casually sucking down some water from the tube as I idly looked at load of posters on the town hall notice board.

I literally paused in mid suck with a horrified expression on my face when I read a notice in Big Red Letters saying it was forbidden to use the water in this area.

Oh super, now I can add poisoning to my head fungus issues

But I’m hoping – and I dont read Spanish that well – that they were saying that water could not be used for gardens. A hosepipe ban , in effect

Time will tell

Oh and we have fewer than 100 miles to go

We’re going up sunshine mountain