Walking | Jenny and Stephen's Travel Adventure

Camino – Palas de Rei (Day 29)

Date: Wed 5th June
Distance: 25 km
Temperature: Warm/Hot
Mood: Uplifted
Left: Portomarín 8:00am
Arrived: Palas de Rei 3:00pm
Santiago de Composela: 68 km
Highlight: The Beauty of Galacia

An earlish start for us as we headed off in a thick fog that enveloped the countryside. We imaged witches and goblins lurking in the forests as we passed through them. Within a couple of hours the fog magically evaporated and we were immersed in full sunshine and treated as always to a Camino full of little surprises and pleasant walking trails.

The path took us through many small rural hamlets with farmers going about their business, dogs and chooks aplenty and with the usual Spanish grandma shuffling about, but always with a friendly greeting as you passed them by.

Plenty more Cafes are open to service the growing number of pilgrims and always draw you in with the temptation of food and coffee, but also the buzz from what can be large gatherings of fellow pilgrims in lovely outdoor settings.

Whilst the day was a decent walk (in terms of distance) and the sun has the tendency to zap energy from you, we both dealt with it surprisingly well. As always, the last 5 km is the most challenging physically and mentally, but before we knew it we had arrived and our accommodation was in plain view from entering the town, saving us from digging into our reserves to hunt down our room for the night!

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Camino – Portomarín (Day 28)

Date: Tue 4th June
Distance: 22 km
Temperature: Warm/Hot
Mood: Cheerful
Left: Sarria 8:45am
Arrived: Portomarín 2:45pm
Santiago de Composela: 93 km
Highlight: Jenny in shorts!

As previously warned, the Camino trail does get busier from Sarria, this becomes more apparent when nature calls!

Again, the scenery doesn’t disappoint and we were again blessed with a sunny warm day in a region known for its high rain fall. The trail is typically lined with moss covered stacked stone walls and plenty of greenery. The birds were particularly chatty and provided a good sound track whilst we walked.

We passed through plenty of little hamlets most with appealing Cafes tempting us for a break. We finally succumbed for a nice cold icy Coke.

It wasn’t long before we could see the township of Portomarín, a lovely town which overlooks a large reservoir. The town itself was quite lively with many pilgrims enjoying the sun, eating and drinking.

Only 4 more days of walking, we have now passed the 100 km marker… perhaps we are getting a little sad as our journey draws to a close.

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Camino – Belorado (Day 13)

Date: Sun 19th May
Distance: 23 km
Temperature: Very Cold/wet
Mood: Good
Left: Santa Domingo 8:15am
Arrived: Belerado 1:30pm
Santiago de Compostela: 551 km

Awoke refreshed, checked out, found a local bar for a quick bite and hit the road at a leisurely 8:15am.

Each day the temperature seems to be getting colder and higher odds for rain. We wear our wet weather gear for both extra warmth and in preparation for any rain.

Today again wasn’t the best day for photographing the local scenery due to a light drizzle, however we could have been walking through Gippsland with the green rural rolling hills. We were treated with 4 lovely small villages to break up the day. We had aimed at stopping for a coffee or hot chocolate at the first village, but so had everyone else. Whilst the local bar was making a roaring trade, we weren’t keen on waiting to be served so on we marched to the next village. Here we were able to get a seat at the bar and order hot chocolates only to hear familiar Aussie voices from a nearby table. To our surprise we found a couple of our Aussie friends (first met back in Orrison) just leaving.

After our hot chocolate pick me up, we headed off and were keen to get to Belorado so we could find some reasonable accommodation as we knew there were already a lot on the road with limited accommodation available.

With the village just in our sights, the heavens opened and gave us a good drenching as we scuttled towards our final destination. We enquired at a decent looking hotel only to be told they were fully booked, so we took our chances with a private Albergue around the corner that offered private rooms. We were greeted by a local with unfortunate teeth and no English and after a little hand gesturing he was keen to show us his private rooms. Thankfully they got the tick of approval and although it was a shared bathroom, it wasn’t too shabby, especially as we were paying 30€ for the night!

Not much to see around town so headed for one of the rare bars that are open during siesta and ordered some more hot chocolates. So much for loosing any rolls! Now just have to choose we’re to eat tonight!
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