Joe's Buen Camino: Less than 100 kilometers to go

Despite a late start at 7am and immediately going the wrong direction, we had our longest day in terms of duration and distance. We knocked out 20 miles over 10 hours of walking and stopping for lunch.

Leaving Triacastela, there are two options: long and flat or short and over a hill. Surprisingly, we took the over the mountain route, something we would never had done at the beginning of the Camino. It wasn't too hard and we kept a steady pace throughout the morning.

Around 9am, we ran into some old friends and walked with them for awhile catching up on things. They stopped for breakfast and we said we would see them later on the Camino.

The trail was nice, going through wooded areas and small towns. As we approached Sarria, we wanted to continue past this main stop. Sarria is the starting for many pilgrims as you can earn a compostela for walking the final 100 kilometers. As such, the Camino explodes wiyh pilgrims after this point. We stopped at a cafe and made a reservation for an albergue 8 miles after Sarria. We were committed.

As we walked through Sarria, pilgrims were already waiting outside of albergues for them to open. The streets were relatively empty as many businesses were closed for the festival of St. James. We stopped for a quick lunch, almost an hour which is good by Spanish standards, and had the Camino to ourselves. Everyone had left town early in the morning and most pilgrims were stopping at Sarria.

It was incredibly peaceful to walk in the afternoon and have nature to ourselves. For one of the few times, the afternoon was cool and pleasant, and we had the luxury of shade. We passed through quiet farm villages and a few small towns.

The miles were taking their toll on us and we slowed. My tendinitis came back along with a bad case of heartburn. Marion's ankle started hurting again and it was clear 20 miles is her limit. We watched the kilometer markers slowly count down to the magic 100km. Our albergue was at 98km. They were still holding our beds for us. We were thrilled to arrive.

The meaning of walking the Camino is really starting to sink in as we only have 4 more days of walking, having completed 90% of the distance. We want to get to Santiago, but don't want it to end either. It has been a special time together as a family and with fellow pilgrims.