Day 27
Slept in until 6:30 and headed out by 7. An excellent First Coffee and toast was available at the top of a very steep stairway on the way out of town. The place was called Escalinata, which was appropriate, and I got their stamp – which was of the stairs I’d just climbed.
I had been bracing myself for the increased pilgrim traffic – but didn’t remember it being as heavy as it was.
Because Sarria is the official minimum starting point (100km out) for folks who only have a week, perhaps, but want to get their compostela document – from Sarria to Santiago the trail is packed. Thousands more on the trail today. I don’t mind sharing the space with additional travelers. And I’m not on some weird ego trip to be ‘first’ to Santiago. That ship has sailed. Thousands arrive each day in Santiago during the heavy traffic months and have been for years. I don’t even care about being in front of people on the path. Today I stepped aside to let several groups pass. What I spent my effort trying to find today though were pockets of relative peace and quiet.
The thing about the folks who started today were – lots of them arrive and travel in big packs. Students, mostly. And their excitement of being ‘on a pilgrimage’ or just out for a hike with friends was expressed audibly. Loudly. Conversations were constant – and in their ‘outside voices’. It was like a constant, low, rumble.
And hearing it – and trying to sidestep it – for several kms made me have a flashback to my childhood. We lived in an 75 year old farmhouse and didn’t have air conditioning. The screens on the windows in the summer would occasionally gap. Flies would get into the rooms and, there’s a certain dull, annoying, humming noise a fly makes when it’s somehow been flipped on its back and is just spinning in circles trying to right itself. It’s especially annoying when it’s under the old fashioned radiator and the sound is being amplified by the metal cover.
That’s the sound I was trying to get away from much of the day. And I realized how uncool and ‘un-Zen’ it would be of me to turn around and tell them to just shut up.
Sometimes my quest would worked out though. There would be a few students stopped at a cafe and it would instigate others to stop and get off the trail. …peer pressure working in my favor…Or, there would be a stamp available for their pilgrim’s credential and they’d rush off the trail to queue for it. …ditto… Or, I’d let a group pass and fall back a bit to get out of earshot of them. These instances created a little pocket for me and I’d enjoy the relative quiet for a bit.
PSA
So, as a PSA – let me drop a few suggestions for future pilgrims who want to start from Sarria (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
Don’t stay a pack. The path is only so wide and 12 people were never meant to wedge themselves into the path width.
If you’re chatting with a friend or two – use a normal speaking voice.
Don’t shout ‘Buen Camino’ at everyone you see. It’s okay to miss a few.
Try to stay off your cell phone.
If you need to take a call, don’t put them on speaker.
If you want to listen to music, don’t put it on speaker – use headphones.
Don’t fill the dead air with whistling – keep it in your head. The only ones who should be whistling are the songbirds.
If you’re using walking sticks, get them properly sized so you’re not tripping yourself or others.
Pay the freakin’ $5 for the rubber tips for metal poles. Most of the trail between Sarria and Santiago is pavement. The metal tips will not help with traction on asphalt or stone. It’s just an unnecessary and completely avoidable clanking sound – a bit like metal nails on an asphalt chalkboard.
After Sarria is also the first time I’ve seen signs telling pilgrims to buy something in the cafes in order to access to toilets – or there will be a €1 surcharge. What the heck?! Who needs to be told this?! For the past 700 kms it never once occurred to me to use the toilet in a cafe or bar without buying something. OJ. Coffee. A cold, canned beverage. Toast. Banana. Ice cream bar. Something! The cafe owners aren’t there to provide plumbing fixtures & maintenance, water, paper products, and cleaning services.
(End of PSA)
All that said, when I could orchestrate pockets of peace – it was really a lovely walk. We’re definitely in cow country. That sweet scent of silage has returned near towns.
I stopped in Portomarin for lunch about 2 and then kept walking. Most of the packs of pilgrims stayed there and I was on my own for 8 km to Gonzar. Beautiful pine forests and plenty of songbirds.
This morning I had foolishly looked at the map and thought there were so many little towns – surely I didn’t need my backup water bottle filled. Foolish move. Between Portomarin to Gonzar there are no services and no fountains. Nothing. I had a couple peaches in my pack and ate them in the last 3 km – but in the final km – I used the last of my water. I felt the frightening pang of being parched. And my heart went out to those who feel that everyday.
Soaked my feet in the albergue pool after getting cleaned up and had a simple salad for dinner. Need to get my laundry off the line before the evening dew.
More later…,
If you’d like more information about my walk for charity:water, please follow this link. Thank you!
https://www.charitywater.org/marilyn-peterson/marilyn-s-camino-for-water