Sarria, Pena, and Gonzar

Time and energy enough to get back to the blog. We've spent the past three days walking toward Santiago under the HOT Galician sun. Covering 50 km, we've suffered and found beauty and comfort. 

There is no question that Galicia is beautiful. I feel like a broken record saying this, because everywhere we walk is beautiful, but Galicia is worth the mention. One thing different about Galicia is the cows. All over the place. They walk down the Camino, they walk through the villages. Their presence is evident with the ubiquitous Galician moon pies that cover most of the streets in nearly every village. Watch your step. Much of the area is filled with the scent of the ever-present Galician inscense, a very distinctive aroma. Sometimes is it almost overwhelming. Did I mention it's hot? The temperatures have been reaching the high 90's and even 100's. If you don't finish walking early, by noon or so, you're cooked. Yesterday we got a bit of a late start, around 8. By the time we were a few kilometers from our hostal it was so hot we could hardly move down the trail. That was on fairly level terrain. Today we started early, 6:30, but so did the heat. The first 8 km were fine, enjoyable. After Potromarin, which we left at around 11 am, the next 8 km were steadily up, both in altitude and temperature. When we finally arrived at the hostal at 2:15 the temperature was about 92F. The last half had abusively little shade. There were times I wondered if I'd make it.

 As it is often with the Camino, about 2 km before the days end ( and my rope's), there appeares a couple of tables and a trailer with a man selling cold drinks. Saved! If you've never had Kas Naranja, I can tell you that it is most refreshing. 

We reached a milestone yesterday, passing the "100 km to Santiago" mark. It feels odd to be getting so close. On one hand we miss our children and our own bed, on the other we are reluctant for this amazing journey to end. 

We have stayed in some amazing hostals on this trip. Most pilgrims stay in the albergues, where you just get a bed in a room with 6-12 other beds, for 5€ to 9€. We have stayed mostly in private rooms in hostals, for about double the price. Some have been lovely. Last night we stayed in such a place and turned out to be the only guests. The room was as nice or nicer than budget or intermediate quality we stay at in the states. They offered a pilgrim meal, which we had, and a bar. A few very refreshing wine cocktails before dinner and a bottle of wine with dinner may have been consumed. They washed our laundry, which Lori hung to dry. It didn't take long, (did I mention it's HOT)? The meal was fabulous and the hosts delightful. They make there own world-class ice cream, which they served for dessert, and a couple more flavors just so we could taste them. Ginger-cinnamon, mind blowing. We got all of this for the equivalent of about $85, including the room. My motel 6 stay in August will cost that much, without the extras and no ice cream.  Gotta love this place. 

Tomorrow it's another early start. It's only suppose to get up to 90F but we are tired of walking in the heat. Maybe we can walk the 18 km before 1:00? Stay tuned.