Camino Pilgrim

Absolutely beautiful day. Got outside with the sunrise as usual. Pretty much surrounded by nature all day. The trail did go through two bigger towns, so some closeness to a big highway is to be expected.

First 8km to Palas del Rei went effortlessly. Starting from Palas del Rei the trail was pretty much perfect all day. This is where Sarria pilgrims usually spend their second night on the Camino.

Going further 15km to Melida still was quite good. I felt like I can go fast all day. It was sunny and only slightly windy. Temperatures kept cool for several hours.

Entering Melida I started to feel that many of the muscles on both legs are trying their best to keep up, but I won’t be able to walk as fast anymore uphill and downhill. Yesterday, today and tomorrow are all hilly. No big challenges but with a long enough distance you will start to feel the hills.

From Melida the pilgrims that walked Camino Primotivo (the first Camino) join in on the trail. They will hardly stand out from the general pilgrim numbers. Only one guy seemed to have mountain oriented gear on today.

Melida is where Sarria pilgrims spend their third night if they want to take it easy. There is another 15km to walk to reach Arźua where Sarria pilgrims spend their fourth night. Arźua is where Camino Norte pilgrims usually connect with the trail.

Arźua has hundreds of well priced bed options available on all sides of the town. It would be crazy to keep going, but that is exactly what I did.

I was completely alone. Feet started to hurt a bit already from the many hours of walking, but I rather have it hurt a little today than tomorrow in Santiago. Besides it should get uncomfortably hot tomorrow for me to hike well into the evening.

I was lucky again today and got a bed in the first albergue I was interested in. Only 8 pilgrims fit in here and I got the second to last bed. I was willing to walk up to 10km more to find a bed. There are some options, but not many. Seems like other pilgrims went wild on Booking website and took everything with a good price.

I love how today every few kilometers I could see and smell more and more eucalypt trees in the forests. It is a clear sign that I am getting very close to Santiago. I hope tomorrow goes without a single problem.