25. Day 23 Breakdown

I was really exhausted after yesterday's journey. I had tried the bread from Cea and it was incredibly delicious. I also spoke with a pilgrim from Korea. She has walked many paths too, but otherwise everyone here is on their own. I find that good. The owner came later and collected payment. It was already mentioned online that he seems very cold and that the hostel is okay, but could definitely be cleaner. So, I went to bed early.

This morning I woke up at 4 and went downstairs. Then I warmed up a slice of bread and packed my things. I wanted to leave, but it was raining. So, I waited a bit longer and set out around 5. I definitely felt the kilometers and inclines from yesterday, and on top of that, I was worried that my shoes wouldn’t make it to Santiago. I have already walked three Camino paths and many other hikes with these shoes, and they will definitely be gone after this trip, but the tread is already worn down and both shoes are almost completely disintegrated in the middle. So, I set off because it was dry at that moment. Progress was slow. It started raining again. As I turned into the woods and walked over stones, I noticed that the shoes definitely have holes in the bottom; I could feel every stone, and water was seeping into the shoes. I considered walking to the next town or the next café. I avoided the footpaths by continuing on the road, even though it was detours. After 8 kilometers, I took a break on a bench and took off my shoes. The socks were completely soaked. I thought to myself that I wouldn’t be able to last until Santiago, or even to the next town, like this. It was still dark and I was pondering what to do. Unfortunately, I was in some village where there was no bar or anything else. The next paths also went through the woods, which makes no sense with broken shoes. So, I decided to end my Camino here for now. It’s a tough decision because I had completed every path in Santiago until now, but I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, and I’m walking this path for myself. I thought about what to do. I would have had to walk about 1 hour to the next town, but along a narrow road where trucks and cars zoom by at 100. I tried it, but then thought, I’m not going to risk my life here. Nothing might come by in that village, and I just didn't have the motivation to walk so long anymore. So, I walked back about 500 meters, and according to Google, a bus should go back to the town where I stayed overnight yesterday, to Cea. I sat down on a bench and waited. After exactly one hour, a transport truck with kids inside arrived. It seems to be a school bus, but the nice lady still took me along. I was very happy and grateful for that. We seemed to go through every village as she had to pick up the kids for school, but I was warm and could sit. Back in Cea, I first went to a bar and treated myself to a coffee to warm up. There, I met a pilgrim from Korea who was having breakfast. She is only walking 10 kilometers today. This once again shows me that it was the right decision to stop here. I checked to see if a bus to Santiago was leaving from a roundabout. After 20 minutes past the scheduled time, I asked a worker, and he said there’s no bus stop here at all. So, I continued to another stop. If I can't get away from this town, I can return to the hostel from yesterday, but besides Santiago, I can also go to Ourense, because there’s a Decathlon there as well. Oh, by the way, my plan was to get new shoes, and at size 48, Decathlon offers the best options. I thought the path was over, but theoretically, I could get new hiking shoes, take a 1-2 day break in Santiago, and then come back and finish the rest. There are still 76 kilometers left. But I don't know if I’ll find shoes there at all. I rather assume I’ll just find sneakers, which wouldn’t make sense for hiking, especially since rain is forecasted for the next few days. But I can still decide. I’m now heading to another bus stop where a bus to Santiago is supposed to leave at 14:25. So, I have about 3.5 hours left. Fortunately, there’s a café right there, where I can warm up and spend some time. Now I’m taking the break that I should have allowed myself more often along the way. Ideally, I would arrive in Santiago around 4 PM. If this bus doesn’t show up, another bus to Ourense comes an hour later. Something will surely come by.

I’m already checking where I can stay in Santiago. Otherwise, I can think about the entire Camino.

I’ll check in later and report how it turned out and where I ended up.