Camino de Santiago 2.0

07/22/18

Since I rented a bicycle for the downhill journey the previous day, I was able to cover a few kilometers and rest my leg at the same time. First, there was a beautiful sunrise including fog on the mountain top in the Galician village...

Then I cycled about 5km uphill and downhill before descending 15km, sometimes with 7% gradient and stunning views... I only used the brake sporadically... it was so much fun...

I quickly arrived in the village 20km below, which was supposed to be my stop for the day, but I felt uncomfortable without walking. It was still early in the day and I had a lot of energy.

So I decided to walk another 20km to the next planned stage, then I could take a day off later and split the remaining distance. Otherwise, I would arrive in Santiago two days before my birthday.

Now that I had acquired ibuprofen, the pain was not much of a problem and I was walking very well. Maybe the Camino forgives me the pain as thanks for cleaning up... or something in between... today is the last stage before the mass race begins on the last 100 km.

From Sarria, all those who are only walking the last 100km to Santiago de Compostela will start... after being totally empty on the Camino del Norte and nicely filled here, tomorrow the big rush will come... if you have never experienced it, it is unimaginable how many people suddenly appear on the way... but never mind, tomorrow there will certainly be funny things to report...

On the way to Sarria, there was a kind of hippie camp, where you could get all kinds of delicacies for a donation, and it was just a nice place to stay. I still had my hummus from the day before and could take a good break there.

In Sarria itself, there was some kind of mountain bike event right through the city, cool how they raced and jumped around...

So tomorrow it will slowly and quickly go towards the end... the point with the last 100km will be reached...