Only 90km To Go!

Late afternoon in Portomarín. After lunch, washing done, lazing in
bed till just before dinnertime. Later I'll dress and wander around
town for a bit of sightseeing and dinner.

A typical day starts when the alarm goes off at 6.50am, this is
usually ignored. After a couple of presses of the snooze button, I'll
wash, dress and pack. Then pay for my room and start walking. I'll
usually drink a couple of glasses of water before leaving and ensure
the waterbottle is full.

I set out between 8.00 and 8.30am but it isn't really light until
after 8.30. I travel fairly slowly at this stage because it can be
very hard for me to see the way markers until it is fully light (not
really great at seeing them then either......).

Generally after 1 to 2 hours travelling, I find somewhere for coffee
and a bite to eat. Then back on the road, hopefully with a break
every couple of hours or so. Although breaks depend on many things,
like weather, company, location of nice bars etc.

Walking is mostly completed between 2 and 4pm, although a couple of
days have finished after 6pm. Today, for instance, I finished walking
at 2.40pm.

After finding a room, it's shower, laundry and a late lunch or snooze
- depending on my condition and just how late it is.

Much of Spain shuts down at 2.00pm and doesn't reopen until between 4
and 6pm. So sightseeing is best left until everything has reopened.
Also, dinner is not usually available until after 8pm or so, which
makes getting to bed early a bit difficult.

So that's the outline of a typical day.

Passed the 100km to go marker this afternoon, and now have just under
90km to go. Should take another four days of walking.

The season is quite different from walking in spring. Many things are
closed and there is only minimal outdoor dinning now. The riverside
dinner area in Sarria, which was bustling in May was virtually
deserted last night.

The number of peregrinos, which had fallen away dramatically over the
last little while, seems to have doubled since Sarria. This is
probably due to the number of 'short walk' peregrinos who must walk at
least 100km to qualify for their Compostela. Still, the total number
of peregrinos on the way seems much less than in May.

Galicia is as green as ever, quite a contrast to the meseta and even
to El Bierzo. The paths are now very good and not too difficult.

Cheers
John