Thursday, May 30, 2024

Today will be a 30-kilometre walking day. I am prepared by 7:00 am, moving more slowly than usual with a group of people. The morning is clear and there is no worry about rain. Within the hour I have some distance on the group, settling into a quick pace. As much as I want to walk with them, I don’t feel comfortable with the pace. I’ve been happily walking at quicker paces as this reduces the time spent in the hotter portions of the afternoon under the day’s heat. I do want to walk with people, however, I also enjoy the confident pace with which I have become accustomed. The mountains walked alongside today are beautiful! A quick stop for coffee in the town of Fillobal before continuing to Triacastella. This is the point at which the Camino splits into two directions: one a longer one winding south to Samos where there is a monastery donativo; the other, a shorter route more directly connecting to the city of Sarria. The day passes and I arrive. A few people are checked in. I do the same, shower, organize the bunk, then walk across the street to a cafe/bar where I sit on the patio with the laptop to write. Greg soon appears, and Marino is next, joining me on the patio for a beverage and some shade from the sun. The laptop is put away as we prepare for a 7:30 pm mass in the monastery chapel. We enjoy dinner afterward, finishing quickly to sprint back to the monastery so as not to miss the 10:00 pm curfew and get locked out.

Today’s distance walked: 38.1 km    |    Total distance walked: 818.13 km

“It is all just beautiful. Beautiful.” — Marinho