Day 30, 24th October 2014: Palas de Rei to Ribadiso, 26kms..plus 1km, wrong way !

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Having had little sleep (see previous post) I was not looking forward to today but it was the last long day and is meant to be a relatively easy walk. We had yoghurt and fruit for breakfast and left at 7.30 am, with about 1 1/2 hours walking in the dark. We walked for about an hour before a bar loomed in the distance and the warm reception at the door lured us in. It was a nice old stone building with loads of character so the stop revived us and set us up for the task ahead.

The paths since Sarria have been very good and I imagine are well maintained due to the increased crowds on the Camino. We walked through pine forests, gum trees and oaks, so the scenery and scents along the path varied greatly. It was a difficult day due to an anticipation of what was described in our guide book, only to be confronted with steep hills and toe crunching declines all day with occasional respite on level ground . At one point we missed a sign, a very obvious sign, and walked about a half a kilometre out of the way before Tim became suspicious something was wrong. After studying the guide and being just as confused, a lady came out of her house and set us on the right path. We had been walking on the other side of the road and could not see the marker; it's that easy to get it wrong.

Lunch today was a pan, jamon, olives and olive oil affair and we found a cool spot just off the path near a creek. After a well deserved break we still had 6 kilometres to walk and the last 3.5 were the steepest of the day. Footsore, we entered the lovely village of Ribadiso , walked straight to our Alburgue, and was thrilled by our cosy room located outside near the pastures. Tonight will be a good night to sleep and our second last night on the Camino. We are 41kms from Santiago, and the start of the next stage of our journey.

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Photos

Casa Domingo
Apparently a great place to eat and stay.

Plenty of gum trees today.
They are a plantation tree to some and a pest to others.

A typical hamlet.
You pass through many family settlements where subsistence farming is very common.

The Dandenongs, Victoria ?
No, the La Coruna Province, Spain. A very familiar look.

Our room for the night, first door on the right .
Fresh milk available at the door!

Comments

[Home and Away]

You mention that guidebooks often downplay the hard parts of the Way...
I've heard that Brierley's guidebook is the most commonly used; with fans who consider it the Bible and some who ritualistically burn it at Finisterra. I've bought the guidebook by Sergi Ramis, translated from Spanish to English. Have you seen it being used, and was it more accurate than most? Also, concerning the Korean girls who were having a rough second day, is the lesson to be learned to start out with shorter days and then increase the length as your body gets used to it...and why didn't they or other pilgrims in the same predicament know that?

[sherrys]

Guidebooks
I wasn't going to name it but you have. I would probably burn it but it has been handy. After all, they are just guidebooks with one persons view. I will check out the Spanish one and I believe there is also a good English one with a title like, Village to Vellage Guide, or similar. You do have to pace yourself early although I don't know how you do that from St Jean Pied de Port, maybe stay at Orisson. We spoke to a Canadian lady yesterday whose big toe was inflamed and her nail looked loose but she powered past us the day before and it was her second day. You do pay a price for starting too hard. In fact you pay a price for not doing your morning prep and going steady, regardless of how long you have walked. Cheers

[D MJ Binkley]

Hiking Spain
Fantastic