SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA - THE END OF THE CAMINO

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DAY 8 - WALK TO PORTOMARIN (21km, 250m ascent, 360m descent)

Today we started our walk like the 'true pilgrims' - directly from the hotel. We left the town of Sarria and were soon in beautiful forests. The route led though framing land and small villages. Lunch was at a small bar, next to the cemetery, in the village of Ferreiros, just past the 100km (from Santiago) landmark.

This was the third day of 'true' walking and the experienced walkers in the group had warned that this would be a difficult day. They were right! Every part of my body seemed to ache and the walk after lunch seemed to drag - the time went faster than the distance!

Our stop for the night was at the village of Portomarin, once a medieval village which was relocated by Franco to make way for a dammed lake. Dinner again was delightful - in a restaurant looking over the dam.

DAY 9 - WALK TO ARZUA (18km, 75m ascent, 215m descent)

Today's walk started at Palas do Rei, a short drive from Portomarin. Again we walked through forests, but the native trees had been replaced by eucalyptus trees in some places! Our first stop (after 6km)was for coffee, as the day was much cooler than it had been. After visitng the village church, we conitnued onto Melide (another 6 km), a small town where we lunched on traditional Galician dishes of 'pulpo' (octopus), potatoes and bread.

For the first time I took advantage of the support bus, ridng to the village of Boente with Jose, the driver, and one other walker. The rest of the group joined us there, after walking another 8 kilometres.

Our stop for the night, Arzua, was reached after a short bus ride. There was time for a short rest, in the bar, before another excellent meal.

DAY 10 - WALK TO ALTO DE SANT IRENE; DRIVE TO SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA (15km, 60m ascent, 110m descent)

Our last day of walking started from the hotel in Arzua, and the landscape flattened out as we walked towards Alto de Santa Irene. Our bus was waiting for us there to take us to the outskirts of Santiago, Monte de Gozo, the last hill before the city and the point where the pligrims could finaly see the cathedral. Here we met up again with a group from Urugury on horse back that we had seen yesterday. After taking many photos of the group in front of the sculpture that marks this emotional place, we boarded of bus to be taken to our hotel for the next two nights in Santiago.

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