Today we walked 11 miles (17.7 km) in 10 hours with breaks and a trip to the pharmacy.
Well, it was an eventful day.
We started just before sunrise again, and only saw a few other long-distance pilgrims as usual — partly because it was early, and partly because we’re an hour or two ahead of Sarria. Kathey started having trouble with her knee yesterday afternoon, and after about an hour this morning, she decided it was getting to the point where we better do something about it. So we called a taxi from the trail and found a 24 hour pharmacy back in Sarria. We got her a compression brace and some Ibuprofen gel, and that got her back to the level where she could walk slowly without it getting any worse.
We took a taxi back to the point where we left the trail, and were met by a welcoming party of ABOUT A ZILLION PILGRIMS! We didn’t actually see Mickey Mouse or Cinderella, but otherwise my analogy of the Disneyland parade wasn’t far off. ;-) Actually though, it’s not that they’re loud, it’s just that there are so many of them.
I realize now that most of the people starting in Sarria aren’t just doing a shorter version of what we’re doing, they’re on a fully pre-arranged walking tour that just happens to be on the Camino path. And the cafés have changed as well. They’re all packed to the rafters, and the standard tortilla de patatas (potato omelette) has been replaced by wine and cheese plates. So many people with tiny little day packs. Everywhere.
We walked nice and slow and Kathey actually made it all the way to our planned destination today, so we’re hopeful the next few days will be the same.
T-minus 4 days and counting.
Unfortunately we’re at another albergue with slow WiFi tonight so I’m afraid there are no photos again today. Imagine green fields, green forests, and green mountains.
And about a zillion people.