Day 21: La Laguna to Triacastela. 26km

PW: A dismal morning. We had to make up time as stayed in La Laguna de Castilla because O Cebreiro was booked out. This meant a 200m climb over 2.5 km in foggy and bleak conditions. We crossed provinces into Galicia, the home province. of Santiago de Compostela. We are now less than 150km from our destination. Both Pauls had a minimal breakfast at O Cebreiro and marched on to Alto do Poio, past the highest point of 1270m, where we had our regular Spanish omelette for sustenance. The rest of the day was spent in gradual, and sometimes difficult, decline to get to Triacastela, a descent of 600m. During our decline, we passed a number of small, barely sustainable under cover cow farms; the mixture of animal excrement, cold damp conditions and strong odours made this part of the walk unappealing. Surrounding us were massive hill country on either side, some of which had been turned into pasture land. It reminded me of the hill country on the Banks Peninsula . The ringing of cow bells was never far from ear shot.

Personally, I was not on my best form today. I couldn’t get warm for most of the day and felt physically depleted. The sun made a dappled appearance about 11am; prior to this we walked in unpleasant rainy and foggy conditions. When we reached Alto do Poio I was tempted to take a taxi to Triacastela, but soldiered on. Fortunately, I’d got my shins strapped by an angel Aussie physiotherapist the night before, which helped the long downward walk. Still, my shins were screaming when I reached the bottom - about 10km later.

Small Paul, meanwhile, maintains his chirpy disposition and engages with all manner of people. An aristocratic English couple, a German lesbian and a Wisconsin academic couple were his victims today.

We are a day ahead of schedule and will aim to have a well deserved rest day soon. Our bodies are getting tired after 22 days on the trot and we are finding that afternoon sleeps are a mandatory part of the recovery programme.Read more