Day 29: O’Cebreiro a La Balsa

O’Cebreiro was a magical place to start the day. Although I had hoped to get up earlier, I found myself leaving at 7 and enjoying a breakfast in one of the traditional Galician huts in the town. It is lovely to be in this part of the country, and although there is a steep climb to get started with, the rest of the day is all downhill through fields and forest, chestnut trees and oak. Truly beautiful and peaceful as I walk through the countryside.

The views from the mountain are panoramic to either side, and I descend down for the next couple of hours. I stop a few times for water or coffee or tortilla, but my stomach is bothering me today so I’m looking forward to arriving at my destination.

I decide however last minute to change my plans and stay at a town at the base of two alternate paths. I now think I will take the longer route tomorrow to enjoy the cultural town of Samsol, so I park myself at the hostel in Triacastela - I’ve walked 22km today.

Laundry, shower, and a call to Chris as it is his birthday today! Feeling slightly out of sorts, I spend a few hours reclined in the shade in my room, ensuring that I don’t over exert myself in the heat of the day.

I enjoy a beer with Kendall from Texas. She is walking alone, and I met her yesterday at the church where I read the sermon. She is diabetic, we talk about the challenges she has faced and what she has overcome to be here. I ask her about life in Dallas and she tells me about her last boyfriend, who is now no longer her boyfriend, who is part of a large political family. I find it fascinating, she tells me that in this kind of circle, appearance is everything. She was involved in her boyfriends fathers political campaigning, and was engaged to be married. She had to meet with his family’s political advisor to be briefed on how she could be in public. Then, out of nowhere her boyfriend left her and went to Mexico for a month with someone else. I think he was suffocated by his family, and the expectations they and he placed on himself. She mentioned that her worth had become so wrapped up in his life, that she felt profoundly lost when he left. I thought how stifling this all sounded, and was grateful for my life and the people around me, as well as my outlook.

We make plans for dinner, and I head back to the hostel. The day feels long today.

Kendall never messages me back, so I wander around the town and by the stream. I eat a sandwich in the hostel and then decide to head to the local bar, where I run into some people I met a few days ago. I join them to watch the match, Liverpool vs. Real Madrid. I have a beer and some croquetas. I feel a bit out of sorts, perhaps a bit lost in the sea of people who know each other. I try to accept this and move past it, in the knowledge that tomorrow is another day.

Goodnight everyone :)Read more