Day 27 - AM - Sarria to Portomarin

Last night was very cold. It was warm when we went to bed but it seems heaters got turned off at some point in the night to conserve energy. I had to get up and put on a sweater and bury myself under two blankets to get back to sleep. It is also a slow start since Dan woke up a bit later than planned so we will leave closer to 9 am instead of 8 am as planned. Everyone else has left. All the guests last night were women and the majority of them were French. They seemed very close and I wondered if they had come together to do the camino or if they had met along the way and forged strong bonds.

It isn't really a concern with a late start. Today will be a shorter day and we should arrive within 5 hours around 2 pm after taking breaks. We originally planned to do 30 km a day minimum x 3 days to shorten our last day to 20 km into Santiago (so we can arrive at noon and sightsee). Our friends are a day behind though so we will only walk 22 km to allow them to walk 37 km to catch up with us today. It would be great to spend the last few days together and arrive in Santiago together.

There were many new faces today and Dan found some familiar ones! We came across two South Koreans Dan had met on Day 2. They haven't seen each other since that day so it has been 24 days now! She noticed they have changed; they aren't so shy anymore and are very talkative and comfortable conversing in English. Dan was also happy to meet some more asians who spoke Mandarin from Taiwan. We got some group photos together at the 100 km marker. I also got some videos of Dan trying to get apples off a tree lol.

It was nice to see more available cafes on this last 100 km stretch of the camino and we've also found another cafe for churros and hot chocolate tonight. Dan insists on cooking Chinese pasta tonight and told me to just relax and rest given my bad sleep last night.

I rung the Liberty Bell just before Portomarin and recreated old memories by having Dan take some more photos of me on the bridge and steep steps leading into town.

We booked a double room and arrived before 3pm.

Description of the section
At first light, a multitude of pilgrims set off down Calle Mayor in Sarria. The increase in numbers is notable from this town onwards and the Camino features more services and accommodation options. Today's section is a surprise that everyone enjoys. It's Galicia in its purest form: woodland, crops, cart trails, winter walkways and farmhouses come together perfectly in the rural landscapes of this region. Around 20 places in the municipalities of Sarria and Paradela, many of them with a bar, albergue or even a shop, begin to peep out between forests to tend to pilgrims' needs. This section features on a good number of postcards, but the approach to Portomarín along the banks of the Miño is also memorable, as is the ascent up the staircase of the ancient bridge leading to the Chapel of La Virgen de las Nieves.

Complications
The terrain in this section is fairly forgiving for Galicia. In the first hour of walking, there is a sudden and harsh ascent to As Paredes of just 600 metres. Within the first 13.5 kilometres, the path progressively ascends between Morgade and Ferreiros from 425 metres above sea level to 675 metres. From kilometre 16.5, reached between As Rozas and Moimentos, the path generally heads downhill.

Detours and variations
After crossing the Áspera bridge at the start of this stage, there is an additional route that is 1.6 kilometres shorter than the main Way. However, we recommend taking the usual route, guided by the characteristic milestones that signal the distance. At the 93.713 marker between Vilachá and Portomarín, there are three ways to approach the Belesar reservoir, which are described in the Alerts for the town of Vilachá. All the routes are also shown on the map on the app.Read more