Day 26 - to Caldas de Reis

Today was a fast 13.75 mile hike with only a 15 minute break. We had our latest start to date but ended up getting in earlier than planned to the place we were walking. The weather was beautiful again, with sunny skies and a high of 75 degrees. The terrain was mostly level and primarily on wooded lanes or paths. We encountered many pilgrims on their way to Santiago. To get the certificate for walking the Camino, one has to walk the last 100km. A lot of people just walk that amount making the trail more crowded the closer we get.

We met Paul, a 29 year old originally from Philadelphia. He now calls Vancouver, BC home but has been traveling and living out of his backpack since December. He has been around the world on this trip, with much of it in Asia and the Pacific. He plans on being back in the USA in a month.

We spent time this afternoon walking with Alek from Australia. We had met him yesterday. Interesting discovery from today's conversation: he is 78 years old! You would never guess.

Only 2 more days of hiking planned. Contributing to our shorter hikes:
- the longer days early in the trip
- we originally planned on taking 4 rest days during the trip and will end up only taking 3.En savoir plus