Camino Day 32: Triacastela to Barbadelo

Total Distance: 25.3km
Step Count: 36.1k
Blisters to date: 2
Tortillas to date: 24
Injuries: shin splints

Today, I started a bit worried about what would come the next few days as everyone who has done the full Camino or was already ahead said that the Camino magic is lost after Sarría, which I’d pass today. This city was towards the end of this stage and just before the 100km mark. So many people start their walk from there as the last 100km are the ones required to get the Compostela (certificate of completion of the Camino de Santiago) so they’re considered a different type of pilgrims.

I met up with the spanish speaking ladies from the night before and off we went! The day was cool and the walk was beautiful, mostly in the forest. A few kms in, I lost the ladies as I was walking faster and also lost the trail for a bit (distracted 🙃). By the time I realised I was off the trail and walked back to the junction I missed, I met up with the group again and also met Mercedes (another lovely lady from Mexico). I ended up walking with Mercedes for a while until we lost each other in one of the stops.

I kept on going aiming to do a quick detour to check out a very unique place: “La Casa del Alquimista”. This 200 year old rural house was set up by a man who works with minerals as raw material for his art, which is showcased all over the house. The man passed away a few years ago but his son took over the place and it was very interesting to see the contrast in their styles. 🖼️

The lady who welcomed people there was so lovely and asked for our names. When I said mine, she was like “Oh! You’re Lukas’ friend! He stayed here last night and left like an hour ago”. I was like “Ah, so that’s where he went?, he just left without saying much… I think he was trying to get away from me haha” to which she replied “Oh I’m certain he cares for you very much because he talked about you a lot!”. 🥰

Shortly after leaving the alchemist’s house, I was going down a road with a cafe when who do I see sitting on a table as if he hadn’t left me the day before? My lil bro, Lukas! I knew he’d miss me haha and I annoyed him for the rest of the day.

Lukas and I ended up staying at the cafe for like an hour or 2 waiting for Tommaso to catch up and in that time we met a couple of Dutch men who were doing the camino together and the first Venezuelan pilgrims along the way.

After we were all reunited again, we kept on walking and decided we didn’t want to stay in the big town so we pushed on for another hour after to Barbadelo which had a beautiful Albergue with a massive garden and pool. It was too chilly to swim but we relaxed during the afternoon drinking sangrias.🍷

At dinner time, we asked everyone around us if they wanted to join tables and we ended up meeting Jan and a few others. Lots of laughter and an endless debate about coffee marked the end to another beautiful day on the Camino where the magic had not yet been lost! ✨Read more