Day 30 - Reflections at Sarria

Sarria
I arrived in Sarria today with a scorching 36deg at 3pm. It’s an important staging post on the Camino at just over 100km from Santiago, this final stage is the minimum distance a pilgrim must walk to receive their compostela (certificate) in Santiago. So tomorrow the popular Camino starts as I expect lots more people on the trail. It’s great and I expect a lot of energy and excitement, but to be honest I’ve been enjoying the quiet peaceful days of walking.

My sun-brella
After some rain early on in the walk, it’s been pretty hot and dry for a while now. We have also had a heat wave come through Spain, so the umbrella has come out as a sun-brella. I’m pretty pleased too, it’s nice to walk in the shade with a bit of a breeze. Others think so too, I’ve had a few remarks 😉.

Ghost km
Checking my GPS km versus the expected km, I am doing more than the guidebook says. This excludes my tourist exploring without GPS. These ghost km accrue probably getting to and from the trail, or stopping for coffee and lunches. It will be interesting to see the final km tally.

Incremental fitness improvements.
Despite the nursing of the feet, I’m still quite surprised at my old body’s ability to keep going. The fitness improvements just creep up on you. I didn’t realise until walking with a Spanish guy much younger than me and who’d only been going a couple of days. When he said “I’d like to read this information sign” I understood the code, he needed a break. I saw him later that day and he could hardly walk, as we were chatting he slid lower and lower until he was lying down 😄.

3 summits conquered.
It was a big deal for me to be able to summit all three of the Camino high points, and I’m pretty pleased to say “DONE” to that objective. The first was the Pyrenees, then came the highest at Cruz de Ferro, and yesterday at O Cebriero. I guess it’s downhill from here 😊.

Don’t count the chickens
I shouldn’t be complacent though, I’ve heard of a few folk who have either had to bow out, or catch a bus to skip a few stages because of injuries. Tendinitis and stress fractures are not uncommon. I’m nursing my Achilles on my left foot (thanks voltaren) and a bony lump that’s emerged on the top of my right foot. Only 5 days to go 😬, c’mon old bones you can do it!

And finally, the future in good hands.
Exiting Ponferrada I was stopped by some primary school students and asked if I’d mind taking part in a Camino survey as part of a school exercise. I was interviewed by a young lass no older than 8 or 10 years, and what an inspiring little gem she was. She asked if I spoke Spanish, sorry No. No worries, she switched to conversational English and proceeded with the interview. She was the most engaging and inspiring little girl you can imagine. As Bruce Springsteen recently said, there’s some “crazy sh1t” in the world right now, but I was hugely inspired by this little Spanish gem, the future is in good hands. And while we’re about it, let’s leave it to the girls, they’re awesome 😉.

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