Do San Vicente

Pick the authentic Camino messenger?

You meet a doctor who listens to your injuries and pains and says " That shouldn't cause permanent damage. You can probably push through that. Disclaimer - I'm not a foot specialist."

You get the following text from one of your Camino family. "I've found a bus that stops 4km from O'Cebriero. My host in Villafranca says there's a bus along the whole Camino after O'Cebriero so no more expensive taxis"

Within the same hour you get the following text from another one of your Camino family
"I’m half way through to O’Cerebro. It's brutal. If you could bypass this mountain, I highly recommend you take the bus. The weather is for ducks."

A black cat in a Templar Knight's hovel insists you stay an extra day and that it is unsafe to go near any mountains.

Clouds float past in the shape of a resort in San Sebastian with free foot massages and a swim up bar. A Templar Knights awaits to transport you through a portal back to summer.

Ok the first three were authentic, the last two may be the result of the margarita I had with dinner.

The Next Morning...

I caught another bus, this time to Lugo which is not on the Camino Frances.. I have made it to Galacia, the last province on the Camino. It is beautiful here apart from and because of the endless rain. Autumn is in full swing and everything is green and gold and red. Rain is forecast every day for the next two weeks. The buses passed by beautiful mountains covered in beech forests but seen through the sideways rain squalls I was happy to be on the inside.

I have skipped ahead again. My Camino journey is morphing naturally into just Nic's journey. I am keen to explore the beauty of Galacia more so than the trails of the Camino. I am keen to experience the Spainish culture more so than the pilgrimage culture. I feel my days on the Camino are coming to an end but that I am finding the freedom to explore without any preset expectation except those core goals which have always been just to move, to go slow and simple, to continue learning and to live in the moment.

I sit in a bar in Spain, where drinking alcohol seems a prerequisite to being fed, waiting for my accommodation to open. After siesta there is more than 2km of original Roman wall, still completely intact, in which to circle the old city and stroll away the afternoon. If this is not the definition of slow and timeless, I am lost.

Tomorrow I am meeting a friend at the beginning of the last stage of the Camino Frances. I may then walk a couple of days in the rain to experience the villages of Galacia. Who knows, maybe the sun will shine for a while.Read more