The joke was on us! Ha! We thought today would be a 10km walk but it turned out to be 13 ½ kilometres!!!! Well it was a welcome surprise. 10km would have been far too short. Our legs were getting accustomed to the distances and the extra 3 and bit were worth it.
The path out of Arzua took us through back alleys of a residential area where we soon passed the 38km to go countdown. The numbers were starting to look too small and it meant we only had a couple days of walking left. 2 night to be precise and then we would be at our final destination of this walking journey.
We stopped in the sunshine for a coffee and a rather huge and bready croissant that my sister and I shared and then soon headed on. We actually topped as often as we could for a coffee, tea, snack or to collect a stamp in our pilgrims passports.
On the journey you need to collect a stamp from any participating auberge or pension (ie. accommodation) or restaurant to prove that you have walked the path. Then when you get to Santiago de Compostela you hand in your Pilgrims passport and they verify the stamps and dates and give you a certificate of completion of the El Camino! In our minds this became a game and we needed stamps everywhere we went. There was no way we were getting to the end of 118kms of walking and not getting our certificates.
A Camino is considered any part of the route done that covers more than 100kms. But you only get a certificate for completing the last 100kms which is the route we had chosen. Got our stamps on we go to the next establishment.
We had started the morning walking with Lisa from Northern California but she pulled away pretty quickly.
The villages were all so sweet with their beautiful spring blossoms in every yard. Boa Vista was especially pretty.
Lunch with Sheila and James at Casa Tia Teresa
This evening we were staying at Casa Tia Teresa the family run business with a restaurant downstairs and few rooms for pilgrims upstairs.
It was so good to catch up with Shiela and James from New Zealand for lunch. We were constant making new friends on this walk.
Teresa’s husband (the owner) photobombing our dinner pics
And we had dinner with Wilna (living in Perth) and her mom Henrietta from Pretoria, South Africa. I have mentioned meeting them in Melide a couple towns back and their story is so touching - Henrietta’s son, Wilna’s brother passed away 6 months before their trip, so they are walking for him. Henrietta is wearing his fleece in the pic and carries a photo of him with her.
Everyone has a story. This journey has given us time to hear them!
We had an eventful nights “sleep” with some very “busy” neighbours in the room right next door. An American girl and Italian guy both walking the Camino seemed to have decided to share a room and we could hear all about it all night. Jade had stuck her earplugs in and gone to sleep but I didn’t quite get to enjoy my sleep as much as she did.
So we got up early, said good bye to Teresa and her husband. They had a good laugh when we used google translate to tell them about our noisy neighbours.
Our second last day of walking and our final night ahead before we finished our epic walk. Now it was only 28 kilometres to the finish and it felt far too soon.
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Hiya, @LivingUKTaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #1212.
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