Planned distance of 25.7km
July 16th
Yesterday we found a private albergue. This all sounds good, as you generally have better facilities at a slightly higher price, but you are sharing with the masses. You stand a very good chance of being woken up much earlier than you would prefer. (5:15) Hence this blog is being written at 5:30.
The route today features many statistics, including:
Starting at an elevation of around 550m and rises to 1120m and then down to 900m,
It is also the point of crossing from the Asturias province into Galicia, the province where Santiago de Compostela is,
And it is also marks the halfway point,
And finally it’s the point where we now only have around 153km to go.
The day started with the usual climb, consisting of around 60% of the route to the highest point and the crossing of provinces. It felt like we were walking hospitales again.
During that said start the paths were soaked, making it difficult to navigate without getting soaked. The long grass usually is wet from dew and today it was still wet from the rain the previous day, puddles grew in size too. Hence my shoes being soaked within the first 30 minutes. Wet feet and shoes are no good news. I had to stop and change socks, I am so grateful Darren suggested bringing a paid of seal skin socks (waterproof). Dried feet and slipped on a pair of my thin toe socks and then seal skin socks. The wet shoes now did not make any difference, they would dry out during the walk.
I can’t tell you what a happy feeling it was to reach the summit and crossing point into Galicia. It’s that proverbial “I made it half way”. Santiago seems so close and within my grasp. Yay.
We now get our remaining distance count on the route markers from this point onwards. This is both a good and bad thing. You now know how far to go before you end off for the day and how long you still have to go to Santiago. It’s a real mental challenge at times.
Seeing Darren keeps me motivated. And good new friends do that too. So grateful for all of it.
It is clear that I will never be able to add everything to my blog, so I will always try add some of my favorite moments or highlights.
One of the is sampling the local food, I had some authentic Galician soup today, wow. Grateful that Antonio, a local from Málaga, is part of our group. He is always getting us to try the local cuisine. I think Pulpo is next on the menu.
Fluit fluit, my storie is uit.
Some pics of the day
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