I wake up today at 5:30, and oh man am I tired. Thankfully, I had the best night of sleep on the Camino yet. I don't even think I woke up once. I wish I could get more sleep, but I also figure a super early day will be fun, so I get out of bed and get ready in the bathroom. I then get my bag together quietly, which I had already prepared for the most part last night, and head downstairs.
Sam, Eva, and Annemiek are already downstairs and making themselves breakfast. Dan and Margaret were going to join us, but it looks like they chose sleep this morning. I eat a few hard boiled eggs and some yogurt, then am ready to go and we head out at 6:20.
It's very dark out and we walk through the sleeping city of Portomarin by the light of the street lamps. Once we get to the edge of the city, everything falls into pitch black, so we have to put on our headlamps. The stars are still twinkling overhead as we walk. We enter a dark forest, and walk together in silence. It's a very odd feeling, walking through a pitch black forest, but I enjoy it.
After we ascend a hill, we come out of the forest to an open plain and see the sky beginning to lighten up. The stars are still bright and we can turn our headlamps off because there's just enough light to see by. I hang back to walk completely alone. It's a very mystical feeling. Fog hangs in the air, and with the headlamp, you can see your breath hang in the air as well. I walk along, taking in the beautiful sights of the pre-dawn morning.
Soon I start following a road, and the sky continues to lighten. there's enough light to see well now, and I pass by not one but two very smelly sewage treatment plants. Nice spot to put them!
After a short climb up a hill, I turn back to see one of the most beautiful sights of the Camino yet. Vibrant green fields full of dew spread out before me, with pockets of shadowy forest here and there. Further down the hill, everything is completely covered in a vast sea of fog. The fog stretches to the mountains that we had passed a few days ago, still with snow on their peaks. The sky is now an array of pinks, yellows, and oranges. Eva and Annemiek move further up the hill to watch, and I sit and watch there with Sam. We admire the beauty of the sunrise as the pink fades and the sun gets closer to peeking over the mountains. Moments like these are precious on the Camino! A beautiful sunrise is always the highlight of my day. No matter where you are, in nature or in the city, you can find the beauty of God's natural world in a sunrise.
San and I talk about what we'd reflected on this morning as we start up the hill again. We soon find Eva and Annemiek sitting on the path at the top of the hill. We look back to see the sun over the mountains now, and sunlight hits us. It feels wonderful and we take a few final moments watching the sun slowly rise above the clouds. Then, we're off again.
Sam and I talk while we walk, discussing everything and nothing. He's ecstatic every time he sees a Eucalyptus tree, which they call "Gum trees" in Australia. They're common enough in this region and we even see a few Eucalyptus forests. They're apparently good for oil. We walk with a grassy hill sloping gently down to our left, revealing a beautiful valley full of many different kinds of trees. The sun is now casting beautiful morning light on the land, and all is peaceful. We left early enough that the usual post-Sarria crowd is nowhere to be seen. Few people pass by and it feels like the old days again.
Sam and I pass multiple tiny towns, all big enough to only have one or two closed cafes. Eventually, we see Eva and Annemiek sitting on the patio of the first open cafe we've seen today. Sam and I join them. I get a cafe con leche and a coke, anticipating a nice alternation between cold drink and hot drink. Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) they didn't actually go well together, but it was worth the try. I promise I don't eat this much sugar at home!
Our stop at the cafe is nice and we talk about our day so far. We all really enjoyed having a peaceful morning and getting to see the sunrise. We soon move on and climb a hill, at the top of which is a tiny detour to see a 2400 year old fortress. Little is left of the actual fortress, but it was built by the Romans and they dug moats around it too. Some low stone walls remain inside the actual fort, and the circular hilltop around the fort presumably has parts of the fort wall buried underneath. The area that must have previously been the inside of the fort is now covered in grass and a few trees grow here too. The fort is fascinating and also has an amazing 360 degree view.
The fog is still covering the valley below, and a new valley presents itself to the South. The early pilgrim rush has now caught up to us, and I see many passing by down on the main path. There are some wildflowers blooming in this region now, which paint the hillsides a sparse yellow and purple. And it's even getting warm! It's a nice 63 degrees today, warm enough for a T-shirt and shorts. Tomorrow will be even warmer!
I continue walking with Sam, and he tells me some stories about his time working as a security guard. We then talk about some social politics and also about how lockdown during coronavirus was for us. We start walking through more little villages, and there are many cattle farms on the outskirts of the towns. We find a log with a big stone cross next to it, and decide to take a lunch break. It's now 11:30. I eat my mackerel, pesto, and cheese sandwich that I made last night, and it's actually pretty good! We veg out on our phones for a bit while eating, and also watch other pilgrims file by.
I decide to head on for some alone time, and say goodbye to Sam. I walk and pray, thinking about just how many pilgrims there are now. There's a weird thing that happens to you when you get to these final few days of the Camino. Due to the amount of new pilgrims, and the changes in the Camino due to the new volume, you start to get this false sense of superiority over how much further you've walked than the new pilgrims and these intrusive thoughts of other pilgrims ruining "my" Camino. You start to envy the fact that you're all in the same category. Surely I, having walked 700 kilometers already, am above these people who just started. Surely I'm special. I mean, I started in France! I've even found myself hoping people would recognize me as one of those "elite" pilgrims, deserving of their respect. Thankfully, these thoughts are countered immediately with the sense of shame that's the only appropriate response. Why should I think I'm special? Why do I even care if strangers know I didn't start in Sarria? It's certainly an odd phenomenon. And yet, having been so used to the Camino being quiet and peaceful, the mind resists the sudden and jarring change that is this new mass of people. But, as Richard the Englishman noted yesterday, this change is neither good nor bad. It just is. I must learn to accept the things that happen on the Camino as surely as I'll need to learn this in life. Why not embrace the change? Why not see the bright side? Look at how many new friends there are to make! Look at all the fresh energy and excited beginners! By looking at the individual, the whole perspective shifts and my heart warms. These people came seeking a spiritual experience, as surely as I did, and I truly am joyful that the Camino has attracted them. We all deserve a great Camino experience, and pride should not ruin that for anyone!
As I think and pray, I pass through more tiny villages. I see a little cat and pet it, and a Spanish lady asks me from a window if I like animals. I respond yes, and she tells me the cat is friendly, then asks if I'm from Germany. Lots of people have been guessing that. I talk to her a bit more, then continue on. She was a very nice lady! I then find a puppy laying in the middle of the road. I pet him, and he has a lot of energy. And he's teething, of course. His mother (maybe?) then walks over and I step away, and watch them play with each other.
I continue on and soon find Eva and Annemiek sitting at a cafe. Sam isn't far behind me. I sit and talk with them for a while before moving on alone. This is the first time I've ever been the head of the pack! I walk amongst many pilgrims until I find a comfortable point where I'm a decent distance from others in front of and behind me. I then pray a rosary and listen to a few voicemails from my late grandmother. I had been thinking about her, and the voicemails are cute, bringing back many memories. I miss her, but I'm also very happy that she's in Heaven now. I can't wait to see her again!
At some point, I hear my name, and look around to find Mateo, the young French man, who walks up and hugs me. We communicate in what little spanish we both know, and discover that we're heading to the same town tonight. He then heads on ahead and I continue as well, listening to another chapter of He Leadeth Me. It's an amazing chapter talking about Father Walter's time in 5 years of solitary condiment in a dreaded Soviet prison, considered the worst of the worst. His lessons of perseverance and total reliance on God, as well as practical tips he learned for prayer, have been very fruitful for me on my Camino, and it's been perfect to spur on my prayer!
Around 2:30, I arrive into the town of Palas de Rei, my destination for the night. I check in and then take a shower. Sam arrives soon after I do, and over the next hour or two Dan, Margaret, Eva, Annemiek, Luis, Woody, Yeondo, and Sergio also arrive. After my shower, Sam and I check to see if the church is open (it's not) and what time Mass is at, which is 7:00. After a quick trip to the grocery store to replenish my stock of canned mackerel, I join Eva, Annemiek, Dan, and Margaret downstairs at the cafe for a coke. We try to plan somehow getting a 40k day in our schedule, but it's a bit tricky since we only have 67 kilometers to go until Santiago. We decide to take some time to think and then decide at dinner. Then we just talk about how our day was and told some funny stories from the walk.
At 7:00, I go to Mass with Sam and Sergio. It's a nice Mass! The priest is from Mexico and he gives a warm welcome to the many pilgrims attending. The next half hour passes peacefully due to the familiar rhythm of Mass.
After Mass, Sam and I head back to the albergue where dinner is ready, compliments to the ladies. Margaret, Eva, Annemiek, Sam, Dan, Luis, Woody, Yeondo, and I all sit down to a nice meal of tacos. It's great and we talk more about our plans for the next few days. We also marvel at how close we are to the finish. 2 or 3 more days and we'll be done! It's a crazy feeling. We've come so far, and now it's nearly finished. It's definitely bittersweet. None of us really want to leave each other or be finished quite yet, but we all have great and important lives to get back to. Dan and Sam will both be starting new jobs. Eva and Margaret have their future careers to consider. And I'm getting married! It'll be weird being away from each other and the Camino after an entire month though.
After a great dinner, I wash the dishes with Dan and Woody and then write my blog in bed, talking to people as they go to sleep one by one. We plan on waking up early again to get another very early start. It's now 11:00, and I'm getting to bed. What a great day it was today. Thank you God!