the last 100km!!

Samos – Barbadelo
20km

It rained all night and was still dark and wet when I was wished farewell by the kind hospitalero. Walked through village called ‘Perros’ which was full of barking dogs! Met up again with Polish Cowboy guy when I stopped for coffee and the Portuguese girl also arrived and we all sat huddled trying to get warm while the owner shuffled in and out of her kitchen bringing us the best toast I have had. The Portuguese girl emptied out her supplies of biscuits, crackers, nutella, chocolate and cheeses onto the table and we all had a great breakfast. Soon after I reached Sarria and rejoined the main route. Sarria lies 114km from Santiago and so is a popular starting point for most pilgrims who just walk the 100km which is required to receive the compostela. As such this town marked a hugely noticeable and rather unwelcome change. Unknown to me this was also a holiday weekend and from nowhere there were suddenly lots of people with shiny new boots and small backpacks or no packs at all making lots of noise. A huge group of teenagers waving flags and playing music set on their way and I was so unbalanced by this change, particularly after the peace of the route to the monastery that I decided to stop early in a small place just past Sarria and let them all go on ahead. It was still early and I saw a few familiar faces as I sat outside. The French singing quarter passed by and the Polish Cowboy guy and then the Jolly Brazilian whom I had seen a few times before. Twenty minutes later he was back having decided that the next albergue was too far and we found a vending machine dispensing cold beers and spent a long time sitting on the hillside as the sun finally came out.