Day 11 - Portomarín to Palas de Rei

29 September 2018

16.1 miles in 7 hours 7 minutes (including breaks)

Hundreds of pilgrims walked the paths we traveled today. They come from all over the globe.  So far we've talked to people from Korea, Germany, Italy, England, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Japan, France, Norway, Denmark, and a few other places. According to Wikipedia, over 300,000 people completed a portion of the Camino de Santiago last year - even more are expected this year.

The forests are lush and green. So far on this journey we have only seen rain for a few hours on one day - we hope our luck continues to hold out for the remainder of our Camino

Our walks each day here in Galicia (northwestern Spain) lead through delightful green forests.

We have enjoyed the Camino so far. The forests are such pleasant places for these daily journeys. It is like walking a half marathon every day.

The number of pilgrims has increased substantially these last few days with most people choosing to do the last 60 miles.  We are seldom out of sight of other pilgrims on the trail. 

Mountain bikers make up about 10 percent of the pilgrims. When groups pass us, it is like the peleton of the Tour de France swooping by, except they all shout out 'buen camino" as they pass by.

Many of the homes in these little villages are vacant. Abandoned farm houses sit vacant for years because they are made from stone and seem to last forever.

This is what the inside of one of these farm houses looks like. You wonder how many generations called this place their home before the house was left vacant. 

As we move further into autumn, we find more and more trees changing color. This has to be the prettiest time of year to make this journey.

In addition to speaking Spanish, about 90 percent of Galicians also speak Gallego, a half-Spanish half-Portugues language. The letter X in Gallego makes the 'sh' sound. Therefore, the name on this house (Xan) is pronounced 'Shawn'. 'Casa de Xan' is Shawn's House. (My name in Gallego would be Marxal!)

For dinner most nights we eat the 'menu peregrino' (pilgrims meal) in restaurants. It is a huge 3-course meal with drink for €10 (about $11.50). My first couse was a big plate of lasagna, followed by this big plate of Galician beef stew, followed by ice cream cake. It's a good thing we walk more than 15 miles per day or we would really be putting on the weight on this trip!

We make friends all along the Camino, including this really quiet guy.

After today's walk, we were really tired. Tomorrow is Sunday, so we are taking it off as a day of rest to allow our bodies to recover before the final push to the end.

Progress Map