Day 26: 99.5 kms

Oh, albergue life! Mickey warned me about the Thermonuclear Snorer booked into the monastery's albergue yesterday afternoon; he even packed up his things and moved to a private albergue to avoid him. Did I listen? Nooo, how bad could this one man be? Well, thermonuclear worse! Earplugs couldn't even begin to soften the reverberations in my eardrums. There was nothing to it but wait for dawn....

This morning as we were getting ready to go, a Frenchman commented how tired he was of packing/unpacking his backpack. Well I guess so! He was RETURNING from Santiago, walking back to Lourdes, France; with his dog!
I asked if was difficult to find the arrows, walking in reverse, he replied that he just walks toward the line of pilgrims...

I had a slow start today. For the first hour Bill The Blister was acting like an unbroken horse, bucking when any weight was placed on him at all = agony. The 2nd hour was merely painful; then we all got along quite nicely for the rest of the day, though I was careful to limit my stops, as re-starting always took a bit of convincing....

Today matched my memory of being one of the best walks on the Camino. The path from Samos was again thru shady sunken paths, past quiet farms and fields, and probably the most tranquil-looking farmstead nestled by birch woods and a meandering stream that I've ever seen. There wasn't another pilgrim around for the first 2 hours at least. Actually, it was a very quiet day on the trail, I probably only saw a dozen or so walkers all day. Where did they go? Was I that late leaving? Or perhaps we all walked at the exact same pace so never met up....

The Barcelona Boys caught up with me just past Sarria (Cesar & Vincente; the 3rd amigo, Miguel from Madrid, has been felled by tendinitis).

We walked on and off together till Morgade, at Km 99.5 (passing the magic 100-Km mark!), a one building town where we all stopped for lunch. I ate with the Cdn gals, Sheena & Andre, while the boys chatted with a big group of cyclists.

100kms to go!!

Sheena, Andre and me lunching

I parted ways with everyone here. I had stayed in Morgade 4 years ago (the one building is a delightful Casa Rural and restaurant) which I wanted to experience again, and Bill & I had put in 26.6kms, which was enough for today.

There's now a 6-bed albergue as well as the hotel-part but I went for the luxury of a private room in hopes of actually catching some sleep tonight! It's a double room with a lovely pasture view, only €28! Funnily enough, we are all locking our rooms each time we go out, when for weeks we've been leaving all our belongings unattended in albergues, bars, grocery stores, etc.  I guess the communal spirit evaporates as soon as you have a key in your hand....

There's a big storm brewing on the hill just opposite, it's thundering away and darkening the horizon quite dramatically and is looking very threatening to my wet laundry. I'm out on the patio alone, watching it slide by, marveling at the show and the sounds of nature all around me. I find such tranquil accommodation much more preferable to albergues in larger villages. Sure, there's no services for miles around save for the in-house bar & restaurant, but it's quiet rural Spain, and that's what I've come to experience.