Finishing!

Day 9 14th October  Pontevedra to Briallos +/- 14 kms

Once the excitement was over I slept really well. I had taken an antihistamine when I got them, in Redondella, and then I took another one before I went to bed, even though the doctor had said to take one a day! Also with walking so far I was exhausted. I used my earplugs and was woken at 06.50 when someone put on the lights. A bit too early in my estimation. I discovered that both the French couple and the German lady had left, why anyone wants to start so early and in the dark, sunrise is about 08.15, I can't imagine. I know it gets hot later but 2 hours in the dark really isn't sensible.

Once the lights were on I gave up and got up. I was going to have a short day and didn't want to leave Pontevedra too early but I also wanted to visit some of the old town before I left, so I got ready and went to find a bar for breakfast. By the time I got to the Old Town it was just getting light. I had a good wander around and went to the Tourist Information Office for info on Briallos and Caldas de Reis. They had very little info on Briallos so it seemed sensible to stock up on food, especially as I had finished my emergency supplies the night before. I found a little shop and bought; a packet of soup, some pasta, a bottle of chocolate drink and an orange, this seemed to cover the basics. Then I had a second cup of coffee and headed out of Pontevedra, then I discovered a Mercadonna! So, I stopped to look. I bought a small packet of 'Chocchip cookies' and 3 small packets of white wine, I would have preferred red as I knew I was not likely to find a fridge but there was no red there. By this time my bag was full so I ended up carrying my 2 bottles of water. I didn't know if Pontevedra to Briallos was 14 or 16 kms, no 2 sources of information give the same distances, but I had it in my head that I would leave Pontevedra at 10ish and arrive in Briallos at 1ish, some rather optimistic calculations there I think. I found I was walking very slowly, everything was an effort, the long haul of the previous day was taking it's toll. I had information on this stretch, which proved to be detailed and correct when I eventually looked at it but I had left it hidden in the depths of my backpack, I put this down to general tiredness and the annoying lights at the albergue. At 12 I came to a bar so I stopped for a beer and decided to have a bacon sandwich, I had no idea how far I had walked, nor how much further I must go. It was already getting very hot. After the break I speeded up a bit and about 1pm I came to a sign that said Albergue, it didn't say Briallos but some albergues have various names, this one said Barro, which rang bells, so I walked up a hill, off the camino, to this barrack type building, I tried a door, which was locked, but there was a phone number so I put my bag down to search for my phone when there was a knock on the window and someone signed to me to go round the otherside, there the door was open. There was a Korean lad here already. I looked around the place, there were 3 rooms with dirty mattresses on the floor, a couple of showers and a clothes washing area, I decided that walking to Caldas would be preferable to staying here so I left and started walking again. I still thought I had walked about 14 kms and had another 7 to go, in fact I had walked about 10! It was getting hotter and hotter, I walked another 4 or 5 kms and came to a sign that said Briallos Albergue, I was so gratefull not to have to walk any further and the Albergue was lovely, really peaceful, modern and clean. There was info saying there is a shop quite close but I had no desire to walk any further so I was glad I had carried food. There was one other person there when I arrived, a German lady, and 2 Portuguese girls turned up later. I did a load of washing as the weather was really hot and the drying area was a sun trap.

I reckoned the Portuguese girls would want to get up early as they only had 4 days and were doing very long walks, though the next day was going to be relatively short for them, about 26kms! I had only a few kms to walk so I wanted to get up as late as possible.

Day 10- 15th October   Briallos to Caldas de Reis 4 kms

A great night. I meant to put my earplugs in so I wouldn't hear the others getting up but I forgot, no matter though, I got up last, by which time the Poruguese had left, in the dark, and the German lady was nearly ready. I had my breakfast and messed about slowly, I was determined not to leave too early, i.e. not in the dark. I believed I had 7 kms to walk. I started just after 8, then realised that I had left my stick behind so I walked back, fortunately the door was still open. I left about 08.15-08.20, it was quite chilly, the first time I have felt at all cold on this camino. I was wearing a sleeveless top, under a long sleeved blouse, and shorts, I came to the conclusion that it was possibly time to wear a fleece in the mornings, but I suddenly walked into warm air, it was quite weird, one minute cold air the next minute warm. I walked back to check that the difference was not due to time (1 second!) but no - in one footstep the temperature changed a good 5 degrees.
I arrived in Caldas about 9.15, a bit of a surprise, I had been walking slowly so it can't have been more than 4 kms from Briallos. I had been having difficulty contacting Ling so I could not go on further but I was not sure what I should do, my one text from her said that there was no albergue in Caldas, I didn't want her to stay in Briallos and me to be stuck in Caldas if I could easily get to Padron. However she eventually borrowed a phone and we spoke, I also found an internet cafe so all was well, I spent the morning on the internet, then went to the Albergue, which is by the Roman bridge. The Albergue was not one of the best I had been in but it was functional. There are 'swings and roundabouts', this albergue had no kitchen to speak of, just a microwave, but there were lots of bars, a thermal foot bath and an internet cafe, Briallos was lovely but I had to carry food from Pontevedra!

In the afternoon I met up with Ling, we went to soak our feet in the hot spa, water very hot! then I went back to the internet place, then finally to the supermarket to buy food for the evening (salad). We invited Suzanne and Jenny to eat with us but they had been invited by Abel, to go out for a meal, so Jenny didn't want to eat but Suizanne joined us. After we ate we went back to the foot baths for another soak, locals were collecting water in all sorts of containers, some for drinking, one young man was collecting the water to bath the baby! After the soak it was back to the albergue, I decided it was an earplug night, especially as the lady next to me was already snoring.

Day 11, Sunday 16th October    Caldas de Reis to Teo 31 kms

Even with my earplugs I heard people shouting outside at about 3 a.m. then I went back to sleep and was woken by Ling shaking me, to tell me that the water supply was nearly non-existent and if I wanted any water at all I needed to get up, but the water was already nearly non-existent so I cleaned my teeth with my bottle of water and my hands with sanitizer. I had some breakfast, a chocolate drink and and biscuits then set off with Ling, in the dark. Ling had bought herself a reflective jacket and was keen to put it to good use so she walked in front of me when we walked on a road.
We walked well and quickly and started to discuss our options, I had wanted to stay at the Convent at Hebron, just outside Padron, but Ling thought that that would make the next day too long (27kms) so we decided that we would probably continue to Teo (31kms) There is some logic here, allbeit Camino logic, better to walk more when you feel good than put it off to another day! When we got to the turn off to the convent it said it opened at 16.00, as the time then was 12.00 it confirmed us in our opinion of walking into Padron.

In Padron they had an enormous market all along the river, it was really difficult to get through. I really lost my cool, much to Ling's amusement. There was a road running parallel to the market but we couldn't see it because of the crowds, there was also a road running along the river on the other side, the clever people crossed over early. We went to look at the Albergue, it was very nice, but by then I just wanted to go, though I was still keen to eat some 'Pimientos de Padron' in Padron, it seemed too busy but just as we were leaving I saw a Tapas bar so I went for my peppers and Ling walked on. There was also a supermarket opposite so I bought some kiwis and some chocolate drinks for breakfast. Then I set off to catch up with Ling, I had to really push myself but I did it. It was a long walk but we made it to Teo. We got there to find the German lady who had been in Briallos and 2 Portuguese that Ling knew. Ling and one of the Portuguese, Patricia, decided we should all eat together. There was not a lot of food but Patricia is a chef and she and Ling got to work in the kitchen, they managed a 3 course meal! Soup, pasta and a fresh fruit salad. Suzanne and Jenny arrived just in time to join us, we had a really fun meal.

Day 12, Monday 17th October    Teo to Santiago 13kms

We all slept well. I got up about 7.15 and went down to have breakfast, at 7.45 I woke Suzanne and Jenny and put the light on. We started off as soon as it was getting light and got to Santiago in time to go to the Pilgrim's Office before going to Mass. We were looking for a seat when I noticed the Botafumeiro hanging so I rushed Ling back to the transept and found seats there. Then I noticed that the German children were across the aisle, we had a big reunion, it was lovely to see them. They had been in Santiago 3 days, they said the Cathedral had been packed on Sunday but the Botafumeiro had not flown but it was flying today.

Later in the day I saw Vasco and Abel but we never saw Suzanne and Jenny or the 2 Polish guys we had seen from time to time since Ponte de Lima. We went to the Parador for the evening meal, it was a very strange bunch. When we got back to the Seminario people were already asleep and the lights were turned off very early.

Tuesday 18th October.

We got up and went for breakfast at the Parador, there was only one other person, a New Zealand lady who had done a long camino but didn't want to tell us much about it. Then we went to the bus station to get the bus to Negreira. From Negreira we walked back up the Camino to Ponte Maceira and had a lovely lunch. Then we walked back to Negreira to see where Ling got lost last year!

Sunset over Santiago

Wednesday, 19th October
Back home. I had quite a lot of time to kill in Ourense so I went to find the hot spring at As Burgas, I think the water was even hotter than at Caldas!