50 Ways to die on the Camino

We are entering the final week of walking, and we are eagerly anticipating our arrival in Santiago on Monday. The past few days have been very hard with steep inclines and treacherous descents, but absolutely stunning views. This part of Spain has a strong Celtic influence and resembles Ireland quite a bit. Last night we stayed in an adorable, medieval Celtic town, with Irish music playing everywhere. It was rather surreal.

Today was a much more pleasant walk, though still with some steep climbs and a route that took us through multiple farms, where we dodged farm equipment, cow poop, and bulls being herded up the road in front of us. It was sunny most of the way but with very strong winds that blew us precariously close to the edge of a very high, very narrow path. I didn't realize when I started this journey how much peril I would face each day! As I mentioned in a previous post, if I die over here I want it to be in a Camino-related manner, and I guess getting gored by a bull or blown off a cliff would fit the bill!

For the most part the weather has been gorgeous but that is about to come to an abrupt end. Storms are expected to arrive tomorrow and continue until we arrive in Santiago, and beyond, which is a shame, but we will push through.

Some things we have observed over the past few weeks as we wind down the Camino portion of this trip:

A). Everyone lies. The books, the agenda we were given, fellow pilgrims, about distance, conditions, and how steep a particular stage is.

B). Our hotel/albergue/hostel each day is almost always described as being "nestled in the heart of the town/village/urban center," even when it most definitely is not.

C). Water is not given out freely with any meal. Ever. Our dinners always come with either water or wine. We always choose water as it appears to be a much more precious commodity.

We have about 75 miles to go to complete our 500 mile journey which seems hard to believe! You really learn what you are made of on a trip like this!