Back on the road again and everyone is happy….well sort of…none of the “St Jean Pied de Port” folk can believe that we have less than 100km to go and the Camino is done. For those that are starting today from Sarria it was interesting to watch their excitement in the first few kilometres – cameras out and just as we did, everything is being photographed. We were a little amused to see tourist buses along the route and none of us is quite certain what is going on there – but after about one hour, the group had thinned down and it felt like an average walking day on the way, with perhaps a few more people than before.
Much of the walk today was again along woodland tracks, through some farms and lots of forest paths. We were shaded almost the whole way and once the fog had cleared at about the 3 hour mark, it did start to warm up. We actually made it to the 3 hour mark before we stopped for coffee at a great new place called Mercadorio that has an official population of 1!!great views and a great piece of the chestnut cake (the coffee and cake lunch will have to stop shortly – particularly when we are no longer burning 3900 calories a day).
The main church in town is the fortress church of St John and was shifted to its current location once they did a “Lake Burley Griffin” to the old town of Portomarin – having dammed a river and flooded the valley where the old town once stood. The town therefore is VERY new compared to everywhere else we have been, is almost entirely painted white and feels a little too perfect – but nonetheless – FULL of peregrinos who are either at the end of their journey or for many, just starting.