A River Runs Through It

Greetings from Galicia! 

 I have walked from Villafranco to O´Cebriero, to Samos, to Sarria, and I am now taking a day off in Sarria.  I followed a beautiful river from Villafranco.  Then came the steep climb up to O´Cebriero.  Some say it equals the Pyrenees, but I say, no.  It was long, and steep, and parts were slippery, but it did not seem as hard to me.  O´Cebriero is this culturally confused little town.  It sits atop a mountain, and appears to be mostly a tourist trap.  They play Celtic music in every little store and pub.  They have little leprechan statues and they all speak Spanish.  Go figure.  It poured rain the entire time I was there (not long) and the Albergue was stark to say the least.  So as I left O´Cebriero it continued to rain, mixed with a bit of wind, and low temps, making it a pretty difficult day.  When I reached the top of this day´s walk, I took this shot.  I needed to show the rain.  I don´t know the person in the picture, but I wasn´t crossing the road like she did.  It was way too cold and stormy for me. 

 I have been without internet access for days.  And even this cyber cafe I found is really bad.  The key board sticks, and it is so slow!  Am I whining?  yep.  The longer I am away from home, the more I miss the USA.  The walk to Samos was mostly in this beautiful wooded path, totally covered in a canopy.  It was a lot of up and down.  The rain was coming through though, and I couldn´t manage to get my camera out and shoot anything worthwhile.  Suffice it to say it was green and pretty, and wet.  I also expected  a little Hobbit to pop out at any moment. lol..  Now the little town of Samos was a bit out of the way, but it had a 9th century Benedictine monastary that I wanted to see, and also had an Alburgue in it.  So I took the detour to see it, rather than hike straight through to Sarria.  It was worth every shoe soaked step!  Very cool.

  I met a friend from Ohio.  Her name is Leslie.  We had a nice dinner together and she played doctor and dressed my wounded feet.  They are surely my cross during this journey.  The next morning I was up about 7, knowing I would only walk about 12km to Sarria.  The path was not very well marked and there were several moments when I was sure I would never be found in this very desolate place.  I walked for what seemed to be forever, and then I come to a fork in the road.  It had yellow arrows going both ways!  What the hell was this?  A group of German pilgrims came up behind me as I was trying to figure out which way to go, and of course, neither of could figure it out.  And they spoke no English.  So, as I stood there in the pouring rain, my feet totally drenched, I just chose a route and took it.  The Germans did not appear to follow me.  As it turned out, I found several yellow arrows as I walked, so I figured eventually I would get to Santiago if I stayed on this path.  I feared I was going by way of Portugal though.  The path narrowed to one little trail, which eventually became one huge river flowing down on me as I went up more steep climbs.  As I descended, the water subsided, but I was left with slippery, muck, made up mostly of mud and cow poop.  It was really fun!  I´m not sure if I will ever get the smell off me.  At one point, as I was trudging through the muck, I looked down over the edge of the trail and saw a half built barm, with about  six cows laying down under the shelter.  For a brief moment I asked myself, shall I go sit with them?  They seemed to be much smarter than this pilgrim hoofing it through cow muck in the puring rain.  Makes ya wonder sometimes... So I finally reach the top of this big hill and I´m thinking I should be near a town by now, nope!  As I come aroung this corner, I see a big field.  Now I´m walking with this bright red poncho over me and my pack, to keep at least one part of me dry.  I´m thinking it is a good color for visibility near traffic and such.  Well it is...but as I turned the corner of the hill, I see this huge bull staring right at me.  uh oh...I suddenly felt like the cape of a Matador and it was not a good feeling.  This bull was not Ferdinand.  I don´t think he was too crazy about the rain either and seeing me, well, he saw red!  I tried not to look him in the eye, and slowly walked past him.  He kept turning his head and looking at me.  I guess I wasn´t worth the enegy, because he didn´t come after me.  Note to self:  buy green poncho next time.  Next time HA!  not happening! No way!  So after another few kilometers, I finally reach a little town that has a cafe.  I crawl in and order a cup of coffee and some cake.  yum.  I hadn´t eaten at all that day, and it was now about 1030 in the morning.  After a short break I gathered up my stuff, bundled up my wet clothing and took off again.  The kind woman at the cafe said I had another 4 km to Sarria, Thank you Jesus!  So off I went. 

When I arrived in Sarria, I went into the tourist office.  As I walked across their floor, my shoes gushed out water, with a sound just like Huckleberry Finn´s in the church, remember that?  The two young women at the counter laughed, and asked if they could help me.  I asked them to book me two nights in the finest hotel Sarria had to offer please.  They did, and it was just around the corner!  Yeah!!!  So for a brief moment, I am enjoying not walking, not walking in the rain, and allowing my tired soles, to rest.  Tomorrow I take off again.  I am now at the last 100 kilometers to Santiago.  My Compostella is calling me.  Please God, let me make it.  Life is good...