Day 31 walking. A day in two parts 22 May

Ahh. How to write about today. A day in two parts

Faced with a choice again today, we chose the longer route, by 6km to pass by a small town built around a massive monastery. It was definitely 'the road less travelled', and for much of the time we were on the path by ourselves. Bliss.

Only the first small part of the journey was alongside roads, and after that we descended onto bush tracks, often lined with century old oaks or chestnut trees, or ancient stone walls. Paths are worn down by countless pilgrims before us. It was very peaceful, I found myself thinking about others who have walked this path before us.

Follow the yellow arrows.

The path wandered through bush tracks, alongside rushing creeks (which are a constant intrigue for us coming from a much drier continent), past farmlands and right through small (often very small) farming communities. It actually feels like we are walking through the middle of their properties.

What makes a community or a town?

Possibly a church, a cemetery, and one or more houses. Some of the places may have several houses, but many are empty. And thousands of pilgrims follow the yellows arrows through their life each year. Yesterday, as we went through one such place, an enterprising elderly lady was out in the street with a plate of crepes she had made, and a jar of sugar. Gotta love it. Yes of course we had some, and paid for the pleasure.

On this walk there was the sounds of water and birds, and nothing else. So peaceful, and I got to thinking about a quote I read recently,

"If you're depressed, you're living in the past. If you're anxious, you're living in the future. If you're at peace, you're living in the present." -Lao Tzu

Interesting, and partly accurate, but I am living in the 'now', at least for a short while. Definitely peaceful.
The monastery we came to see, the oldest, largest monastery in the western world was absolutely huge!

The second part of the day we continued to wander up and down country areas which seemed even more 'remote' - not really the right word. Places in Australia may be remote, but for our journey here, there were less communities with services than elsewhere. On one part of the track where we stopped for a rest there were a couple of buildings nearby, and a coke machine chained behind a property gate. Strange sight, but it didn't work. Haha.

This part of the day seemed to go on and on, and up and down. Surprising since the profile for the day seemed to be flatter than it actually was.

Stopped at a very new small albergue on the outskirts of Sarria. We have the place almost to ourselves.

Interesting discussion from the previous night. We shared a room in Triacastela with a man travelling with his daughter, from Hungary. He has travelled the camino twice before, once by himself, once with another daughter.... and he will do it again when his third daughter wants to do it. I love all these opportunities to share discussions with people from various places. Best part of the camino

So few pictures today because I have lost the gadget to download from camera and had a flat battery on the ipad yesterday. Double whammy.

Notes to self

• 21.6km  Triacastella to Sarria via Samos
• Oasis Albergue 10€

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