Portomarin to Lestedo

When you read the names of all the places we see and where we stay, you probably wonder whether such places really exist and who could ever remember all those names.  Don't worry: we feel the same way.  Hopefully this blog will help us remember these details.  

We left Portomarin in fine style this morning.  After enjoying great views from the front porch of our cabin yesterday evening...

 

...and a delicious breakfast provided by our host Mario, we were spared having to walk the extra 2 kms back to the Camino trail in grand style!

Actually, I didn't drive, but our host, Mario, did.  You could not ask for a more hospitable host, and we enjoyed the looks of envy from fellow pilgrims as we arrived at our drop-off spot...

As in the day before,and the day before that, and the day before that, we began with a long climb, and a fond look back at Portomarin...

Our way today was mostly along wooded paths or on quiet and paved country roads...

After a coffee break in Castromaior, we climbed up a road and you can see that the number of pilgrims have increased.  So,we're meeting lots of new people...

Remember the menhirs I talked about yesterday and that all Asterix comic fans know about?  Who knows,where they come from, but they make fine fences...

Just before our lunch stop in Ligonde (fresh squeezed orange juice - Spanish oranges are amazing! - and an omelet on a shared sandwich), we found ourselves in the middle of a sheep drive which explains why a small brown dog has run up to me, barking furiously, to get me to move out of the way...

While most of today's paths were wide enough for 2 or more people, this one was not.  And just imagine that while Diane's sister Chris was on this path, some cyclists had the nerve to avoid the road that was available and tried to squeeze past her on this narrow track.  She moved aside.  I would have made them get off and walk!  

Because of the larger number of pilgrims, due to those who are walking only the last 100 kms in order to get their compostela in Santiago, we do have to watch out that we do not become arrogant or prideful because of how much longer we will have walked to get our compostela.  Meeting an elderly French couple who began from their home village in France and have been on the road for 2 months was a good reminder to stay humble.  As they say on the Camino, each person walks their own Camino, so don't judge others!

I do have to admit that the cyclists can be extremely irritating, and I am a cyclist myself.  The single cyclists are unfailingly polite and careful, but the ones in groups are another story.  Too often full of themselves and charged up by their group mentality, they expect pilgrims to be aware that they are coming without any warning and to move out of their way promptly.  It is hard work, but necessary work, to remain patient and calm and not poke your walking stick into their wheels as they flash by!!

Such flashes of vengeance are short lived, however, as the beauty of the trails quickly restore peace to our souls...

Just before we arrived at our spot for the night in the hamlet of Lestedo, I came across this very pastoral scene...

We are staying the night in a very old renovated former pilgrims's hospital and priest's house.  The walls of our room are solid old stone and we expect a quiet night.  The dinner here, while slightly more pricey than other places we have been, are supposed to be excellent.  Since there's nothing else close by, and a long walk doesn't appeal to anyone, we'll eat here and enjoy what they have to offer!

Distance today: 19.9 kms

Time on the road: 4:55

Total distance to date: 722.4

Walking days remaining: 4