Gonzar → Ponte Campaña
Distance: 13.5 miles / 21.7km
Elevation: +1188ft, -1853ft
Distance to Santiago: 63km
I woke up today to my alarm at 6:35am; It took me a while to get out of bed, since I really didn’t want to wake up. I was one of the last people up and out of the albergue, but I didn’t really care. I had breakfast before I left, which was a banana and a nectarine.
It was raining before I left, so I had put my poncho on, but it turns out it wasn’t really necessary as it didn’t rain after I started walking. I walked about 2.5 miles to a café, where I got a slice of tortilla and a café con leche. The tortilla was massive and had scallions (I think) cooked into it, and it was delicious! The bread that came with was the best part though, it was SO good and warm and soft.
I kept walking, and it was a somewhat boring walk but it was still nice. I didn’t see too many people today, and so far I haven’t experienced the massive increase in the number of pilgrims after Sarria. I have been staying offstage (stages are the recommended stopping points along the way), usually a town or two after the recommended stopping point, so that in the morning I leave before them and move pretty quickly - usually they never catch up.
I listened to music and day-dreamed a lot during the walk today. I was really missing Tovin a lot, and really was wishing that he could have been here. He's made some really fun videos from our trips together, and so I would watch those when I started to get sad.
I stopped in Palas de Rei (the recommended stop of the day), where I went to a café to use the bathroom. They said I had to buy something to use the bathroom, so I got a glass of wine. After leaving the café, I was planning on walking straight to Ponte Campaña, but ended up stopping on a park bench to rest for awhile. It was a short, pleasant walk after leaving Palas del Rei, and I got to the albergue at around 1:45pm.
I was the second one there, and the only other person who had arrived was Kat (who was at the same albergue as me the last three days). I took a nice long shower, and then after showering, I washed my clothes (half in the shower and half in the sink afterwards) before hanging them up to dry. The clothesline at the albergue was kinda awful, because they provided clips, but they were strung and tied onto the rope, so you couldn’t move them and you couldn’t hang things very well.
It was also very windy - Kat was also trying to do laundry, but we both were struggling because our clothes kept blowing off the line! I sat and journaled for a bit, and just enjoyed laying in a hammock! I also saw a cat come by, so Kat and I pet the cat for awhile. I laid in the hammock for a bit more and spent some time on my phone before it got a bit windy and chilly outside, so I went back inside and laid down for an hour or so in bed.
At 7pm, I went to the dining room for the communal dinner. Kat and I sat next to each other, and we were chatting with a guy from Australia named Todd, who was walking with his wife Michelle and his daughter (whose name I can’t remember) but she’s 16 and celiac so she was eating gluten free.
At dinner, we talked about the Camino and the rough political climate of the United States, and then Kat started talking a lot about her own boyfriend. It felt a little strange, since I’m usually the one who brings up Tovin the most in group conversations, but it was nice not being the only one this time. The conversation shifted to how couples meet today, and soon we were deep into a conversation about online dating.
After dinner, I brushed my teeth and got ready for bed. I spent some time looking at the walking route for tomorrow and just reflecting on how close I am to Santiago, how long of a journey it’s been, and how it’s almost over. I went to bed at around 10pm to prepare for my last few days of walking - only 63km to Santiago!
