#27 What’s left of Steve rejoins the group

Camino de Santiago

The hike from Sarria to Porto Marin was about 16 miles, and was one of the prettiest so far.

We have noticed a marked increase in pilgrims since Sarria. Tour groups and student groups come out to hike The Camino for the final 100K

We are firmly in Galicia, a province that is known for rain, so there are lots of green fields and moss covered stone walls. Everywhere.

Somewhere in Galicia with stone walls on each side of the trail

I asked this dog if he knew of a good cafe nearby. He stopped spinning as he had already caught his tail but the look on his face was like “ I can’tff tawk riff now I’ chaffing my tail.” We have a video too.

We’ve been searching for the 0 kilometer marker, but this 100 kilometers to go marker was pretty special too!

Many of the small towns in Galicia looked like this. Most of the houses made out of stone!

Our destination for the day was Porto Marin, yet another town from Roman times, yes with a Roman bridge (now gone) . Up until 1963 Porto Marin was located lower down on the banks of the Mino river . Around then Generalissimo Franco had a hydrolelectric damn built, submerging the medieval town. Before all was lost, the townspeople carefully disassembled and reassembled two of their best churches, San Nicholas and San Pedro on higher ground! You can still see the 10th century bridge below the modern one, and many of the original stone foundations and walls from the medieval village.

modern bridge, with the 10th century bridge below it on the right just above the water line.

Here’s some of the ruins from the medieval town that is usually under water. Drew and I decided we needed to get down there somehow!

101 steps down (and up) I counted to get to the waters edge.

Note the holes cut into the solid stone for beams to support a second floor!

Well yes, we had a good time exploring the ruins. Mudlarking did not work for us as we found no bones, pipes, or coins… but still a fun adventure.

Here’s st nicks, moved here stone by stone. Yet another 12th century church!

About 4:30 that day, a ragged, but happy Estaban el Loco stumbled into the Albergue Ultreia where were we staying. He had walked 25.5 miles with a 15 pound pack (plus two pounds of rice in a bag trying to dry his phone out) and all we could make out from his garbled conversation was “cold” “frozen” and “nuts”.

The walk from Porto Marin to Airexe the next day was another lovely one, and the rain god took pity on me (because I left the hostel about 40 minutes earlier than the other 3) but the rain did decide to catch the other amigos in a 30 minute downpour. By that time I was sitting warm and snug in a cafe having breakfast. They caught up and had breakfast as well, and by the time we were done, it had stopped raining.

Foggy morning shot as we leave Porto Marin

Here’s me looking back in the fog at the headlamps of other hikers this morning. Fortunately I had one too.

A nice sunrise this morning. This is a Horreo, a Galician structure used for storing/drying grain, and for keeping rodents out

Dog ready for the rain

One of today’s highlights was Castromaior, an Iron Age hill fort built on top of (yet another) hill. That means in order to see, ya gotta go uphill. A lot. It goes back to 400BC (That’s 2400 years ago to you and me) and is one of the largest hill forts yet excavated.

The info plaque which gives you a nice view of the whole complex and how big it is.

The Celts used it, and then the Romans used it. This is only a portion of what they are discovering

Yes, you are allowed in. When else would I get a chance to walk in something 2400 years old?

It was a highlight for me to see. And then I saw all these pilgrims walk right by without a glance.

This was taken from one of the rings of the fort. See how many pilgrims are just walking by without even a glance? Inconceivable

It was only about 60 yards off the camino, and had several signs pointing to it. Ok, Ok, I probably read 5 guidebooks on the Camino… but it was mentioned in every one, so if you read one guidebook you’d know! Geez… did these people just come to Spain to walk?!

We came upon the Capela Magdelena in a few more miles. This was a small chapel built in the 1700’s using stones from a ruined 13th century hospital built by the Knights Templar. OK, yes I went inside just for the stamp, only to be met by an old gentleman who asked “English?!” I said “No, yo soy Americano”. He said “Colorado?” And I responded “No, Ohio”. Then i put my credential on the table for him to stamp, and he held the stamp out for me to stamp. But really, he was blind, and he proceeded to stamp my book with me (holding my hand) and then again to do it with the date stamp. It was pretty moving, and it was one of the nicer stamps… now with a story attached.

And the stamps. Again, go for the stamps, stay for the salvation!

Here’s a screen shot of one of the Whats App conversations I had with Drew along the trail when I had lost track of him…

Hopefully the little religion he got today helped. It also helped Terry and I use a van as camouflage as we walked obliviously by pretty people yelling “Free coffee, free stamps, free hugs!” When it was our turn to pass that part of town

Breo the dog greeted us at our hostel tonight. He laid on top of a concrete picnic table and everytime an acorn fell on it, he would pick it up in his teeth and spit it off “his” table

Before leaving Porto Marin, I asked a question that had been bothering me to a big mural of St James in town. I asked since Steve walked 25 miles with a full pack, did St james think that i could walk 25 miles in a day too. He was silent, but the look he gave me said it all.

Oct. 11, 2024, 5:48 p.m.

The Cuatro Amigos