Today’s hike goes through the glorious Gallic landscape, that I love. There are two routes to choose from, the one via Samos and the other San Xil. I choose the San Xil route, because it’s the one I hiked last in 2012, and would like to re-experience it.
It is just as beautiful as I remembered if not more, as the sunshine makes the scenery even more attractive. Higher up on the mountain it is pleasantly cool, and a large part of the trail is shaded by trees. I absolutely love walking these appealing sheltered trails.
In 2012, people made their way mainly by following the hand-painted yellow arrows and milestones. Today, the routes are clearly marked, so it’s quite impossible to get lost.
I see many more pilgrims now, but no more than I can walk alone for many stretches. From time to time, I keep company with a Spanish mother and her daughter, and several times I bump into a German pilgrim, Wilfried, and we chat.
Me in 2012 and 2023 in the same place. Notice how the vegetation has grown! Same happy face though.
On the way I walk pass many active farms, and today I share the path with a tractor for a while, which just about fits in the narrow road. I like to observe the daily to-ings and fro-ings of the locals, as it’s also a reminder that the Camino is just a small part of the everyday life of wherever we pass.
Many complete their Camino on bike, and I’ve met a few on horseback, but several times I have also met a very nice dog called Golfo and his equally nice human on the trail, on their joint Camino from León to SdC. We meet up again just before Sarría, on the flat, open stretch leading up to Sarría. Since it has become hot again, I ask him if I can latch on to them and draw on their energy to get into town. Of course, he answers and draws the parallel to cycling, where going in a group is always faster and easier than cycling alone. In Swedish, we have a saying for this and call it “taking someone’s back”, roughly translated.
So, I follow them into Sarría, and is grateful for this much needed extra boost of energy. Sadly, they are staying at the very beginning of the town, whereas it turned out, I’m at the very opposite side, just where the town ends. Of course, Sarría also is built on a hill, so this means slowly climbing step by step, to the very top. Phew!
Luckily there are signs like this one outside a restaurant I pass that cheers me up.
The advantage of staying on top of a hill is the view, which luckily my next room has in this very nice guest house, so I’m more than happy. I also get to use the old-fashioned concrete laundry tub on the terrace where I wash all my clothes and hang them to dry in the scorching sun.
Sitting in the shade, after exploring the town a bit, I’m very pleased with my day, and happy to be on the Camino again.
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All photos copyright Anita Martinez Beijer © All rights reserved
The Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage rooted in medieval origins. It leads to the tomb believed to be that of the Apostle Saint James the Greater, in the crypt of Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. The Camino was, and still is, Europe’s oldest, busiest, and most well-known route.
Bohemialife 