Day 12: Sobrado Dos Monxes to A Brea

It’s July 26, which is a very special day for us.  It’s our anniversary!  And we’re spending it walking the Camino.  Together.  It’s very special.  Here’s a memento of our wedding day: July 26, 1986.

The Beginning of a Great Adventure!

 As usual, we left our hostel just after 6:00 AM.  The prior evening, we checked out the path leaving town. The markings were guiding pilgrims to neighborhood roads, but our map showed that the most direct route was the road in front of us. So we started our day taking the direct, very well-lit road, complete with sidewalks, all the way out of town.  We watched a group of pilgrims in front of us take the side roads, as recommended.  We didn’t see them again for a long time.  It’s such a shame that the Camino route wastes pilgrims’ time like that, when a better, and safe, option exists.

Today's plan had three parts.  First, walk 12 kilometers to Boimorto to get coffee. Next, walk about ten kilometers on the new, official route (if we could find it) until we found the decision point to take a third ten kilometer walk to rejoin the French Route of the Camino.  If the guidebooks were right, we might not see any services after Boimorto.

Our day’s walk was spectacular.  We passed many familiar sights, lovely countryside, farm animals…and no fellow pilgrims for hours.   

Early Morning Views

 

One of the major industries here is tree farming, specifically, eucalyptus trees.  These grow quickly and are used in making pulp for paper products.  Here you can see mature trees along the right hand side, medium-sized trees on the left in the back, young trees in front, and a plowed field awaiting new plantings in the foreground.  We passed acres and acres of such farms throughout Galicia.

Eucalyptus Grove: Small, Medium, and Large

 

After 3 hours of walking, we arrived in the town of Boimorto for our coffee break.  It’s a small village which was just getting going after their big festival from the prior day: the Feast of St James.  (Santiago is St James, in Spanish)  We had a lovely break in a bakery/café, then set out on our chosen route.

 

Pastoral Views of Boimorto

 

There are 3 paths out of town.  You have to pick.  We picked a path that would allow us to bypass some of the French Camino (the Camino del Norte combines with the French Camino for the final stretch into Santiago de Compostela).  Our Camino is very quiet, with few pilgrims. The French route is by far the busiest and most bustling; we wanted to avoid the crowds.

Our chosen road was indeed very peaceful.  We didn’t meet a single soul on the entire journey today, except our 2 Spanish friends, Savannah and Oriana, with whom we traveled for a brief while yesterday.  We walked together for a while, then they went on ahead of us.

Our Friends in Front of Us, on the Road

Unfortunately, they missed a poorly marked junction and failed to make a left turn to link with the French route.  They were too far ahead of us to alert them to the error.  They walked many extra kilometers to correct their error; we crossed paths with them much later in the afternoon, so we know they ended up okay.

(To be fair, this third part of our walk was extremely poorly marked, with occasional yellow arrows spray painted on the pavement.  We were only really able to follow it using the GPS enabled Buen Camino app.)

For us, the rest of the day was peaceful and quiet.  Just the two of us.  We passed beautiful landscapes, a roadside fountain and seating area for pilgrims, and tree-lined paths leading straight to our destination.  (Today could not have been more different from yesterday with its crowds of high school kids.)

We're Going to Miss These Views

 

 

Pilgrim Fountain and Rest Area

The Final Road into Town

 

Having covered over 30 Km (again) today, we chose to stay in a hostel very close to where our Camino converged with the French route.  We arrived around 1:45 pm, hot and tired.  Our hostel is amazing, and even has a swimming pool!  We met lots of fellow travelers poolside, and during lunch.  Two of our fellow pilgrims are Episcopal priests and they're very familiar with many of the schools we serve.  What a small world!

And what a great way to celebrate our Anniversary!

Paco and Tina Poolside

Cheers! See you in Santiago tomorrow.