Day 38 - Arzua to A Rua

The pension we stayed in last night was very clean and spacious. The mattress did not have a cover, but the room was so bright and clean that it just didn't look like bed bugs would be a problem, and they weren't.

The restaurant in the pension seemed to be the most popular in town, and there were lots of restaurants in town. We noticed in the afternoon that it was continuously packed with people eating.

We were so exhausted, from the long walk yesterday and the lack of sleep the night before, that we both fell asleep and didn't wake up until 8pm. We thought of skipping supper, but decided we better go. When we got downstairs the restaurant was full and there was a queue of people waiting for a table, with lots more showing up every minute. We decided that the indicators all pointed toward this being a pretty good place, and waited until 8:30 for a seat.

We certainly weren't disappointed. After 40 some days in Spain, eating virtually exclusively the peregrino special, we had one of the better suppers we have had so far.  It was an example of a venture that appreciates the customer and goes the extra distance to make you happy. Of special note, instead of french fries we had potatoes boiled in saffron. Overall, the entire meal had the least amount of oil and salt yet, and the most herbs.

Our pension, unfortunately, was on a busy street again with a bar popular with the local youth right across the street from our window. We had a good night's sleep in spite of that. We were tired, it was cooler, there was lots of ventilation in the room between the main and bathroom windows, the traffic eventually died down and the local kids left.

We noticed at breakfast that there seemed to be three variants of perigrinos: the in the dark walkers, the breakfast people, and the sleeping in taxi walkers.

We have made some disparaging comments about people in Spain never working. Well there are lots of people in Spain who work very hard and very long hours. People in the hotel and food industry in particular. The cook in the restaurant was there early this morning and late last night, and when we mentioned that to him, he said he was there all day, every day.

The walk out of Arzua was lovely, a dirt road/path through a forest.  We continuously walked through eucalyptus forests, some natural, and some planted, that gave the air a marvellous smell.

As we walked today we talked about how we had gotten side tracked lately from really noticing, enjoying, and appreciating the beautiful landscape we were passing through.

Not unlike every day on the Camino, we climbed to beautiful views, descended to peaceful valleys, and walked through fragrant forests.

We thought about the similarity between this and life. To experience magnificence in life, you have to work hard. To find true peace in life, you have to have endured descending into the depths of despair. And to be happy and content, you need to walk with God.

We passed an old woman, in a field with her sheep, standing under an umbrella.  But by this time the camera was safely packed in the backpack, so no picture.

Today we encountered our first real rain while walking, after about 10km.  While not a downpour, it was enough to make you stop and put on your raingear.  But for the most part, it was overcast with the sun peeping through the clouds.

The fellow in our 1* hotel today told us this is the driest summer in 50 years. Well, we have certainly not seen much rain the entire time we have been here.

As for the 1*, this is certainly an okay place. It's out in the middle of no where and 4km farther from Santiago than we expected to be today, but we have a patio in a garden, with an overhang, so even though its raining we can still sit outside.


We can't believe that we are now just 19km from Santiago. In Brierley, he poses the question of what does Santiago (St James) represent to you as you follow his Way?

Certainly, we have seen statues of him all along the Way. Something to contemplate as we journey the final steps tomorrow.

It has been an incredible and meaningful journey, the real significance of which will take years to comprehend.

Nevertheless, we are both getting weary to the bone and will be glad when we reach Santiago tomorrow.

Summary - a very fragrant walk today, with much contemplation, sadness that the journey is reaching its conclusion, and relief.

Distance today -16km
Distance total - 772.2km