Day 24 O Cebreiro – Tricastela

Monday 20 April 2009
Via LINARES - HOSPITAL DE LA CONDESA - ALTO DE POIO - FONFRIA - BIDUEDO
Approx 20.5km

An amazing start to the day, with spectacular views over the early morning O Cebreiro – mists and clouds were below us – actually below us! Amazing!

I spent the day walking with Rebecca, who is great company, and is good for some educated conversation. We had a quick breakfast before heading off to tackle another bloody mountain!

It was worth it to get to the top and have some more incredible views. The walk today was only 20km, but it seemed never-ending! We got to Triacastela at about 2pm.

On our way there we went through so many small hilltop villages with some interesting experiences – we were accosted by a little old lady who had fresh crepes and handed us one each before holding her hand out for a ‘donativo’, which I thought was incredibly cheeky, especially considering I don’t have a sweet tooth and didn’t even want one! And here was me thinking she was so sweet to offer me a tasty crepe when it was all about the money (important lesson Jess - no one does something for nothing!).

A little bit later on when we were oh so close to Triacastela, we got caught behind a man herding cows down a muddy lane for a very long time! One of my fellow Pilgrims – a Spanish man named Emilio, who I would spend time with later, as in front of us and decided that he was a cowboy and was trying to herd the cows – very proud of himself and very funny!

In an aside, the first I saw of Emilio was the day before when Rebecca and I were having a fortifying beer before tackling the mountain ahead of us – he pointed at us and laughing the whole way, proceeded to dance up the hill- Forever known as the Dancing Man. I guess the story is even funnier if I described Emilio – a big man in a wooly jumper who paid for pack to be transported to the next town, because – in his own words (whilst rubbing his substantial belly) – “I have enough weight to carry”. Too funny!

Rebecca and I arrived at the Albergue and were having a rest when I heard a very familiar voice – and who should walk in but Jon from England! I was so very happy to see him, and he was in a bad way and needed a friend – fate works in funny ways. The three of us (Rebecca, Jon and I) met up with Megan and Jeff and we all went to a Pilgrims Mass, which was really special. The Mass was given in Spanish, but as Megan was fluent, she translated. The priest was incredibly kind and gave us good sentiment about the Camino – it is not a race, it’s not about who gets to Santiago first – it’s a time to be reflective. It was such a special moment, and one which I hope to remember for the rest of my life. Very special. After we had dinner at our respective Albergues, Megan and Jeff came to our Albergue and we sat up until WAY too late and drank way too much wine.

I was thinking about the prayer session later and thought about how on the ball the message way – I had been guilty of trying to walk too fast to prove myself to people and make it a race. I suppose its human nature to have that bit of a competitive streak and feel a bit feeble when you lose people because they are fitter or faster than you, but it’s not about being the fastest to Santiago – otherwise, what’s the point? You’re not undertaking your journey, you’re undertaking some else’s journey – and no one undertakes the journey for any reasons apart from their own. And in retrospect, I feel sorry for those who think it’s a race and get caught up in that, because they miss the beauty and joy.