14 October 2017
Walking Day 31:
28.8 kilometers

Today was a very nice walk on the Camino de Santiago. There were definitely some challenges, but it was a very nice day. The day started out in the pre-dawn darkness at about 6 C (40 F), and gradually warmed to be about 28 C (82 F) and just a little more humid than in recent days.

I started again in the pre-dawn darkness at about 8:00 AM, and walked through the very quiet town of Palas de Rei. In the main part of town I saw this Camino Way marker with the Knights Templar cross, evidence of the meaning of the Knights Templar to this area.

There were small groups of pilgrims walking in the early morning cold, mostly not talking much, as we all seemed to be anticipating the sunrise and some additional warmth. It is a challenge when the temperatures vary so much during the day. The temptation in the morning it to bundle up too much, but soon after starting walking, excess layers must be shed. By the end of the day walking into Arzúa, I was hot, and I was sweating continuously (being that Arzúa is at the top of a long, long, possibly 3 kilometer uphill stretch did not help).

Much of the day’s Camino walk was in the forest, and much of that in what appeared to be old-growth forest. The forest sections varied quite a bit. The guidebook says “today we cross 6 shallow river valleys and 3/4 on pathways through delightful woodland that helps stifle the noise from the busy N-547 highway which we cross and re-cross all the way to Arzúa.”

All of that is true. However, river valleys are low points, and to cross the river means going down to the river, over the bridge and then back up, up, and more up. Some of the uphill sections were quite impressive. All of the uphill sections seemed far longer than the downhill sections.

Leaving Palas de Rei, we were soon in the forest as the sun started rising and rays of sunlight crossed our path as the sunlight broke through between the trees.

The autumn leaves are all over – a very different look than in the spring.

And then with the sun warming us, we continued on into the varying forest pathways. It was a good walk this morning, quite peaceful in spite of the larger number of pilgrims walking. There were many small towns along the way today, all with cafes where pilgrims congregated drinking zumo de naranja natural or cafe-con-leche. I stopped at several and picked up at least 10 stamps in my pilgrim’s credential today.

The walk in the forest continued and as I said, the forest sections varied.
Soon we were passing decent-sized plots of corn looking ready for harvest.

Then we came to a town named Furelos. Lat year, I stopped here with a man from Tolouse, France, and he ordered “pulpo” (octopus). He said it was about the best he had tasted, so I tried some – it is not for me, but it is very popular here. Today I was walking with two ladies from Canada who wanted pulpo, and we stopped at the same restaurant, but they were not cooking pulpo today. Here is the church across the street from the restaurant where I tried pulpo the last time I was here.

A nice little church – I wanted to see inside, but it was locked.

We (the ladies from Canada and I) moved on another kilometer or two to Melide, and easily found a nice restaurant where they were serving pulpo. I was only stopping for a drink, got a stamp,and headed out. As I was leaving, we all noticed that the canopy under which we were sitting was kiwi. I got a picture or the kiwi canopy and left the Canadians to their early lunch of pulpo.

Crossed another river of this old bridge. Not a large river, but at the bottom of a long downhill and at the start of a long uphill section.

And the walk through the sometimes dark forest and sometimes light forest continued.

Here again, the fall colors are vibrant.

In this section to the right, for a long stretch are these well-tended evergreens, planted unnaturally close together to form essentially a fence along a minor road.

We were back in what seemed to be another bit of old-growth forest.

And finally we are climbing to Ribadiso, 3 kilometers before Arzúa. A long, long climb. The neighborhood through which we walked into Ribadiso was much more manicured than the forest but still nice.

The long, long uphill section to my hotel in Arzúa left me uninspired to take photos. I got to the hotel, showered, rested a little, and then headed out to a laundromat to wash the day’s clothes. Then a little siesta, then dinner, and now it is time to sleep.

Next: Twenty kilometers to A Rúa, my final overnight stop before walking in to Santiago de Compostela on Monday (16 October). The guidebook says three shallow river valleys, so I am expecting some lengthy uphill sections.