Camino ’24: Day 26


Tough day today, but we made it through. We walked around 28 km and I’m glad we didn’t face any major issues.

We started out well at around 7.20 AM, catching a very beautiful sunrise and morning “golden hour”. I hope that the pictures I took with the camera are going to turn out OK.

On the way

Our pace was good and we met up with Jürgen and some of the other pilgrims we have been seeing for the last couple of days. With Santiago fast (maybe too fast) approaching, everyone is in a good mood.

The best encounter of the day, however, was with a free cow who was walking the Camino backwards, all on her own. She just appeared on the road out of nowhere, and went on her way after studying us for a minute. It was strange, but somehow beautiful in a way: cows and Galicia are intertwined. They are part of the land as much as the eucalyptus trees and the people who live here.

Therefore, it should come to no surprise to us to see a “vacagrina” on the Camino. And yet, we were more staggered by that cow than by a deer we saw a couple of days ago.

Make way for the pilgrim cow

After a healthy stop and bocadillo, we arrived at the beautiful monastery of Sobrado dos Monxes. There’s a small lake just before the town, where I managed to snap a few pictures of a crested grebe. Yet another bird we hadn’t seen before, caught on camera. I’m sure some of these birds will sue me for stalking at some point…

The lake before Sobrado

In the afternoon it got pretty hot and we had to slow down. This meant we arrived at our albergue in Boimorto at around 5 PM, a bit later than usual.

It shouldn’t be a big deal however.

Tomorrow, towards the end of our stage, we will arrive at the Camino francés, in Brea. Sadly we will skip the towns of Melide and Arzua, where I have fond memories from my two precious walks, in 2011 with my scout group, and in 2013 on my own.

You know you’re close when you see Santiago on a small provincial road

It’s strange to think that this Camino is also coming to an end. Two more days and the walk will be over.

I don’t want to think about it right now, however.

We still have another 50 km to go, and I want to try and enjoy each one of them, because they will never come back.