Day 38

We have been walking the Camino for 38 days and will reach Santiago in two days time, on day 40.  We have 40 km to go, less than an hours travel by car, but two days walking for us.

Most of our Camino family have reached Santiagon over the past few days and moved on, so we probably won't see anyone we know when we walk into the cathederal square on Thursday.  We just cannot believe that our Camino is finally coming to an end.  Not sure how we feel about that, excited that we have achieved so much, or sad that its almost over.

After leaving Samos we walked for three days in drizzling rain and cold.  The scenery was lovely and rugged up in our wet weather gear we stayed dry and warm.  The one good thing about walking in the rain is your pack becomes lighter because you are wearing the waterproof pants and jacket which weigh almost a kilogram.  For the past two days the rain has eased so the waterproof gear hasn't been needed, although it remained quite cold.

The countryside has been quite hilly in sections with small dairy farms, vegetable plots, forrested areas, including small plantations of Tasmanian Bluegums, and stream crossings.  The track has been partly on minor bitumen roads, but mostly on delightful woodland paths which makes walking enjoyable.

Last night in Melide we dined with the last of our remaining Camino friends at Pulperia Exequiel, a restaurant famous for serving the regional specialty, Octopus Pulpo.  We had a great night and the food was exceptional.

Today while wandering past a little church in the village of Boente, we were beckened inside by the parish priest.  Together with an Irish couple, he took us on a tour of his quaint church, explaining to us in a mix of Spanish and broken English the names of the saints represented by ancient figurines.  In pride of place, above the alter, was a statue of St James, or Santiago as he is known here, the man responsible for all of us pilgrims dragging ourselves across Northern Spain.  This lovely old man then proceeded to give the four of us a pilgrims blessing, wished us a safe journey, and a buen camino.

Tonight we are in the town of Arzua.  Tomorrow we walk 20km to O Pedrouzo, then on Thursday we walk our final 20km up and over Monte Gozo, at 370 metres, before our final decent to the plains and the city of Santiago.

Do we want it to end . . . . . I don't think so.