We made it. We’d left ourselves a little over 28 km to do today so to make sure that we got here without resorting to taxis, buses or mule carts, we got up early, amazingly before any other peregrinos, had breakfast and were out of the door before 7:30.

The albergue was purpose built, run by a family who clearly cared, so the room was excellent, food was great and they washed all of our clothes. This is mum in the restaurant last night.

Shortly after we left, with the km counting down quickly, as only morning km do, we came across some more tractors 😊

Clearly the Spanish love their tractors.

We were the only peregrinos up so early which is always nice especially if the weather obliges and today it did. Here’s mum and I early on the trail.

I wasn’t kidding about the mule cart.

Here’s a typical Galician rural scene.

Some 10 km or so before Santiago, we came across this.

Mum insists and is probably correct, that it’s where medieval pilgrims used to wash in preparation for their entry into Santiago and in particular the cathedral.

Here even the manhole covers carry the scallop shell of St. James.

For the first time on the journey we came across some goats 😊

High on the hill 5 km from Santiago is this monument.

You might notice some Korean ‘pilgrims’ to the right of the picture. We came across these characters all day long. They appeared at strategically placed bars along our route, invariably ahead of us, with walking sticks but without baggage. We occasionally saw them walking but noticed that after a few hundred metres they’d disappear only to reappear some two or three km further on. Then we noticed them getting onto a bus, a bus which we then saw repeatedly all the way to Santiago. Later after picking up our Compostela, we saw them disappearing into the pilgrim office, presumably to pick up theirs. Mum is convinced, and I’m sure that she’s correct, that they’re scamming the system. They’re coming from Sarria in the bus, walking a few metres occasionally, getting their credential stamped in the bars and then picking up the Compostela. Presumably they’re staying overnight a sufficient number of times to get the dates in order, unless the bars are also in on it. The 100 km criteria for getting one is clearly no obstacle to Korean ingenuity 🤔.

Mum and I finally arrived at the cathedral and popped down to the pilgrim office to get our Compostela. The queue was short, only 20 minutes or so. We chatted to a young Czech couple who had walked 300 km from Porto along the Portuguese Camino. We answered a couple of questions and we left clutching our personal Compostela.

We’re now pleasantly ensconced in a very nice hotel having had a very warm bath. Our feet are suspended in mid air, even the touch of the bed is painful at the moment, but we have finished. We’ll pop out shortly to a restaurant somewhere close, sleep early, catch the 7 a.m. bus to the airport and we should be in Gatwick before 11 and Oxford by 3 o’clock.

Ah 🤗.

Buen Camino 💕

I wonder where the red Italian is now 🤔