This is quite out of date, but I´m adding the diary entries as I get online time. Not much internet access in the rural farming villages in Spain. :)
* Took the longer route (by 6.5km) to Sarria via Samos to visit the 6th century Monasterio de Samos. We arrive after it opens, but are told we´ll have to wait 40 minutes until a group arrives so we can all tour the interior together. With many miles still to walk, we decide to explore the exterior instead before moving on. Attached to the outside of the monastery is a small petrol station where somebody is impatiently honking their horn. I figure he´ll have to wait 40 minutes for a group of cars so they can all fill up together.
* Took the longer route (by 6.5km) to Sarria via Samos to visit the 6th century Monasterio de Samos. We arrive after it opens, but are told we´ll have to wait 40 minutes until a group arrives so we can all tour the interior together. With many miles still to walk, we decide to explore the exterior instead before moving on. Attached to the outside of the monastery is a small petrol station where somebody is impatiently honking their horn. I figure he´ll have to wait 40 minutes for a group of cars so they can all fill up together.
* On the approach to the monastery we pass a herd of cattle and stop for a look. Some Spanish cyclists also stop, and tell me ¨Vaca Español...mucho leche, mucho carne¨ (Spanish cows...lots of milk, lots of meat). The only relevant Spanish sentence I can come up with immediately is, ¨Me gusta mucho leche¨(I like lots of milk), which seems somewhat inappropriate, so I simply agree with, ¨Muy bien¨ (very good).
* Sarria (our destination tonight) is the minimum amount people can walk and still get a certificate for completing the Camino. It´s 100kms over 5 days, rather than the 800ish kms if you do the full Camino Francés that we´ve done. It´s much less of an undertaking, so it seems as though they do a lot less, if any, research before starting. Tonight we met a couple in the albergue that hadn´t realised they needed to bring sleeping bags, so Hannah translates directions to a store that may have some. When you´re paying 4 or 5 € per night, you don´t generally get extras like fresh linen. Postscript: the following day we saw the same couple soaking wet in long sleeve tshirts during a brief yet heavy rain. Apparently they hadn´t bought jackets either. In Galicia, the western part of Spain we´re in now, it rains one day in three during an average year. Not having a sleeping bag means you haven´t done much research, but not having a jacket takes lack of preparation into a completely new league.
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