Friday 26th May 2023
Distance 13.4km / 8.3 miles
Sarria – Ferreiros
Today was the beginning of the final ‘stage’ of the Camino Frances. The Cathedral at Santiago has decreed that you have to walk at least 100km to receive the official Compostela. This provides proof you are an official pilgrim among other things. This does mean that there are many thousands of pilgrims who start at Sarria which is the biggest town near this point at 113km from Santiago. All the videos, blogs and guides talk about this last section as crowded and with less opportunities for quiet reflection. They also gave warnings about limited accommodation and the necessity of booking. This did start raising concerns which I thought I had got over.
To counter this I was walking short distances now. I had booked two nights at an Albergue in Santiago and wanted to take the rest of my journey quite slowly so I didn’t arrive too early. I as usual set out at dawn and stopped a few metres up the hill, beside a church to say Morning Prayer. I was interrupted by a few spots of rain so I put my waterproof jacket on and backpack cover before continuing. I noticed far more pilgrims than I was used to. I was going to use as many Municipal hostels as possible from now on and I had identified the one at Ferreiros as my destination of choice. We went over the brow of the hill and into a beautiful wooded valley before going up again and over some rolling hills.
I found the scenery very like the countryside at home. Pastures, woodland, rolling hills.
Today was a day of country smells, not too many wildflowers, but wonderful walking. The weather was cool and threatened rain a few times, but whilst it was overcast it did not come to anything.
I arrived at my destination just two and a quarter hours before it opened and I was first in the queue! As I walked it did prey on my mind a bit that I wasn’t booking anywhere but it seemed to be working out ok.
I had plenty of time to sit and think. My thoughts were being pulled towards what the result of this pilgrimage might be. There have been experiences, but if this is a metaphor of life, maybe I shouldn’t focus on living from one experience to another. Over the last couple of days I have felt more of a sense of just enjoying walking with God. Is this the ‘walking amiably with Him’ which I have prayed about so many times? I haven’t expected any great revelation though there is still time.
Thinking about my arrival in Santiago, I want to pay my respects to Saint James, go to Pilgrim Mass and hopefully attend an Anglican service on the Sunday. I suspect I won’t feel any more like a tourist when I get there.