Ocebreiro to Triacastela
By: Ken Brown
Published: 9/19/2015
Only 6 days remaining on the Camino de Santiago
We are sitting in a restaurant in the little village of Triacastela on day 27 having tapas. It was a short 12 miles that were mostly down. Tomorrow we hope to go to Sarria.
Yesterday, Mary's birthday, was a brutal up hill climb going up 700 meters in less than
10 kilometers. The views at the top of Ocebreiro were fantastic. Mary did an excellent job on the hills. Her cardiovascular system has improved this trip.
We were able to go to the laundromat and get 3 days of wash done. The village only has a
limited number of beds. We chose a small casa rural, hotel, as a treat for Mary's birthday. We ended up getting the last room in town. They turned people away from the
hostels and all rooms were full.
We had to share the road and path with the local cows. The farmers were moving them to another pasture. The dogs were working hard keeping the cows moving the direction the
farmer wanted.
The path is getting crowded with new peregrinos. It is not unusual for many people tobegin their pilgrimage in Sarria.
We ate dinner last night with some friends from Canada and Australia. Other friends from
Canada bought Mary a small Camino medal. Very nice people.
We have 6 more days of walking to reach Santiago. We filled up the peregrinos credentials Al got for us. We are working on the second ones we purchased in
Sahagun, hopefully that will have enough space. We usually get stamps at the churches we visit. That can be none to 3 to 5. Now we are in Galicia region and we have to get a
minimum of 2 stamps per day.
You can receive a certificate if you walk a minimum of 100 KM. That means starting in Sarria you can get the credits you need. But to prove you actually walked that distance you have to get the two stamps per day. They can be from a church, an albergue or from a bar or restaurant.
The bars are everything from a place to get a drink to a breakfast spot, a quick lunch or a they can be a restaurant.
The views and vistas from the mountains are fantastic.