Please be aware that I am writing this on my iPhone and any spelling errors are as a result of the the platform being used not necessarily of the operator.
Be warned that this is being posted as I am on Day 5.
When the walk up call came I was kind of half awake so it wasn´t such a shock. We went down and had breakfast then went back to the room and grabbed our packs and walking sticks. The first day was supposed to be 11.5 km but by the end I was more than sure that it was more (maybe it just felt like it!) So the first marker said 111 km to Santiago but we say the same thing two more times and by this time were out of Sarria and well into some wooded areas. We started by walking up the stairs to the church of Santa Marina and then climbing the hill to the Monastery of St. Magadelena and then down another steep hill where we say the second 111 km marker. We turned right at the bottom of the hill and continued along a dirt track and followed it around in a by U where the marker said . . . 111 km. Right then and there I decided to run my pedometer app starting the next day. What I should have done was started it right then but I didn't think of it.
The path continued along the railroad tracks on a dirt track that slowly began to slope uphill and then downhill. The paths varied between gravel, packed dirt, and loose rocks and dirt. I kept stopping to catch my breathe and to hydrate. It was rather sticky with humidity that first day and I was sweating buckets. When I was walking in the woods, I wore my ball cap but the back of my neck was getting warm when not in the shade of the trees and I needed to put on sunscreen. Along the way there were some breathtaking views that I will share when I get home and get the photos from the photographer (Carleana). There were luscious rolling green hills dotted with clumps of trees and bushes--all of them in varied shades of green. All the while we walked in the woods I was surprised by the lack of mosquitoes (not that I really wanted them) but that was not the story with the flies: they were everywhere!!!!!
As for getting our Camino passport stamped, sometimes it was clear where to go and other times it was like a game of hide and go seek; but we found all the places eventually. Our first stamp was at the Hotel and then at the first little hamlet we came to. I am glad to here because I am proving something to myself and learning that I am stronger than I thought I was. Today was hard on so many levels mainly because I wasn´t expecting it to be so hilly and that the terrain would be so rough--I mean I was climbing over rocks and tree roots and rough stones. I did survive the day and we managed to finish in about 4 hours.
When we got to Morgade we got the passports stamped and then I called for a taxi. And we waited and we waited and we waited--it seemed like forever. Finally, the taxi driver arrived and we headed back to Sarria. We had the taxi driver stop at the farmacia (pharmacy) because I was sore and wanted to get some Epsom salts and buy a tube of arnica cream. That was a bit of a challenge given that my Spanish was just starting to come back, but finally the person (pharmacist maybe) who spoke English was freed up and was able to help. I got something like Epsom salts and a tube of arnica gel.
We went back to the supermarket and grabbed a few more cold cuts and bread and water, Then we went back to the hotel and got cleaned up and made sandwiches for lunch. Carleana had a nap and I went down to the cafe for a cappuccino and to write my journal and do my zentangle for the day. Later we went for a walk and finished off the cold cuts and other goodies we had bought since we were changing hotels the next day.
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