Day 26 - Fillobal to Sarria

Fillobal is a tiny collection of houses, very much in the rural backwaters.

Ours was the only Albergue in the village and was excellent. Great little room, charming staff and excellent spaghetti and fruit flan. Enjoyed my dinner with a German chap, late 30s, unmarried, spent the last 20 years selling ‘industrial fixings’ and trying to convince himself that spending the next 20 doing the same thing was the smart move. I asked him a few questions about ‘meaning’ which I think made him uncomfortable, still he bought me a beer…

The mountains are now behind us, and this morning’s path took us through the foothills and on into the verdant countryside. Narrow trails along forgotten valleys banked by carpets of green, only interrupted by symphonies of wildflowers and little cascades breaking cover, their waters meandering onto the stream below. Every now and then the path would take us through collections of houses, some abandoned, some still occupied by those making their living from this wonderfully rich land. Galicia is indescribably beautiful.

I made it to my destination for the day - Sarria, at about one thirty, a rather down at heel regional centre and this I am told, is where the peaceful and reflective atmosphere of the Camino changes. Lots of pilgrims join here for the last 100km to Santiago so it all becomes rather busy and hectic. As a pilgrim, it must be rather nice only having 100km’s worth of sins to be forgiven, for my part, I feel much better going for the full 800Km’s worth, better safe than sorry!