Day 2: Sarria to Portomarin

Portomarin – 22km (14 mi) – Hotel Portomarin

Breakfast at the hotel - Walk through clam, pretty villages and peaceful hamlets under the shade of oak trees and along quiet country roads. Along the way, you will spot many Galician traditional ‘hórreos’ (granaries).

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Our group started in Sarria with the usual routine: breakfast at seven, pack bags and take the bags to the lobby by eight, start at 8 o’clock with a short talk and prayer by Steve Allen, start the walking part of the trek at approximately 8:15. Steve asked that we spend 30 to 45 minutes silence thinking about the words that you had spoken at the opening meeting.  The talk today was about walking. Steve noted that Abraham walked 1000 miles to the promised land.

The walk continued through wooded areas, past farms of different varieties and different smells. We smelled the smell of apples fermenting, the smell of grapes in the fall, the smell of cattle, and the smell of various other rural complexities. We stopped for a break at mid morning, and we stopped for lunch with about 5 miles to go. It was early afternoon. The lunch was a long stop with an excellent large meal which took the waitresses a long time to complete the serving.

I would note that everyone was in reasonable shape for the walking. The weather started out cool, warmed up, then dropped in temperature during our lunch break.

I picked up trash along the way, And deposited the trash in trash cans which appeared every so often. Much of the trash was discarded tissues. I have to state that it is discouraging to see people who are on a spiritual trip defiling the environment.

We noted many types of animals along the trip: cows goats, chickens, and many dogs. The dog seemed to be trained to sleep in the roadways. They were very casual and didn’t seem to mind the fact that cars had to drive around them.

The rest of the walk was mostly downhill, with the city of Portomarin in our vision as we approached the river and the long high bridge which took us across the river to the steps that let us up the hill to the Star Hotel where we encamped for the night.

We ended the evening with a group dinner, where I was assigned to write this recap.

Respectfully your correspondent,

Bob Benson