Welcome To Disneyland (Day 30)

Today began the final push to Santiago. It was a lovely 16 mile hike through rolling hills and the weather was ideal. Cloudy enough to hide the sun and keep the temperatures cool but no real rain to speak of. As I stated in my previous post, this is where the trail can get crowded and many start their pilgrimage from Sarria. I was expecting the increase in pilgrims and perhaps an end to the quiet walk I had been enjoying the last 30 days. That’s exactly what happened. The trail got crowded.

My expression says it all.

While this was expected, what I wasn’t prepared for was the amount of kids that are now on the trail. They seem to be school groups of some sort and there are a few of them. This equals at least a hundred teens and pre-teens on the trail. I want to go on the record as saying that these kids are extraordinarily well behaved. They seem polite and friendly. But they’re kids. Kids are loud. It’s just how they are. This means that the trail got loud in a hurry, It was like walking out of the woods and into Disneyland this morning. It was shocking and a huge difference from the last month on the camino. It was kind of a sensory overload and I had to take a moment away a few times to regroup.

The trail itself seems to have changed a little as well. I saw at least five souvenir type shops along the way today, which is a new thing. The bars seem to be a little nicer as well in Galicia (and a little more expensive but not overly so) and the menus are a little more diverse. I’m not sure what I think of it. I was used to it a certain way and being surrounded by other long distance walkers. It’s not bad I guess, just different.

The bicyclists have gotten much worse. There aren’t more of them, they are just incredibly unskilled. This hasn’t been the case up to now. Sometimes in the past they could have let us know a little quicker they were coming up behind us but the majority were courteous and good on their bikes. This new wave aren’t so good at letting you know they’re coming (that’s what the bell is for, you just push it. It’s not hard) or at maneuvering their bikes through the masses. Some look like they haven’t been on a bike in years and are wobbly as hell when they are riding. Also, buy some bike pants that fit!!!! If you can fit three full size bricks in the ass of your padded bike pants THEY ARE TOO BIG!!! Lance.

As I stated last post, my goal is to not be an asshole to the noobs. I was successful on that today. Externally. What i mean by that is I treated everyone well and when they cut in front of me on the trail, smacked into me with their backpacks (because noobsauce had just started wearing it today and wasn’t used to having it on), or loudly passed on the trail I greeted them all with a smile and a “buen camino” greeting. Internally I wasn’t so kind. If internal snarkiness (that’s a word) was money I would’ve been Bill Gates. If it was ravioli I would’ve been Chef Boyardee. If it was back hair I would’ve been Chewbacca. You see what I’m saying. I was snarky with my internal voice.

Tomorrow is another 16-18 mile hike with the new masses and I intend to try and quiet the internal asshole in myself. Now that the initial shock is out of the way I think it’s something I can accomplish. Wish me luck.

Today we passed the 100Km left sign about midway through the hike. This thing is winding down. Not sure exactly how I feel about that but I’m not ashamed to say that I wouldn’t miss not hiking for a day or two. My feet agree with me on that sentiment. Maybe I should bike the rest of this? Apparently you don’t have to be good on a bike or have pants that fit (final snarkiness of the night right there, I’m a changed man now. Honest)

The town I’m in tonight is next to a lake where the town was originally. They moved the town (including two ancient churches, brick by brick) up the hill and then flooded the town to build the lake. It’s a pretty great place.

These granaries are all over Galicia and kind of one of the symbols of the region.

Not a great picture but if you look you can see the line of walkers on the trail.