What have I left myself in for? A short walk from the hotel to the Camino path and the first yellow arrow - it pointed up an almost unending flight of steps. We all set off at the same pace on a cold foggy morning, at least I was warm by the top of the steps. Wraenna found them extremely hard and her asthma was not very forgiving. A stroll down the hill out of Sarria and we were doing fine. Then a hill! I really hadn’t realised quite how hilly this walk was going to be, and I’m very glad I did my practicing up Burrington Coombe, and the Hood Memorial, oh and of course running up the back of the Tor. I like setting a pace up hill and keep on going so I did, it was a zigzag path with lots and lots of other pilgrims - we have learned that most groups set out around 8am and I was slightly concerned I wouldn’t get the head space I came for. I should add that I left Wraenna at the bottom of the hill and agreed to wait at the first cafe so that she could go at her own pace too. It was beautiful and misty but as I arrived at the cafe it was starting to lift and warm up. The cafe was busy and toilet queues are always long when the cafe is at the top of a hill. I found my 2nd stamp for my Pelegríno Passport (the first one being at the hotel before we left but too early to think about). It was a while before Wraenna arrived and she was clearly struggling. So I waited with her until she was ready to depart then set off at my own pace and agreed to wait for her at the next arranged stop. The scenery was astonishing, lots of quite steep hills and it did feel like we were going up and up and up. I found a lovely cafe where I replenished my water, queued for the loo (again) and shed some layers as the sun came out in full. What was interesting was that as the day wore on people spread out and I found myself walking alone for great chunks of the day. At the next agreed stop (around 12km) I found Martin who informed me that Wraenna had taken the wise choice to skip the hills and had taken a taxi on to the next hotel. Armed with this knowledge I kept walking and walking and walking. When I passed the sign for 100km I quietly celebrated and took a photo because it meant that I had walked about 12km and now was really starting the last 100km the bit you have to do if you want your pilgrims certificate. I’ve collected fun stamps, including one of a rockstar and carried on walking through pretty villages and lovely scenery. At 17km I found a lovely cafe where I had a massive bowl of nachos and Guacamole but as I was on my own I joined a chap at a table who didn’t say much but wished me Buen Camino as he left. Many of the rest of our group arrived as I was finished and a few of them now termed affectionately the Sangria Group we’re enjoying the atmosphere and the sunshine. I met Alycia a Canadian lady who Wraenna had befriended on a Facebook group. We were walking and chatting about travel and life, by this time we were going down hill - I really don’t like going down hill but the walking poles help. All of a sudden she stopped to break out her poles and told me to carry on and she would catch up - she never did but I found out that she had twisted her knee. I also found out this didn’t stop her walking the next day!

Mostly down, then the most beautiful sight of the river that separated me from PortoMarin, the stopping place for the night. At one point I reached a wonderful Camino sign which pointed both ways. As I read more closely I discovered one was the historic path and the other was the alternative (which I suspect would have been easier) but I chose the historic route. It was extremely steep and rocky steps much deeper than my little legs so I virtually went down on my bum, but what I found most powerful was that you could see footprint in the rock where hundreds of thousands of other pilgrims had created before me (I’m not quite sure what shame my bum would have left but somehow I added to the history).

Once down the path I crossed the road and arrived at the most beautiful river scene with an awesome bridge over it. Lots of photos and a steady stroll over the bridge. In front of me was another flight of steps. I saw some people sitting on the, but I didn’t realise I was supposed to walk up them! I followed the road signs into PortoMarin and strolled into a beautiful town. Martin had given me instructions about how to find the hotel but with my walking addled brain I got extremely confused and ended up resorting to GoogleMaps to direct me the last 400m.

Much beer was then consumed, I had a bath which helped my aching muscles and spent a very enjoyable evening with one of our group encouraging all the new people who arrived to play guess Dianas job!