Finding treasure on the Camino de Santiago

“Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time” Steven Walker

Day 8 – 27th June – Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis – 25 kms

Kms completed to date;

Stephany – 228 kms by end of day 8

Sarah – 79 kms by end of day 8

Jacky & Nanette – 47 kms by end of day 8

Leaving Pontevedra

We left Pontevedra at 6am, again hoping to beat the heat. Took some doing to lug the four musketeers (suitcases) down the stairs. There was a slight mist and a very tiny drizzle, and it made the scenery look mysterious and even more beautiful. Most of Day 8 is on natural pathways through woodland along gentle river valleys. There was lots of shade and many drinking fountains, which we never really used as it was overcast and we were not really thirsty.

Again the four Camigas found their rhythm and stride, and it was lovely for me to see everyone doing their own walk, some of us with earphones, some dancing to their own tunes and others chatting away. A beautiful symphony of walking. The walking becomes a like dance, and if you don’t force yourself to stop you could get to 10kms without even thinking. The reason we need to stop is to air our feet and make sure we can take on the next 10 or 15 kms. It seems easy to those not familiar withe the Camino, but when you are walking consistently day after day an average of 25kms, the feet need airing and real mothering, as do the thoughts and stomach.

I walked playing my Sound of Music soundtrack, Jacky was dancing to some music her son Tom had loaded for her, Nanette was listening to Loslappie and Sarah was listening to the sounds of nature. Every now and then one of us would be caught swinging our hips or wiggling our bottoms and sticks. Such a delight to just be together and not necessarily feel the need to talk. We were really talking with our souls and with the rhythm of our sticks. Amazingly when one of us got behind because of taking soooo many photos (Me!) or stopping to find a playlist (Jacky!), the others would simply wait without being asked or expected to. I found it amazing how we just found our walking rhythm, not having walked one walk all together in Cape Town in preparation.

We reached Caldas de Reis at about 14h00 after walking through some beautiful scenery and started looking for our hotel. It had just started to get really sunny and hot. We needed to check in. We asked someone if he could direct us to Torre de Rio, and he looked at us in concern. Rolled his eyes, and said, it is five kms away, and uphill, and that we should catch a taxi. We all looked at one another and agreed to do that, as it was not on the Camino Route. We found a taxi within minutes and off we whizzed five kms out of town.

I was a bit worried as I had booked the place and i had requested from booking.com that my hotels be on the Camino Road. Well, we got to the gate of the place and Nanette said there must be some mistake, it looked a bit like driving up to the Mount Nelson. Wow. They opened the gates and we walked in all thinking that we were in the wrong place, then we saw the four musketeers sitting in the entrance waiting for us. We all basically almost shouted out in joy. We had really booked into heaven.

Our place was called Torre de Rio and it was fabulous.

Bizarrely we met two South African women a few hours before while walking, we greeted them and chatted a bit, but moved on. As we sat down to enjoy a picnic “lunch” on the lawns in the shade, there they were. I started chatting to them and established that one was from JHB and one from KZN. Dee and Corinne (not sure on spelling), anyway I was talking about stuff and Dee mentioned she taught at St Stithians in JHB, I asked if she by chance knew Elmay, my sister. She just about fell over. She had just recently supervised my sister during her teaching practical for art. She said that Elmay had mentioned me and sent her my blog and said she hoped we met. What are the chances. This Camino, it never fails to surprise.

Gifts; weather, weather, weather; meeting Dee; the synchronicity of Friends walking; delicious dinner at the hotel; the hotel from the angels; almost the entire walk today in wooded cool areas or farmlands; a Camino angel to direct us to our place, and a taxi right there to take us; everyone’s feet in tact!