Ventas de Naron

A stay selected because it was part way between Portomarin and Palais de Rei.  Ben is due to arrive in Palais de Rei on Friday, and I've booked a two-night stay there for tomorrow and Friday.   Which meant two really rather short walking days from Portomarin.  This place is small, rural and apart from one farm seems entirely dedicated to the Camino.

Yesterday afternoon in Portomarin was busy! The town itself is popular and the main streets are flanked with restaurant tables. And I was hailed several times by people I recognised and who knew my name; I have to confess to not always remembering theirs, but they come back to me after a bit!   

This morning was chilly, misty and damp.

The change since Sarria which was noticeable yesterday was unmistakable today.   It's downright crowded at times - in fact most of the time!  Coming out of Portomarin you cross a bridge, and it was a stream of people; not quite Oxford Street but it felt close.  Suddenly too the majority of walkers are Spanish; before Sarria Spaniards were a relatively rarity.

Immediately across the bridge is a choice of routes; everyone was turning right.  I turned left!  Even the quieter route was busier than most of the Camino has been so far, and it only lasts for a while until it merges back into the main track.

I walked for a bit with Li Wan (no idea whether that's the right spelling) from Guangdong in China.  His English is a good deal less limited than my Chinese!   He'd started at Roncesvalles, but being limited on time he took the train from Logroño to Sarria.  He hopes to be back sometime to do the rest.

I stopped for a coffee at a crowded cafe, and Janis (from Germany) joined me.  He'd also walked from St Jean, and was adjusting to the crowdedness.  We agreed that there should be special prices and priority in queues for those who'd walked most kilometres!

One of the hails yesterday afternoon was from Edward and Yvette from South Africa, whom I also caught up today, and walked with for a while - for once resisting the temptation to dash on ahead.   It was good to chat to them.

While with them the sun appeared. 

Or actually, we climbed out of the valley, and found the sun.   The mist and cold were cloudy trapped in the valley behind us; and it suddenly became warm.  The picture above may not illustrate this without explanation: the Way in the foreground, the mountains behind - and in between the bank of whitd cloud chilling the valley.