Day 5: Triacastela to Sarria (13mi/21km)

A lovely morning for walking. Not too cool, sun shining, birds singing, great views.

As we descended towards Sarria on narrow tracks through oak forests, the countryside became increasingly pastoral, dotted with diary farms, fields of wildflowers, and small villages, each with its own tiny church.

Everywhere there are signs for albergues (hostels). The Camino is very busy in the summer; even now, we are never completely alone. There are always a few pilgrims before us and behind us, some human and some non-human.

Another peregrino and her dog

"Bat" (from Batman) walking from Astorga with his owners

The last few kilometers into Sarria we walked along the road. John strode ahead but I struggled with a new ailment - a nasty blister on the same foot with my even nastier second toe! We found an urgent care clinic where no one spoke English (or even French). Chattering away in Spanish (none of which I understood), the nurse lanced the blister and the toe's nail bed, and bandaged both. With grand gestures and big sighs, she indicated I was going to lose the nail and should not walk tomorrow. We are thus taking an unexpected rest day and will explore Sarria and the monastery at Samos. Oh well.