Our 25 km walk from Miraz to Sobrado do Monxes was idyllic along forests paths and through remote rural hamlets. We have spent most of our time fairly close to civilisation up to now (with a few exceptions) but yesterday was different. No sounds whatsoever except birds chirping. It was frankly my idea of heaven.
We decided to spend the night in the Monestario de Santa Maria de Sobrado de los Monjes. It was built in the 10th century by the Benedictine monks. By the 12th century it had been abandoned and was then refounded by the Cisterian monks. It is believed to be the oldest Cisterian monestery in Spain. In 1954 Trappist monks began reconstruction and a new Trappist community settled in 1966.
They still have €M’s to spend to get the cathadral operational it was however, a fascinating if somewhat austere place to spend a night.
The Camino del Norte joins the Camino Frances at Arzúa. Our guidebook had warned us to prepare ourselves for a huge increase in the number of pilgrims. The Camino Frances is by a long way the most popular camino route. An estimated 180,000 people walked it in 2018.
We approached Arzúa with a little trepidation. Over our picnic lunch we watched a procession pass us. Once we left the town to complete our 3 hour afternoon walk we saw only half a dozen pilgrims all afternoon. There were that many people on the CdN. Sheila thinks they walk in the morning and had finished by lunch time. The acid test will be tomorrow morning.
We have one full days walk (25 km) tomorrow. On Wednesday we have planned our triumphant 5 km walk in to Santiago. That will be 500 miles walked in 36 days… I cant believe it is all ending so quickly.
Wandering Boomers 