Camino Day 33 - October 9

Day 4 in Galicia, and Day 4 of rain..

 

Today, we walked 24 km from Portomarin to Palas del Rey.. It felt like a pretty regular day today.. The scenery was again lovely, and made extra lush and green by all of the rain.. And it was another up and down day in terms of elevation.. Lots of climbing up and down the hills in the area, but nothing too strenuous or extreme.. Painwise for me, things were alright today.. I still have some discomfort, and can still feel the strain in my shin, but the pain is less.. What I have noticed now is a swollen ankle, perhaps from how I've been walking due to the muscle strain.. There is no pain or bruising in the ankle, so I'm not too worried, but I'll keep an eye on it..

 

After the pouring rain of yesterday, and thanks to the large room with lots of space to spread things out, I am happy to report that our gear is mostly dry. Our backpacks and sleeping bags had dried out (both got just a little wet from seepage around the edges of our pack covers). And it felt SO good to put dry clothes on this morning, even though we knew the rain would come again and the clothes wouldn't stay so dry.. It felt a little anticlimactic after the dry clothes, and a little disappointing, however, to put on wet shoes.. Our shoes had dried out a fair bit overnight, and mine were drier than Rob's, but both pairs were still pretty wet. My only other pair of shoes, though, are flip flops, so wet hiking shoes it is..

 

One of the things I have found fascinating throughout this journey has been the history of some of the communities we have stayed in or passed through. Portomarin, our starting point this morning, is one such place, with a really interesting more recent history in particular. Portomarin is said to have once been one of the most flourishing and one of the richest places in the region of Galicia. The old town, however, was sunk under water in the 1960s to create a dam and reservoir. But before the town was sunk, the two old, large, and beautiful churches were taken apart brick by brick and piece by piece, and rebuilt in the new town. The new town is on the top of a hill, with the water below. The water looks lovely, and it is a bit wild to think that the remnants of an old town lie beneath.

 

So much history on this journey, and so much I'm learning about centuries past.

 

As always, many blessings to you all,

susan