Day 28 - Like a flock of sheep

Dark and gloomy this morning as it had been raining overnight, and rain was expected throughout the day - still a pleasant change from the heat of the previous week as it wasn't cold.

The crowd of walkers seemed to have grown, we felt like sheep as we followed the long line of walkers along a trail that included roads for much of the way. We had heard it would be busy but this was getting ridiculous.

Early on as we left Portomarin we passed the archaeological site of Castromaoior. It was just a few minutes off the track but of the hundreds of pilgrims that passed while we were there only one other person stopped to have a look. It was one of the better sites we'd passed on the Camino and well worth the visit, a bit disappointing that almost none of the walkers showed any interest though.

The rest of the day was pretty standard for us by now, though we did find that the high number of pilgrims was detracting from the experience. There was always chatter and the "click click" of sticks. As far as the chatter went (and at the risk of appearing to be guilty of racial stereotyping) we found the Spanish speakers to be the worst. They would typically travel in larger groups, and would never, ever, ever shut up! You could hear them coming from behind, getting louder and louder, once they'd passed you'd be hopeful that some silence would return, but there was always another group to take their place.

The stick walkers were another pet peeve ... the click click click was starting to get to us, and you could hear them from even further away than the Spanish! How is it that these people learnt to walk without sticks and have been successfully walking around unaided for decades, but all of a sudden because they are on the Camino they can't function on a perfectly level, well made path without using two sticks for assistance? As K had found the sticks did have their uses, but was it really necessary to use them all the time?

We arrived in Palas de Rei mid afternoon, after a walk of about 25km. We turned up to our hostal and were taken to another room in another building -  a bit of a surprise but in the end the room was fine. For dinner we ended up in a place that looked really basic and seemed a bit too quiet, but the one woman who was doing all of the cooking provided us with one of the better meals we'd had on the Camino - basic food, but tasty and nicely cooked.