We had sun today for the first time in three days. The rain was constant and relentless. Do not buy a cheap poncho; invest in a good one. I had to upgrade a couple of days ago and at €6 it was worth the money. We walked through beautiful forests where we were shielded from some of the rain. However after 27km’s it’s not funny anymore. And that distance we covered two days in a row with quite a few hills in between. It always seems as if the last hill is the one before the albergue. Gatvol is dan ‘n mooi beskrywing.

The last 300km’s with Robin and Jonas have been fun; and laughter is the best medicine. It has been a different Camino than the first 500km. I cherish both and am grateful. I am fit and have no issues with feet or anything else. My German has improved as well. LOL. A roof over our heads, hot shower and the promise of a cold cerveza and vino tinto later makes huge difference. The joke now is “what is a few km’s between friends”. I’ve never eaten so much chocolate as of late. At the end of the day Jonas always asks who wants chocolate and from somewhere a slab appears. The six of us always end up together at the end of the day.

In Palas de Rei we ended up in town with the only open albergue. The guide book warns that it’s run down but it’s nearly dark and raining so we chose to stay. Laura and Frank wisely chose a small hotel. The showers and toilets are not very clean but we make do. As we head out for supper a “real” Peregrino comes into our room. He looks like he has been on the road for a long time. When we get back after supper the stench of someone who has not used a shower in a long time is so bad that we race out of the room. I walk the town to try and find alternative accommodation to no avail. When I get back I tell the hospitalero in my broken Spanish to smell the room. She wakes him up and he says he did shower. We refuse to sleep there and remove all our stuff. After some prodding she gives us another room and we then share the room with a German guy who according to Robin “sawed the whole Black Forest” that night. None of us had much sleep and by 07:30 we were up and out of the albergue.

We are now in O Pedrouzo and 18km away from Santiago. I am grateful for every step of my Camino. It has been hard but I do not regret one step of my way. I have mixed emotions; looking forward to go home but I’m going to miss the Camino and my friends. How do I explain the Camino and experiences back home? I can tell the stories but I cannot explain what it has done to me. My only purpose each day is to eat, walk and sleep. What is it going to be like not to do that? It never has been the destination of Santiago when I started, now that it’s so close I do wonder about the end.

We are warned about the last day and the busloads of tourists so I will walk into Santiago with no expectations.

I end this with a photo of my Camino fashion trend at night. You will not see me like this in Cape Town.