OVER 7000 EURO...

After coming home and counting all the euros that have generously been left in our absence we were delighted to come to the total of 7213.30 Euros.. so excited that Vanessa actually fell off her chair! Many many thanks to all of you who have gotten us to this point, it is well beyond our expectations.. to those of you still 'about' to donate, COME ON GET US TO 7500!!

Arca to SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA 17km

WE HAVE ARRIVED...
The final last 17km went rather fast, raining as per the norm now, once we set off there was no stopping us!
Getting in to soaking shoes at the start of the day was less than pleasant but some of us were more creative lining them with black rubbish sacks etc...
Starting through some forrests we continued on past the last of the markerstones that had become part of our daily routine..
.. before hitting our first glance of Santiago at Monte del Gozo.. 4km to go, yet so surreal after thinking about arriving here for the past 5 weeks...

Walking into the square in front of the cathedral the rain stopped and the sun came out for a whole 2 or 3 minutes... neither of us could believe we had arrived, and kept on questioning how on earth we got here? In some ways it seems like a year ago that we set out, however only 33 days on foot and 800km were completed.. Time to rest some weary feet..
This is shortly followed up by an urgent trip to the hairdressers where 'Madre Dia' was exclaimed when the girl washing Isabels hair realised just how many knots there were.. 2 hairdressers and 1 painful hour later all was resolved..
And finally.. time for some celebratory drinks, and what better place than the local Irish bar!

Arzua to Arca 21km

17km to go!!! Not many photo opportunities today but did like this one...Quite exciting... although the pain is slightly taking away from the excitement.. sore musles and bruised feet seem to be taking over more than ever but with such a short distance left I think we will cope just fine!Today was torrential rain again, really so much so that from the second we left to the moment we arrived it was head down and march, the rain so heavy that it hurt your face if you looked up.
Lucky its near the end or there may have been total sense of humour failures when we arrived at the Alberge to find everything in our bags had been soaked, through the waterproof covers which has never happened before.Spent the afternoon dealing with soggy sleeping bags etc and had nice meal across the road, however with there being no sign of the rain abandoning ship we are staying put for the evening.
Last day tomorrow, no idea how it came so fast.

Palas do Rei to Arzua 29km

Rain Rain rain, second day running, non stop and not fun. A lot of straight roads, lots of traffic and the feeling that the scenic part of the walk is well behind us.
Highlight of the day was Isabel looking for some lunch at 11.30am, seriously on energy level 1/10 and needing something before a total meltdown took place! After several attempts I walked into a hotel and was told by the lady no lunch until 1pm, before an old man sitting on a stool at the back of the bar said ´NO NO, she looks too tired, come here girl´ before taking me into the kitchen and sitting me at a small wooden table. I was presented with a beautiful vegetable soup, steak and chips(good for once) and a big bowl of salad. He kept talking to me about where we started and said he now meets few people who come all the way, lots of ´lazy´ pilgrims who only do half of it. After saying a big thank you and feeling some energy to keep going I went to pay at the bar to be told it was all complementary, he wouldnt take a cent from me. Amazing experience.

Saw these small raised houses on stilts and had an entertaining discussion as to what they were for.. bes t suggestion was from Minna from Finland, for dead bodies. After some investigation it was cleared up that they exist for a rather more mundane reason, to store potatoes and corn on the cobs.. At least some of us are imaginitive!Continued on to the far less than scenic Arzua, horrid little town where an early night was in need once more.

Apologies no pics

Have lost our card reader to upload pics, so apologies for the text only updates! Will hopefully get one in a couple of days so please have a look again then to see them then.
Off to bed now in the smelly prison like place that is our dwelling tonight...

Portomarin to Palas do Rei 26km

Another day of downpours.. all day rain. Didnt take any breaks as it was too cold to stand still.. kept going mostly on roads to the ´fabulous´ town of Palas do Rei where the hostal has won our award for most revolting on the whole camino..
Huge excitement to now be 65km from Santiago.. cannot believe we have made over 700km on foot, a lot of people cheating and we havent skipped one metre!

Calvor to Portomarin 28km

Oh rain rain rain. What fun. Pretty much all day was downpurs but it was a very nice rural walk, no roads or villages to be seen, other than passing through a town of Sarria early in the day.
A lot of muddy wet tracks, hard walking but quite relaxing after the mountains.
Isabel still facinated by the jet black slugs that are all over the tracks on wet days... quite endearing really!Feet feeling very blistered arriving into Portomarin the hostel was found and a nice restuarant to sit in for the evening. Isabel purchased a souvenir t shirt to later find she had bought size: Age 12-15, oh well, it will do as a replacement for the lost pj´s!

O Cebreiro to Calvor 42km

What a day. We dont even know how to start explaining this....
Leaving the mountain top in thick thick mist we set off down the far side, steeply decending (our most hated aspect of walking) through small villages to the bottom 20km later, arriving in a revolting spot called Triacastela.Along the way we bumped into Danny from California who we hadnt seen since day 1, having no money he is content sleeping in churches and eating grass.. properly roughing it this one is!Paella was ordered for lunch as our usual stale bread sandwiches werent going to cut it today.
Off we set again after a 1 hour break, heading straight out of the town in the direction of Calvor..or so we thought. This was the VERY crucial sign which we missed..5km later a slight look of bewildermant crossed our faces when we saw the direction the signposts were heading in, and it certainly wasnt west.
Several expletives did leave our mouthes at this moment as the thought of an additional 5km on top of the 37km we were already taking on that day was less than funny.
Even worse, there was nowhere to stay before Calvor, so we just had to get there.
After only about 5 minutes of thumbs out on the road we managed to get an 18year old boy racer to drive us back to the town of Triacastela, where, for a second time we attempted to leave.To cheer us up more, hills, hills and more hills. After many many moments of áre we going to make it?´and using our phones to call people to distract ourselves from the pain (Sorry Amber in Sydney at 2.30am!) we trundled down the hill to the delightful Calvor. Hungry, dirty and now cold at 8pm, our day was made perfect by finding that the village didnt exist, there was a hostal with not even a vending machine. That dinner we had dreamt off was not going to be.. alas.. a solution.. with a lot of hand signals and nodding of heads the hostal manager arranged for an owner of a local hotel to come and collect us, take us to the hotel, feed us and bring us back.
With only the starter consumed and exhaustion taking over as food was starting to miss our mouthes we were dropped back to the hostel for a very good nights sleep.

Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebreiro 31km

Setting off nice and early this was our most dreaded day of the whole trip.. we had been warned, warned and warned again about how steep it was but we got off to a good start when a small Fair Trade cafe was found along the way.. Muesli with Yogurt and Honey.. you have no idea how good this was.. may as well have been served caviar, foie gras and truffles it was so exciting to eat proper food!After about 10km on the road we started to climb, and steep, yes it was. A definate highlight was when we were going up a hill faster than a bicycle.. definately gave a good giggle and great pleasure to overtake a ´pro´on his bike..he wasnt looking so cool just then!
After coming off the roads we hit about 15km of well, vertical walking, steep as in you are leaning so far foward that your head is only about 24 inches off the ground.. yet, again, it was ok.. both of us questioning why? Possibly as we have climbed so many now we could be getting used to it? Who would have thought.Absolutely breathtaking scenery, now in the Galicia region, quite similar to Scotland or the west of Ireland. Absolutely unspoilt, walking through tiny tiny villages that make you feel like you are living ten centuries ago.. cows strolling freely around the streets etc.
After arriving at the top 11 and a half hours later, to the disgust of some of our fellow pilgrims we were given a first class room upstairs with normal beds, no bunks, sheets and a pillowcase. Amazing.After a nice dinner we were straight to bed for another big day tomorrow..

Molinescea to Vallifranca del Bierzo 32km

Today we treated ourselves to a nice lie in and werent up until 9.. such a luxury but really not worth it in the end.. we just ended up walking through the hottest part of the day and a tough walk it was. We decided we were pushing for the over 30km mark again to get us to the bottom of what looked like a nasty ascent for the following morning.
Walking through Ponferrada we managed to get totally lost, but on our way again we headed off into the hills.. walking seperately both Isabel and Vanessa managed to take unnecessary detours (also known as getting lost).. adding up to about an extra 4 km each..Vanessa took a nice snooze in some forrest we walked through while Isabel put her head upside down in a fountain to get rid of the 38 degree heat.. no fun with the 10kg rucksack! After the soaking of all the hair and continuing on my way, a man stopped in his car, jumped out and insisted on giving me a hat from his boot.. (mine was off momentarily)He owned a local vineyard and had the hats for the staff... I think he saw all the water dripping off me from the fountain and may have thought it was sweat! Nice.
Eventually arrived into Villafranca with some tired and sore feet at about 7pm, and stayed in the house of a local ´guru´ called Jesus, who believed himself to be able to cure any pain we had.
We both still have sore ankles, knees, shoulders and a lot of blisters. Not convinced.

Rabanal del Camino to Molinesca 32km

Long day today - and it was tough. We were climbing to over 1500m to the Cruz de Ferro, a very steep and strenuous trek, but which we found remarkably easy in comparison to previous mountains.
Passed through a small village called Foncebadon which got renamed by Isabel in an attempt to pronounce it.. ´Funkybacon´This was definately one of the most beautiful walks of the whole Camino, snow on the mountains but stunning scenery, amazing flowers etc.
After a one hour snooze at the top we started on the decent, where Isabel declared this the ´Best Day so far´, well talk about speaking too soon..
About 5 minutes later on what were the steepest and most rocky decents we have encountered Isabels head decides to go before her feet as she takes a flying fall down some rocks.. Amazing Vanessa came to the rescue along with Dominic and Eric... all pouring water on scarves and shoving it on the forehead.. straight into the next village for ice and a clean up.. other than a bruise and some blood we were shortly off again in 36 degree heat.. Adventurous, not fun, and grumpy for the rest of the day!
Arrived into Molinesca, really gorgeous town but unfortunately the day had taken its toll and it was bed by 8.30pm.

Astorga to Rabanal del Camino 22km

Well today was the day of breaks... every village for far too long, every time. Excuse being we had a massive mountain in front of us and we were saving our energy for the following day... Quite a pretty walk but without and shade and intense heat we just had to stop for drinks along the way.. it took us 9 hours to complete 22km however we all arrived feeling great and ready for the following days challenge. The heat was definately prevalent in this pic..

We stayed in a private hostal for the night which felt very luxurious, we had shower curtains and their were laundry facilities.. quite astonishing really. Mothers - yes believe it or not we usually hand wash our clothes every day in buckets of cold water. Lovely, I know.
Early night to bed but not much sleep, had two award winning snorers in the room that absolutely no earplugs or ipods at full volume could block out!

Villadangos del Camino to Astorga 33.5km

A nicer day today as we managed to escape some roads.. Traveled through grassy fields to Hospital de Orbigo which had the longest bridge on the camino.. Quite beautiful but the cobblestones across the bridge made the walking so painful we were only delighted to be off the far side..

Isabels knee was acting up so we had a break under a big tree about 10km before Astorga and a picnic lunch. On we trundled into the Municipal Alberge (Hostal) where we got a nice room of only 6 ppl, which we managed to fill with some of our favourite people.. such a luxury in comparison the the rooms of 60 or more that we have become accustomed to!

Had a very cultural afternoon in Astorga where we visited the Cathedral and Camino Museum before what may have been a far more fastinating Chocolate Museum..

Spagetti Bolognaise was in order for dinner which Isabel was put on duty for again, for 8 people in a kitchen that was so ill equipped that everything had to be chopped with Vanessas pen knife. Fun..not. Most beautiful skies however as we had dinner on the balcony.

Leon to Villadangos del Paramo 20km

Well this was tedious to say the least. 20km of walking on a main road to get out of Leon, nothing too strenuous just not very appealing having massive trucks flying past you with only about 12inches to spare!
We were stopped by a police vehicle which turned out to be some guy we had been talking to when we were out for the night in Leon.. lucky we were behaving as had no idea he was a policeman!
Stayed in a hostel by the main road with nothing less than treble bunks, Vanessa braved it and went for the top, no less than about 4 metres off the ground.. cooked a dinner of pasta with tuna and prawns, on a gas burner that took 45minutes for the water to boil.. certainly a patience test for Isabel.

UPDATE...

Apologies for lack of blog posts in the last week, we are in non existant little villages in the mountains of Galicia at the moment, however after some 40km+ days we have today very excitedely passed the 100km mark.. we will post updates with pics etc as soon as we find proper civilisation!

Leon to Villadangos del Paramo 22km

Nothing exciting to report today, a very long walk out of Leon through extremely industrial area. No photos taken, really not worth it, was all along main roads. Cooking dinner in the hostel tonight, and sleeping in 3 level bunk beds, rather terrifying from the top!
Had a great day off in Leon, partly due to a bit of a celebratory night out that went on a lot longer than intended! With 3 hours sleep the thought of a 23km walk was struck off the agenda very quickly..

Mansilla de las Mulas to LEON 21km

Cant quite believe that we are arriving in Leon today, the walk itself is very much on the average side. A lot of lovely tarmac roads with some factories thrown in for good measure. Though there is a pretty amazing sun in the morning to get us going.

Stop at a very exciting fountain just before Arcahueja which tells us that we have only 307 km to Santiago - a doddle.

Finally Leon is within sight though it takes us another hour to actually arrive, not as bad as Burgos though. With the cathedral in our sights off we keep marching on, now officially at the 300km mark, one reason to love Leon...

We may have also possibly just checked ourselves into a rather nice hotel... bath, fluffy towels, bed with sheets, no snoring.... wow.

For those of you who dont like gorey.. dont look further... but this is the result of too much walking!!

Bercianos del Camino to Mansilla de las Mulas 27km

After a rather entertaining (or not) departure, where we managed to do a 20 minute walk and find ourselves back at the start, we headed off for what we expected to be a nice short day.. bruised feet and very tired minds we meandered along at an extremely slow pace to the next town 7km along, paid an expensive visit to the pharmacy for more of the amazing Compeed bandages for blisters, and pottered further along through rambling fields where an awful lot of slurry had just been spread.. funny for about 5 minutes, not so funny for 10km´s!

Eventually arrived in ´Reliegos´ where we had planned to spend the night, however with not a word between us we both kept walking, we could not hack another night of nothing! It was quite an ugly village, with again nothing but a hostel and a bar.. some civilisation was needed... Found one of our most entertaining pilgrims, Helmut from Austria to accompany us on the next 6km to Mansilla de las Mulas where we found some empty beds and had a good feed in a restaurant next door. Some wine and poker and off to bed.. Vanessa taking pleasure in photgraphing Isabel wrapped up like a mummy..

Ledigos to Bercianos del Camino 26km

Today was our 20th day of walking and boy are we feeling it when we set off.

Highlights of today include discovering another random stone spiral on the side of the path, somebody is taking REALLY long breaks.

As we walk along start to see these doors in the hillsides, turns out theyre called Bodegas and are wine cellars.. Walk through Sahagun where Isabel and her apple have a photo moment...

Arrive in Bercianos del Camino which is basically the middle of nowhere.

Turns out to be a really funny night though, the Hostel does a communal meal and we lend a hand to the lettuce cutting though Isabel observes some serious health and safety violations.

The meal gets off to a rocking start, quite literally, with some very enthusiastic clapping and table banging involved as all 70 of us are packed into the dining hall for 30. With alot of 2 euro spanish wine flowing the evening just keeps on going. Tomorrow should be interesting.