Sarria to Portomarin (Camino de Santiago)

June 4, 2012 Beck and I were awake by 5am, dressed, checked out of the hotel and met Tim and Mike in front of their alberque under a full white moon. It turned a bright orange as we exited town in the darkness.  We had 14 miles of walking mostly through woods, farmland and lush greenery. Beck found the countryside magical as the sun rose and a mist hovered just above the fields making the velvety scenery mysterious. There was one section that was lined with huge ancient trees and the morning light filtered through the leaves and branches and Beck stopped and with a smile whispered “Fairies live here”. Tim and Mike before long pulled ahead and after of few hours of walking stopped and  waited for us at a cafe in the village of Morgade. We had a delicious  breakfast of eggs, ham and bread along with a couple of cups of espresso. We arrived in Portomarin in six hours. As you approach the town a long bridge crosses a waterway (Embalse de Belesar) and at the opposite end is a steep section of steps that takes you to the towns entrance gate. The day had turned very hot and we rested under a bus terminal to get out of the heat and get oriented to the town map that was in the small guide book I had carried since France. After some time we found the main square and our pre booked pension/hotel room. I had found a small travel company based in Santiago online prior to my leaving the States and had them book us small rooms for the 6 remaining nights of walking to Santiago. I really didn’t want to spend the last few nights in the communal alberques after not seeing Beck for over a month. I had become tired of the bunk bed dormitories by now. When we found our pension the front desk did not have our name in the handwritten reservation ledger. After calming myself down I was able to call the agency who responded quickly and it was solved (the clerk had not turned over the page in the ledger to the current day). We checked into our room, met Tim and Mike for lunch and spent the rest of the day relaxing. The day was a good start for Becks walking of her pilgrimage to Santiago. Journal: “Beck did an awesome job today. I told her how proud I was of her. It has been a long road for her to get her strength and confidence back after her cancer. She is so excited and has trained every day for months to be able to join me on one of these adventures. I know she will be able to finish the 100kms to Santiago and look forward to sharing that moment when it ends in front of the cathedral.”