Granja de la Moreruela to Tabarah 6 June 2018 25kms

This is my last day on the Camino with Neil.  I've been with him (and Sarah for two days in Avila) for 11 days and tomorrow we go in different directions. I'll reflect on that more later but it's a poignant moment for me as we set off from Granja.

The sun is out and all looks fine.  The rhythm of the day is exquisite. 

The yellow arrow is the traditional way that the Camino paths are marked. Done over years informally by fellow travelers to make clear the directions to walk.  

People only walk in one direction to Santiago de Compostela where legend has it that St James bones are buried.  All the many paths lead there.

In recent times bureaucrats have decided that more swanky signs are required and have been removing the random arrows to tidy the place up I suppose. This is troubling to Neil and I totally get it. 

When you are walking there are times when the way forward is unclear.  At times this leads to taking wrong directions. This happened to us leaving Siete iglesias. 

When you are trying to find the way and a yellow arrow appears it seriously feels like a message from God. "This is the way" .The experience is powerful.  The alternative now being pursued are fancy posts and signs that make you feel like you're in the system.  Interestingly the posts are far less reliable.  Arrows point, posts don't.

I'm going to miss the arrows. Here are a few below. 

Sometimes so faint they're hard to see, but you don't question the arrow. They never fail you. 

And sometimes more substantial.

The walk quickly got into a treed area quite different from previous days. 

Then we arrived at a beautiful bridge that takes us over the Esta river

From here we'r almost feel like we're in Australia as the track heads into the Bush around the water on a bushwalking track. Some other walkers advised us not to go this way.  "Are you kidding this is how we walk in Australia"

And then out  of the first into that felt like a parkland. It was a beautiful few hours.

And finally into the open again.  No issue around direction here.  It'll take us another half hour before we turn a corner. 

After a drink stop we'r confront 200 cattle crossing the road.  This is all the more powerful having now watched a few hours of bull fighting in the bars at night.  I got excited last night because in thought the bull fighter had been skewered by the bull

 No such luck. 

Once we get to Tabarah neil and I go for a walk around the town.  Saw this derelict grain storage building and in thought what s great building ti do something with. 

Neil says these rock walls are part of Gallicia which is the area we have just moved into.  Even that is enough to weep.  Imagine all the walls I'll miss.  

I didn't miss this one though.  How beautiful is this craftsmanship.  No mortar here. 

We finish the night around the table at the albergue in Tabarah where Jose is the hospitalero. (Host)

The picture below shows Jose (red) with some other Peregrinos walking along the path with us.  We are meeting up each night

He has effectively turned a rudimentary accommodation manager role into a ministry.

He charged nothing to stay (donativo only) the night but washed our clothes,  hung them out,  cooked a meal for 12, and held the whole evening together.  

He does this every night.  It's effectively his house we all sleep in. He has 1700 peregrinos  per year stay. Extraordinary example of turning s function into a ministry. We have a very good donativo as I imagine the others did as well.

GRATITUDE

This has been a remarkable time for me.  I do alot of walking and have walked in many places.  Many of those walks have been in stunning locations in Australia and around the world.  This last 10 days had been in rural Spain. Beautiful? yes,   stunning? probably not,  life affirming? Absolutely like few things I have done.

An interesting thing here is how the Camino process is so well understood and embraced here.  People see you with a pack in small towns and they greet you Camino? Followed by unintelligible but enthusiastic chatter finished with Bon Camino. May your journey be good, enjoy the way  enjoy our country. They all know where the path goes in their area. It's such a beautiful thing.  I wish we had something like it in Australia.

I reflect on the priveledge I have had; to be physically able to walk, to enjoy so many environments through walking, to be reminded yet again that the simplest and cheapest endeavours are the most rewarding.

Placing myself in the hands of a culture I don't know, a people I cant efficiently communicate with, with people who have no obligations to me and experience the generosity and warmth of humanity makes me weep with gratitude.

GRACIAS ESPAGNE