Day #16. Triacastella to Sarria

We awoke at 5:30 am this morning to the sound of heavy rain.  However, by the time we dressed and got our packs ready and rain gear on and emerged from the front door, there was just a light, misty rain.  We had cased the way out of town in daylight the day before, so we were more confident in the dark finding our way.  Half an hour along we had another attack of self doubt at an unmarked fork in the road, but a pilgrim passed us (without even a headlamp) so we followed him and soon saw some of our now cherished yellow arrows.

It was another pleasant walk along farm roads redolent with the smells of cowsWith some short but daunting up hills.  What WAS difficult was that there was a very long stretch with no village cafés for our morning cafe con leche and tostado or tortilla.  In past days we have always come across a cafe within 2 hours or so.  Finally almost 4 hours along the little roadside cafe was a most welcome sight.(photo included).

We were a bit worried about finding a bed in Sarria because of all we had read about a huge influx of peregrinos who start the last 100 km of the Camino here in order to earn their certificate, so we didn't stop much on the way here and arrived by 1:00 ( 19 km in about 6 hours).  But we were the first to

arrive again at our chosen Albergue, The Internacional, and even now at 9:00 pm they are no where near full.  And the city, the largest we've encountered since Ponferrada, seems almost deserted.

About the 2 funny photos: as we walked, we suddenly came upon a coke vending machine in the middle of farmland.  Then in the city, we went looking for long sleeved shirts because it's a bit chilly here, and we found Spain's version of the Dollar Store - the Euro Store, and we bought nice cozy shirts for €3.90.