Day 30 Triacastela to Sarria
Thursday 6th June 2013
18.7 km - 4.5 hrs
| We set out at 7-30 a.m. and walked to the bottom of the main street in Triacastela. Here you have a choice about taking the more direct (18.7 km) route or the optional route (21.5 km) via Samos. The sign indicating the direction for both is a bit battered but is discernible. There is quite a bit of climbing to do on the main route. I spoke with two people who had done the optional route via Samos....... one said that it was wonderful, scenic and had less pilgrims on it, the other, part of an Asian group, was so relieved to get back on the main Camino as the Samos route was too quiet and lonely for them. They had been afraid that they had gone the wrong way and would not find the Camino proper again!
There are about 10 albergues in Sarria. The temptation is to stay at the first one just as you enter the town, but if you do you will miss all the action in the centre. Far better to go in a bit more, climb the steps to the main street, and then pick one of the numerous small albergues on the main street.
For those that want to push on beyond Sarria, there is a very nice place to stay at Barbadelo, as shown on the next page. |
Left for Samos, right for the main route via San Xil
Approaching Sarria main street up the steps
View over Sarria from the top of the high street
The main street
Santa Marina Church
An Italian Restaurant, now that makes a change. The food was very good.
A Galician bag-piper player
| I met Herbert at the top of the steps in Sarria, and he was not looking so good. He had stayed 2 nights in Sarria and had decided to have his bag couriered to make the walking easier. I met him again the next day on the path, and he was doing reasonably well. You have to listen to your body, and if a rest day is required, or a courier service will help... then go for it! |
Accommodation Notes
| Digby and Jane stayed in Albergue Mayor, just at the top of the steps, which they reported as being very good. I wanted a single room nearby and spotted that an adjacent bar (Cafe-Bar Escalinata) was offering rooms. I went across, and the patron told me to wait for 5 minutes, offering me bread, cheese and a glass of red wine in the meantime. Eventually a lady came with keys and took my details. To my surprise, the room was not in this building, but was back down the steps, and along the road for a hundred yards. I was beginning to wonder what I had let myself in for, but we entered an apartment block, took the lift to the second floor, and she let me into a nice, modern room with en suite. |
Cafe-Bar Escalinata
The apartment building where I ended up
No complaints about the room!
Albergue Mayor
| I had to make some changes to my hotel schedule in Sarria and get on the Ryanair website. I was having some difficulty in doing this on a mobile phone and the albergue hospitalero, realising I was having problems, offered me a laptop to use. When you get friendly and understanding actions such as this it says so much for the albergue, and you have no hesitation in recommending them to others. Gulag Benedictus take note! |
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