September 27 Sarria to Portomarin

This day had a strange feel to it. As we left Sarria there were many new walkers joining El Camino. All with fresh smelling and clean clothes, and boots that have not yet experienced the trek through the sometimes dusty and rocky terrain. You could sense the joy of these new peregrinos – laughing and taking great joy of joining El Camino. And most are walking with much lighter backpacks since they will only be on El Camino for less than 6 days. However, they are frowned upon by those peregrinos who started the camino well before Sarria, and by church officials, who reluctantly give them their credential passport, which they must earn stamps at each albergue they stay at to prove they have completed the required (minimum) 100km to earn the compastela (the certificate recognizing the completion of pilgrimage). El camino is now more crowded and with more noise on the path as the new peregrinos (many of them Spanish) are talking with great excitement. And the bars/cafes used as rest stops are also more crowded, much to the delight of the owners who are experiencing higher revenues. This is also noticeable at this point of El Camino, which appears to be more commercialized rather than being a true pilgrimage. As a fellow peregrino (Brent) stated, “they are more like sprinters and we are like marathon runners.” The new group of paragrinos appear to have less respect for the environment – with more trash seen on the camino from Sarria to Portomarin (20km), than from Pamplona to Sarria (600km). See Pictures>>