Day 47

Ferreiros to Gonzar - 19 kms
27 May 2019

It happens sometimes. You can have a beautiful room and a very comfortable bed and still not be able to sleep. This was our night last night so we were up and away this morning before light. Our walk was downhill from Ferreiros to Portomarin then uphill to Gonzar. The first half to Portomarin took us down country roads and lanes and through farm yards once again. After Portomarin we were initially walking through bush but later on a path on the side of the road and then through pine forests. Somehow we were mostly on our own, we saw very few pilgrims but this has been the case for most of our Camino.
We spent some time in Portomarin which may have been pretty had the sun been out and lighting everything up but we had full cloud cover for all of our walk - also it appeared that much of the centre of the town was undergoing an upgrade as streets were being re-paved and buildings were undergoing repairs. At times it was misty damp but no rain at all. It mostly cleared when we got to Gonzar and by late afternoon there were large patches of blue sky. Gonzar is very much a rural village - in an open (smelly) farm waste drains and crumbling houses kind of way - although there are several rebuilds are going ahead.
From Sarria to Santiago we have to get two stamps a day in our credentials to qualify for a compostela in Santiago to prove that we have walked the whole 100 kilometres. We stopped at a cafe in Vilachá, before Portomarin, and got our first stamp of the day and our second at our accommodation here in Gonzar.

Our credentials full of stamps - we are on to our third ones each now.

Just down the road a bit from Ferreiros was the much graffiti-ed marker showing 100 kms from Santiago...

...then suddenly Santiago was less than 100 kms away!!!

It was quite foggy early morning

...and our path was rough in places.

 The bridge into Portomarin. We spent an hour here

...it was very misty then.

Steps up into the town.

The fortress church of St John with links to the Knights of St John. The church was rebuilt in the centre of town as it's original site was flooded when a reservoir was made.

A pretty Portomarin home

Walking out of Portomarin

We walked through areas of pines and some logging was being done. What is surprising is how small the logs are compared to the size they are in New Zealand. They are only about 3 metres long and very small in diameter.

In Gonzar

This Pappy's house in Gonzar. As you can see by the side photo of it below Pappy has a major roofing job to do ...and the front door has problems ...and it is most likely full of spiders ...and the muck drain from the cowshed flows right by it so it's rather smelly ...but it is right in the centre of town.