Throughout the night last night, the wind howled. We needed to be at the bus stop by 6:45 and hurried in the dark albergue room to collect our things, and head out into the wind. It was cool, and we weren’t dressed great yet. It was supposed to be quiet time until 6:30 in the albergue, but we rose at about 6:10 trying to be as quiet as possible. We weren’t the first pilgrims awake, others had already left.
We rode the bus about 30km into Sarria. We arrived just before 8, and were happy when the bus depot opened at 8 so we could change, dress warmly and put on our boots inside. We had a cup of tea while Karis had orange juice and we set out.
Sarria is in the Galicia region. It is known for a lot of rain and it didn’t disappoint. Almost as soon as we departed the bus station, it started. We stopped and put on rain gear, and our pack covers.
Knowing that Sarria is a larger town and we may not see one for a few days, we stopped at a bank machine. I was down to only about 10 euros and really needed a top up! Mom used her card without a problem. When it was my turn, the machine ate my card. Grrr! Of course being a Saturday, the banks don’t open until Monday. Maybe I should have listened to the forums which advised not to use a bank machine on a weekend for this very reason!
Now it was raining harder. A little defeated about losing my bank card and the rain dumping so hard, we decided to stop at a little bakery for breakfast hoping the rain would let up a bit. We had churros and chocolate sauce for breakfast and it left our stomachs a little off afterwards. A little too much sugar in the AM!
The rain didn’t seem to be letting up, so we made the best of it. Mom added her rain pants and Karis and I ditched the ponchos for our cheap, canadian tire rain suits. Mom looked great and stylish. Karis and I looked like oversized smurfs.

Being one of the main starting towns for the camino, we thought the trail would be well marked. It wasn’t. We had a very hard time getting out of town. Once we finally found our way, we again climbed up hills. Rainy, wet, muddy hills. At times, the rain would let up for a bit, and at times the sun would shine a bit. We were either hot or cold. Sweaty and wet.


We passed through a few villages and while exiting one of them, a group of about 6-8 English speaking people started to pass us. I could hear one lady whispering to her friend. “Blah blah, looks like, blah blah, turd in the pants, blah blah, giggle giggle” I was too tired out from pulling myself and my pack up the hill while these two packless newbies gabbed, that I didn’t pay much attention. I was the caboose of our group of three at this time and shortly after, mom stopped for a breather and moved in behind me. Right away she started howling, “HAHAHAHA!!! Shannon! Your pants!!! They are falling down and the crotch is around your knees!”
I stopped and inspected. She was right. The waistband of my rain pants was snuggled securely below my butt and the crotch was indeed at my knees. Now is when I had a good laugh. I guess I knew who the newbies were talking about.
We walked just under 20km today. We are at the 98km to go marker. We are in a new albergue in a room with 12 other people. We washed all of our clothes and had long, warm showers. All of that sweating under those plastic rain suits had us desperate for soap and shampoo!! I can’t wait for a hot bath! Maybe in Santiago. 
