Camino de Santiago - Day 4

A Rua to Quiroga - 16.5 miles

After a lovely good night's sleep, I set off bright and early to tackle the day. The weather was a bit of a shock to my shorts-loving soul but I got over it quickly enough once I started moving. The first stage was mainly road walking and my feet had a serious hissy fit about this little tidbit so whenever I could I stopped next to a stream so I could dunk my aching feet into freezing water; absolute heaven. The day warmed up slowly and with each step, the views opened to a very green world: valleys, rivers, dams and vineyards as far as the eye could see and the birds could fly. My only encounter today with the human species was another pilgrim, walking the other way, a local (aka Mr Doom and Gloom) who was very vocal about his views on solo female pilgrims (and that they shouldn't ever leave the house alone :) YEP :)) and two lovely chatty locals who refilled my water bottle with a smile on their faces. The rest of my journey was spent in blessed solitude with only the wind, the view, the birds and my thoughts as a company - somehow I never felt lonely though, just at peace and happy.

I almost, yes almost, missed the cloudy days as due to the heat I had to strip to a bare (and legal) minimum and carry everything else, my bag felt like it weight a ton. My favourite stop today was at the washing/water refilling area that is still being used by some locals to wash their clothes - absolutely fascinating and very cool on a hot day. A very good day today and am expecting a hotter one tomorrow