The last 100 km traffic report!

[Becky 59]

I am now 60 km from Santiago on a Sat evening, enjoying a marvelous week of 23 degree afternoons with no rain in sight. I am finding that weekends are much busier, especially Fri and Sat, and would recommend either arriving before early pm to get a bed or call ahead the night before. I also find there are more beds available by phone, as not all available beds are listed on booking.com.

We were passed by a group of 50 university students from Italy, I imagine they will have quite an impact on bed availability. Also crossed paths off and on with a family of 4, with a 4 year old and 6 month old, who seem to acquire a new "abuela" everywhere they stop!

Life is good, as I manage with my shattered ankle. I am excited and blessed to be here!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The number of daily arrivals is 110 per day above the average last May, and the days at the end of the month will probably increase that.

 

[caminoagogo]

Hence why I switched to the Sanabrés for the last 100km. I definitely recommend it to those coming up on Sarria.

 

[Terwri]

Left from Sarria yesterday. Enjoying the people we meet and happy to have pilgrims 50 m ahead and behind us. Not crowded IMO

 

[Harington]

I am now 60 km from Santiago on a Sat evening, enjoying a marvelous week of 23 degree afternoons with no rain in sight. I am finding that weekends are much busier, especially Fri and Sat, and would recommend either arriving before early pm to get a bed or call ahead the night before. I also find there are more beds available by phone, as not all available beds are listed on booking.com.

We were passed by a group of 50 university students from Italy, I imagine they will have quite an impact on bed availability. Also crossed paths off and on with a family of 4, with a 4 year old and 6 month old, who seem to acquire a new "abuela" everywhere they stop!

Life is good, as I manage with my shattered ankle. I am excited and blessed to be here!

As one with a recently doubly shattered ankle, who am currently feeling that camino days are finished, can I ask how long it took you to get back to full walking strength?

 

[Becky 59]

As one with a recently doubly shattered ankle, who am currently feeling that camino days are finished, can I ask how long it took you to get back to full walking strength?

It has taken me 2 years,and I am only doing 13 km/day, and my right knee is weaker than the left and definitely complains more on the down hill stretches. It took 15 months before I could do even a 3 mile hike. But it gets better. Take good care of your ankle and you should be back on the trail! Fortunately for me, because they kept me non-weight-bearing for so long, all the ligaments healed very strongly. Buen camino!

 

[Becky 59]

Tonight we are at 47 km out, the only Americans in a hostel only half full as of 5 pm. Today I walked for long stretches by myself. It's the end of the weekend and the weekend-trippers are going home.

 

[Jbirk]

We are in Azura tonight and passed and the Italian students a couple of times since Sarria. We finally got off their walking pace. Today was pretty quiet

 

[Becky 59]

@Jbirk, we lunched in Arzua today. Watch out for Father Steve and his 3 young men from Alabama, they were also in Arzua last night.

 

[Jbirk]

We walked with one of the young men yesterday. I’m sorry I can’t remember his name. I also went to mass with them last night

 

[Harington]

It has taken me 2 years,and I am only doing 13 km/day, and my right knee is weaker than the left and definitely complains more on the down hill stretches. It took 15 months before I could do even a 3 mile hike. But it gets better. Take good care of your ankle and you should be back on the trail! Fortunately for me, because they kept me non-weight-bearing for so long, all the ligaments healed very strongly. Buen camino!

Oh, bless you for your answer. The surgeon (who pinned and plated the fractures) wanted me to be weight-bearing very quickly, and so the much-damaged ligaments and tendons didn't get much chance, and are still painful. But I can hobble well with hiking poles for an hour at a time. patience is not my strong point!

 

[Susan Peacock]

I arrived in Santiago on Wednesday, May 23. We stayed off the Brierley stages particularly from Sarria on. The last few days we saw very few pilgrims and then on our final day into Santiago from Lavacolla it seemed that pilgrims appeared in hordes. Where did they all come from?
Just an FYI for future planners, the week of May 1st Spanish National Holiday it was very crowded and accommodations were difficult to find coming out of Burgos. I was able to secure only a private room by calling ahead 30+km from Burgos and they were completo by noon.

 

[mylifeonvacation]

In Galicia it's not uncommon for local groups do sections of the camino on weekends. An article I read this week told of one municipality that organized such a walk. Starting last October, people from the area had walked the Camino in stages from O Cebreiro on various Saturdays, with as many as 100 people participating as they walked the final stage into Santiago last week. It didn't seem that folks like this would probably staying in albergues since they only walk on Saturdays, but certainly would contribute to the feel of traffic on the way.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

On average there have been 160 more pilgrims per day this May compared to May 2017. That is a lot!