Today I’m transitioning from being a pilgrim to being a tourist, with a convenient bus at 10.30 am. As I had a bit of time to kill, I walked back up the street to visit the Romanesque Church of Santiago (closed of course).
Triacastela once had three castles, but all that remains are some ruins at the top of the hill:
The morning looked rather grey and cloudy (compared to previous days) as I left Casa David:
My room last night was right next to their illuminated sign, which thankfully was switched off at midnight.
The bus to Sarria was a lovely scenic drive, going up to Samos, past the monastery, and then down again into Sarria. By the skin of my teeth, I arrived at the train station, but too late to purchase a ticket from the vending machine. Ticket sales close 5 minutes before the train is due. However, it was my lucky day - there was a replacement bus running instead of a train, so I was able to jump on with everybody else (without paying!!!).
The journey went past the gorges of the River Sil and the Belesar Dam, scenes from a previous Camino of mine:
It was a really interesting ride on winding mountain roads, looking down on the river far below on our right.
On arrival in Ourense, I found it was surprisingly warm and jumped in a taxi to take me to the Barcelo Ourense Hotel. I have a spacious room (what a change from my Camino lodgings). There is an upstairs mezzanine with a spa bath. Looking down:
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