Day 31: Barbadelos to Ganzar

Today the Camino was unlike any other day previously. In order to get the Compostela at the end of the journey at Santiago de Compostela, pilgrims must walk 100km at the very least. We passed Sarria, the last major city before the distance cutoff, yesterday. So today was our first day with what some call "touregrinos" (tourist pilgrims). There has to be at least 15 times as many people on the trail. Most travel in groups, and the whole energy is different... which makes sense, since it's essentially a vacation walking through idyllic countryside towards a giant party. Before today, we were some of the youngest pilgrims on the Camino. Now large school groups of kids about thirteen years old run by, wearing trendy clothes and playing Katy Perry off their iPhones. The albergues are crowded... Ron, Lauren and I literally got the last three beds in Ganzar, the town we stopped in for the night. I wonder how life will continue to evolve as we move towards Santiago, if any semblance of what we knew for the past thirty days will return.